The Effectiveness of Compassion-based Therapy on Marital Intimacy, Quality of Life, and Chronic Pain of Women Affected by Marital Infidelity

This research was aimed to determine the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy on marital intimacy, quality of life, and chronic pain of women affected by marital infidelity in Minodasht city. The statistical population included all the married women affected by spouse infidelity who referred to counseling centers and psychological service clinics of Minodasht Welfare Department in the period of November to December 2022. Thirty women were selected by purposive sampling and they were randomly assigned in two experimental and control groups (15 subjects in each group). The present study was a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with a control group and a follow-up phase. The experimental group underwent eight 60 minutes’ sessions of compassion-based therapy based on the protocol of Tirch et al. (2014). The follow-up was conducted three months after the termination of the post-test. Data was collected by implementing Thompson and Walker's (1983) Marital Intimacy Scale, Warr et al.'s Quality of Life Questionnaire (1993) and McGill's Chronic Pain Questionnaire (1975). The research data was analyzed by repeated measure analysis of variance test. The results showed that the treatment based on compassion on marital intimacy (F=14.763, P<0.000), quality of life (F=13.852, P<0.000) and chronic pain (F=455.626, P<0.000) of women affected by marital infidelity were effective and these results were permanent until the follow-up period. The results also indicated that compassion-based therapy had an effect on increasing marital intimacy, quality of life, and reducing the chronic pain of women affected by marital infidelity by creating an atmosphere of empathy and kindness towards oneself.