Effectiveness of Metacognitive-Based Intervention on the Marital Intimacy of the Postpartum Women

The women’s health guarantees the health of the family and the society. The physical and mental health of the postpartum women is affected and their marital intimacy decreases. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of metacognitive-based intervention on the marital intimacy of the postpartum women in Isfahan, Iran.

The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest and control group design. The statistical population of this study consisted of all postpartum women referring to counseling centers in Isfahan in 2019. The sampling method was voluntary and 30 people were randomly assigned to two groups of control (n = 15) and experimental (n = 15). The research instrument was the couples, parents, and colleagues’ intimacy questionnaire (2010). Eight ninety-minute sessions of metacognition intervention were administered for the experimental group. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS software.

The results of data analysis through ANCOVA method showed that metacognitive-based interventions were effective in postpartum women’s marital intimacy. In other words, the mean scores of postpartum marital intimacy in the posttest phase in the experimental group increased significantly compared to the control group after controlling the pretest effect.

Metacognitive-based interventions have positive effect on the intimacy and lead to the increase of the marital intimacy in the postpartum women. Therefore, it is suggested to provide facilities for holding the mentioned courses with the cooperation of hygiene and counseling centers to improve postpartum women’s physical and
mental health.