Comparison of the effectiveness of group reality therapy with group cognitive behavioral therapy on marital satisfaction and self-control of women

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of group reality therapy with group cognitive-behavioral therapy on marital satisfaction and self-control of women with marital conflict.

The method of the present study was descriptive quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test-follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all women with marital conflict who were referred to counseling centers in District 7 of Tehran in 2019, from which 60 people were selected using purposive sampling. Reality therapy sessions were held in groups of one two-hour session per week for 7 weeks. Cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions were held in groups of one two-hour session per week for 8 weeks. Participants responded to the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale developed (1982) and the Self-Control Scale developed by Tangney et al. (2004) for pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Data analysis was performed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.

The results of the present study showed that the interaction of time*groups increased marital satisfaction and self-control (P=0.001) in the experimental groups compared to the control group. The results of Bonferroni post hoc test showed a significant difference between cognitive-behavioral therapy and reality therapy with the control group for marital satisfaction and self-control variables.

It seems that both reality therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy help married women to improve their marital relationships by improving their self-control.