The Effectiveness of Group Hope Therapy on Resilience and Psychological Well-being of Couples

Resilience and psychological well-being are among the most significant variables for identifying the improvements in quality of life of individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of group hope therapy on resilience and psychological well-being of couples. This research was of semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with control group. Participants included 30 couples who were referred to counseling centers in municipality districts 1 and 2 in the city of Tehran. Participants were selected via convenience sampling method and were divided into two groups of experimental and control. Resilience scale (CD-RISC) and Psychological Well-Being questionnaire (SPWB) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using one-variable covariance analysis method by SPSS-18 software. The mean (SD) age of participants was 22.2 (1.6) in the experimental group and 22 (1.7) control group, age range=20 to 25. The mean (SD) resilience score in the experimental group was 72.4 (6.3) in the pretest, which increased to 96.8 (2.6) in the post test (P<0.0001, F=39.97). However, the resilience score in the control group did not vary significantly in the pre- and post-test. In addition, the mean (SD) psychological well-being score in the experimental group was 309.1 (27.6) in the pretest, which increased to 351.1 (20.8) in the post-test (P<0.0001, F=48.67). However, the psychological well-being score in the control group did not vary significantly in the pre- and post-test. The study showed that group hope therapy leaded to increased resiliency and psychological well-being of couples.