The effectiveness of psychoeducational and McMaster approaches on increasing cohesion- flexibility of couples

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of psychoeducational (relationship enrichment) approach and McMaster theory on increasing cohesion-flexibility of couples. From among 60 volunteer couples, 24 were randomly selected and divided into two experimental groups of psychoeducational (8 males and 8 females) and McMaster (8 males and 8 females), and one control group (8 males and 8 females). Each of the experimental groups was separately trained in 10 sessions over a three-month period based on the psychoeducational (RE) and McMaster approaches. The participants in the three groups were evaluated by the marital cohesion -flexibility questionnaire in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up period. Chi-squared was used to analyze data. The results of the study indicated that the psychoeducational relationship enrichment model and the McMaster model didn’t significantly increase cohesion – flexibility among couples (P>0.05). Cohesion and flexibility among spouses are seen in a linear continuum that shows the central points of healthy relationships. Cohesion shows the degree of dependence and independence between spouses and flexibility shows the ability of the marital system as an effective substitute for stress and changes. In this study, two psychoeducational and McMaster's approaches did not succeed to improve cohesion and flexibility between couples.