Efficacy of Integrated Model of Self Regulation-Attachment Couple Therapy on Dysfunctional Impulsivity and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation of Couples

The present research has been conducted with the purpose of examining the efficacy of integrated model of self regulation-attachment couple therapy on dysfunctional impulsivity and difficulties in emotion regulation of couples. This study was a quasi-experimental research that had a pretest-posttest design with a control group. Among the couples referring to the councelling centers of Khoramabad city, 22 couples were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Before performing couple therapy sessions, Dysfunctional Impulsivity Scale (DIS) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) were conducted for all the couples as pretest. Then couples in the experimental group participated in integrated model of self regulation-attachment couple therapy, but the control group did not receivetreatment. After completion of the therapeutic sessions, the couples of two the groups completed those scales again as the posttest. Finally, the data was analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Covariance. The results indicated that after the control of pretest effect, the effect of group membership on linear composition of dependent variables of dysfunctional im-pulsivity and difficulties in emotion regulation was significant. Univariate Analysis of Covariance also indicated that self regulation-attachment couple therapy had significant efficacy on decreasing dysfunctional impul-sivity and difficulties in emotion regulation (except on difficulties in engaging in goal-directed behavior), compared to the control group. In conclusion, integrated model of self- regulation-attachment couple therapy can be a useful and effective treatment in decreasing dysfunctional impulsivity and difficulties in emotion regulation of couples.