Comparing the Effects of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and Integrated Couple Therapy on Aggression and Fear of Marital Infidelity in Couples with Extramarital Relations

Family, as a social unit, is the center of growth and development, healing, and the transformation of injuries and complications. In any committed relationship, there is an explicit or implicit commitment. The nature of the commitment of each couple is unique and different. Commitment encompasses sexual and emotional loyalty to one's spouse and regulates the interactions between them within and outside the marriage. Extramarital relationships often involve various negative emotions, such as aggression and the fear of betrayal. Extramarital relationships are highly prevalent in couples seeking treatment; therapists are often unprepared to manage such issues. Thus, this study aimed to compare the effects of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) and Integrated Couple Therapy (ICT) on aggression and fear of marital infidelity in couples with extramarital relationships.

This single–case study used AB, i.e., the most commonly used single–subject design. Furthermore, 12 measurements (4 with baseline, 4 times during treatment, and 4 times at follow–up) were performed. Therefore, the dependent variables were measured at baseline; its results were measured in 4 steps in the treatment process until the end of the intervention and finally at the follow–up stage. The study population consisted of couples who experienced emotional–sexual infidelity referring to clinics in Isfahan City, Iran, in 2018. Six couples (n=12) were selected using the purposive sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of EFCT (3 couples) and ICT (3 couples). The inclusion criteria of the research were consent to participate in the research; couples in which men were emotionally–sexually unfaithful and women were affected by infidelity; at least a week past since the betrayal; the age range of 20–50 years; having an acute or chronic mental health disorder, i.e., confirmed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist through a clinical interview; not using parallel psychological therapies; not taking psychiatric drugs for 3 months before conducting the clinical interview, and not using substance or alcohol. The exclusion criteria of the study were unwillingness to cooperate; not completing the assignments; absence from >2 sessions, and withdrawal from research. The experimental groups received 15 EFCT sessions and 8 ICT sessions. This study was the first to prepare an EFCT package per the needs and conditions of couples with extramarital relationships, based on a combination of two interventions, i.e., Bowen’s systemic couple therapy and Johnson’s emotional couple therapy. For ICP, a package prepared by Snyder et al. (2007) was used. Research tools included the Aggression Questionnaire (Bus & Perry, 1992) and the Fear of Infidelity Scale (Rouhkbakhsh, 2017), i.e., measured 12 times and provided to the research participants in 3 stages (baseline, treatment, & follow–up). To analyze the obtained data, descriptive statistics (e.g., mean & SD) and inferential statistics (RCI), the percentage of post–intervention recovery, and the percentage of overall post–intervention recovery were used.

The decreasing trend of aggression and betrayal fear in the follow–up phase, compared to baseline and treatment stages in both groups indicated the efficacy of EFCT and ICT on aggression and fear of marital infidelity in the studied couples (p<0.05). The obtained results also suggested that EFCT was more successful in reducing aggression and fear of marital infidelity than ICT.

Based on the present study data, the combination of EFCT and ICT reduced aggression and fear of marital infidelity in couples who experience extramarital relations; however, the EFCT was more successful in reducing the aggression and fear of marital infidelity of these couples than the ICT.