Comparison of Emotionally-Focused Couple Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Regarding Quality of Interpersonal Relationships in Couples with Marital Conflicts

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotionally-focused couple therapy (EFCT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in the quality of interpersonal relationships among couples with marital conflicts. Materials and Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and delayed follow-up. The study population consisted of 39 couples with marital conflicts referring to Behzisti counseling centers in Tayebad, Iran, within the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019. The participants, including 13 couples receiving EFCT, 13 couples receiving ACT, and 13 couples as the control group, were selected using convenience sampling. For the experimental groups, nine EFCT sessions and eight ACT sessions were held, and the control group was not subjected to any intervention. The research tools were Sanaeichr('39')s Marital Conflicts Questionnaire and Pierce’s Quality of Interpersonal Relationships Questionnaire that the couples of the three groups completed in three stages, namely pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Repeated measures analysis of variance, Bonferroni test, and SPSS statistical software (version 23) were used to analyze the data. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that ACT was more effective in the quality of interpersonal relationships among couples with marital conflicts than EFCT (P<0.001). Conclusion: The obtained results of the present study revealed that ACT was more effective than EFCT in the improvement of the quality of interpersonal relationships among couples with marital conflicts.