Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy on Marital Disaffection and Psychological Distress in Women Traumatized by Their Husbands’ Betrayal

Marital dissatisfaction in women can lead to persistent adverse effects and psychological disorders. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples on psychological distress and marital disaffection in women traumatized by their husbands’ extramarital affairs.

This semi-experimental research was conducted using a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The study population included all women visiting the Mehravaran Counseling Center in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Iran in 2022, who were dealing with their husbands’ extramarital affairs. After convenience sampling, 30 individuals were selected and subsequently divided into the experimental and control groups randomly following the pretest. In this process, the experimental group underwent nine weekly 60-minute sessions of EFT for couples, while the control group received no interventions. During the post-test phase, all participants completed research questionnaires. The research tools comprised the Marital Disaffection Scale and Psychological Distress Scale. The data obtained were analyzed using ANCOVA in SPSS version 24.

The mean (±SD) of psychological distress and marital disaffection in the control group were 23.13±3.64 and 33.13±4.29 in the pretest and 23.67±3.67 and 33.53±4.17 in the post-test. Meanwhile, the mean (±SD) of psychological distress and marital disaffection were 23.40±3.71 and 33.80±4.09 in the experimental group during the pretest and 18.53±3.96 and 28.00±3.11 in the post-test. The results indicated that EFT for couples alleviated psychological distress (P=0.001) and marital disaffection (P=0.001) in women traumatized by their husbands’ extramarital affairs.

Given the effectiveness of EFT in reducing marital disaffection and psychological distress in women traumatized by their husbands’ extramarital affairs, it is recommended to provide couples with instruction in emotion-focused strategies to reconstruct and enhance their relationships. Engaging in such an approach can help reinforce positive beliefs and effectively address the psychological challenges experienced by women traumatized by their husbands’ extramarital involvements.