Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Marital Relationship Quality and Emotion Regulation in Couples Affected by Infidelity

Objective: Marital infidelity is the primary reason couples seek divorce, leading them to family counseling clinics. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on marital relationship quality and emotion regulation in couples affected by infidelity.Methods and Materials: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test control group design. The population included all couples in Nowshahr affected by infidelity in ۲۰۲۳. The sample consisted of ۳۰ couples affected by infidelity (۱۵ for the control group and ۱۵ for the experimental group), selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two groups. Data collection tools were the Busby et al. (۱۹۹۵) Marital Relationship Quality Questionnaire and the Garnefski and Kraaij (۲۰۰۶) Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. For data analysis, mean, standard deviation were used in the descriptive section, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS version ۲۶ were employed in the inferential section.Findings: The results showed that schema therapy had a significant effect on marital relationship quality (F = ۷۲.۹۹, P < ۰.۰۱) and emotion regulation (F = ۵۱.۴۴, P < ۰.۰۱) in couples affected by infidelity.Conclusion: It can be concluded that schema therapy was effective in improving marital relationship quality and emotion regulation in couples affected by infidelity, and can be utilized to reduce psychological problems in such couples.Objective: Marital infidelity is the primary reason couples seek divorce, leading them to family counseling clinics. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on marital relationship quality and emotion regulation in couples affected by infidelity. Methods and Materials: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test control group design. The population included all couples in Nowshahr affected by infidelity in ۲۰۲۳. The sample consisted of ۳۰ couples affected by infidelity (۱۵ for the control group and ۱۵ for the experimental group), selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two groups. Data collection tools were the Busby et al. (۱۹۹۵) Marital Relationship Quality Questionnaire and the Garnefski and Kraaij (۲۰۰۶) Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. For data analysis, mean, standard deviation were used in the descriptive section, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS version ۲۶ were employed in the inferential section. Findings: The results showed that schema therapy had a significant effect on marital relationship quality (F = ۷۲.۹۹, P < ۰.۰۱) and emotion regulation (F = ۵۱.۴۴, P < ۰.۰۱) in couples affected by infidelity. Conclusion: It can be concluded that schema therapy was effective in improving marital relationship quality and emotion regulation in couples affected by infidelity, and can be utilized to reduce psychological problems in such couples.

Keywords:

Schema Therapy , Quality of Marital Relationships , Emotion Regulation , Marital Infidelity