The Effect of Hope-Oriented Couple Counseling with an Islamic Approach on Marital Distress and Adjustment in Infertile Couples in Isfahan

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hope-oriented couple counseling on the distress and adjustment of infertile couples. This study was a semi-experimental research which used control group and pre-test, post-test and follow-up design. The statistical sample included 32 infertile couples selected by "goal-oriented sampling" method from among the patients in infertility centers and gynecologists in Isfahan city. The participants were randomly assigned into two control and experimental groups (each group included 16 couples). The experimental group then participated in 7 hope-oriented couple counseling sessions. Both groups completed the revised "marital adjustment" scale and the "marital distress" scale in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up stages (one month after the end of the sessions). In order to analyze the data, multivariate covariance analysis was performed using Spss-18 software. The results showed that there were significant differences between the two groups in the mean scores of marital adjustment, marital distress and its dimensions (physical, emotional and psychological exhaustion) (p