Comparison of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and schema therapy on extramarital relationships and domestic violence in women with emotional divorce

Various studies have shown the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and schema therapy on behaviors related to emotional divorce in women, but the question is that “are cognitive-behavioral therapy and schema therapy effective on extramarital relationships and domestic violence and, if so, which one is more effective?”

The present research was conducted by the aim of comparing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and schema therapy on extramarital relationships and domestic violence in women with emotional divorce.

The present study is quasi-experimental with pre-test,post-test and two-month follow-up with control group. The statistical population of this study was 203 women with emotional divorce referred to counseling centers and social emergency centers in 123 Dezful of County in during 2019 year. Sixty of these women were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to three groups of 20 (two experimental groups and one control group). The research tool was Violence against Women Questionnaire (Haj-Yahia, 1999) and the Attitudes Toward Infidelity Scale (Whatley, 2008). cognitive-behavioral therapy (Dattilio, 2009) was performed in 16 sessions, and schema therapy (Young et al, 2003) in 12 sessions over 2 months for two experimental groups. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance using SPSS-24 software.

The results showed that both therapeutic interventions were effective in reducing extramarital relationships and domestic violence in women and this result was stable in the follow-up phase (p <0.01). Also, there was no statistically significant difference in the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral family therapy and schema therapy on infidelity and violence against women (p> 0/05).

Cognitive-behavioral family therapy and schema therapy are effective interventions to reduce extramarital relationships and domestic violence in women with emotional divorce.