The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy on sexual satisfaction of infertile women

Desirable sexual relations of couples is one of the most important causes of happiness and success in married life. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy on sexual satisfaction of infertile women.

This applied research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The study population included all infertile women referred to 6 infertility centers in Isfahan in 2019-2020, out of whom, 40 women were selected by the available sampling method and then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was exposed to 9 training sessions based on acceptance and commitment therapy and were evaluated in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up using the Hudson-Harrison Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 26 and using repeated measures mixed analysis test.

The results showed that the mean of sexual satisfaction in the experimental group increased compared to the control group in the post-test and follow-up stages (P-Value<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the sexual satisfaction of control group in the three stages. The results of mixed analysis also showed that the interaction effect of time × group on sexual satisfaction was statistically significant (P-Value=0.001, F=10.71) and the implementation of the independent variable led to an increase in sexual satisfaction in the experimental group.

Acceptance and commitment based therapy is effective in increasing and improving the quality of life and sexual satisfaction in infertile women.