The Impact of Acceptance and Commitment Couples Therapy on Reducing the Marital Conflicts between Couples Applying for Divorce

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Sakineh Abbasi Bondaragh ¹
• Masoomeh Azmodeh ²
• Bahram Ali Ghanbari Hashem Abadi ³
• Seyyed Davoud Hosseininasab ²

¹ PhD Candidate in Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/tpccp.2023.77768.1317

Abstract

Introduction
Divorce and destructive conflicts between couples are major endangering issues that cause mental disorders and harms in the family and endanger communities’ psychological health. So, many social institutions try to take preventive measures in this regard. Conflict is an inevitable phenomenon of marital relationships, the result of which could be couples’ aroused negative feelings. Couples may think differently about each other, and the difference would result in stress or tension among them. The decision for living together as a couple creates diverse expectations and various hopes, some of which will probably remain unfulfilled. Failing to manage different challenges or expectation of married life may lead to destructive behaviors. Destructive behaviors make worse the situation, make couples dissatisfied, and even in some cases may result in such behaviors as insulting, shouting, and criticizing the other one. If one of the couples face the negative behaviors, probably shows similar or worse behaviors. Several therapeutic methods have been proposed for helping couples to solve their conflicts, among of which is acceptance and commitment couples therapy. Acceptance and commitment couples therapy is a psychological method that aims helping those who experience a long-lasting problem or pain. Some studies have shown that acceptance and commitment couples therapy can positively impact on such marital variables as the quality of life, compatibility between couples, intimacy, marital satisfaction, interpersonal conflicts, and psychological distresses. Many scholars have paid attention to marital conflicts, since more examining feelings, behaviors, and cognition can help find more solutions for marital challenges. This research, then, tried to investigate the impact of acceptance and devotion couples therapy on marital conflict among those who have applied for divorce. The study tries to answer the following questions:

Does acceptance and commitment couples therapy decrease the marital conflicts among the couples applying for divorce?
Do the impacts of acceptance and commitment couples therapy on decreasing the marital conflicts last to the follow-up phase?

Method
This semi-experimental research used a pre-test, post-test, and a follow-up design. The statistical population consisted of all couples applying for divorce and referring to Andisheh Counseling Center of Tabriz, Iran, from May to December 2021. According Cohen’s table, 30 couples were selected as members of the sample. The couples were divided randomly into experimental and control groups (15 couples in each group). The experimental groups were trained using acceptance and commitment couples therapy over 10 sessions of 90 minutes, twice a week (and a follow-up session), and the control group did not receive any treatmen and were told that they were on the waiting list. Barati and Sanaei’s (2000) revised Marital Conflicts Questionnaire that includes 54 items was used to measure the type and extent of conflicts in marital relationships. The questionnaire has content validity. Its reliability coefficient of the questionnaire in was calculated using Cronbach's alpha to be 0.91. The collected data were analyzed at descriptive and inferential levels. Mean and standard deviation were used for the descriptive part and mixed model ANOVA was used for the inferential part of data analysis.
Results
The average age of the participants was 34.34 and their marriage duration was 3 to 24 years. Most participants had been married for 3 to 6 years. Of 30 couples, 26.56% had no children, 26.55% had one child, 33.44% had two children, 9% had three children, and 3.35% had four children. Regarding degrees, of the 30 male participants, 3.4% had PhD, 20% had a MA/MSc degree, 26.5% had a BA/Bsc degree, 13.6% had an associate degree, and 36.7% had diploma. Of the 30 female participants, 16.6% had a MA/MSc degree, 46.6% had a Ba/Bsc degree, 3.4% had an associate degree, and 33.4% had a diploma. Descriptive statistics showed that the average score for the subscales and the overall marital conflict have decreased in the experimental group in post-test and follow-up tests, but no changes can be seen in the control group. Moreover, the significance of the difference between the groups regarding the scores was evaluated through mixed ANOVA, the normal distribution of the data was tested through Mauchly’s Test of Sphericity, and the interaction effect was measured through Wilk’s lambda test. Since both were insignificant, the data are normally distributed and the homogeneity of variances is valid. The analysis of the variance of intergroup and intragroup effects regarding marital conflicts in different situations showed the reduction of conflicts between couples in the experimental group (F=108.110, p=0.0001) and the stability of the results in the follow-up phase (F=39.40, p=0.001). Therefore, regarding Question 1 of the study, it can be said that acceptance and commitment couples therapy had reduced the marital conflict between couples in the experimental group over time. Regarding Question 2 of the study, the stability of the effectiveness of the intervention over time was approved.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results showed that acceptance and commitment couples therapy reduces marital conflicts. The difference between marital conflicts in the experimental and control groups after the intervention is significant; that is, the average score of marital conflicts was lower at the post-test of the experimental group. According to Cohen, the effect size of 40% is medium. The effect size of this study was 49%, meaning that the effect is valid after three months. Accordingly, implementing each of the six stages of acceptance and commitment couples therapy (experiential avoidance, acceptance, cognitive dissonance, being present, self-monitoring, and values) improves the damage caused to different dimensions of the couples’ behavior, cognition, emotion, and relationship. This therapy increases couples’ intimacy, reduces their marital conflicts, improves the quality of their communication, and enhances their marital satisfaction.
 

Keywords

• Acceptance and Commitment
• Couples Therapy
• Marital Conflicts
• Divorce

20.1001.1.22516352.1402.13.1.2.4

Main Subjects

• Family and Marriage

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