The Effectiveness of "Reality Therapy" on Marital Disaffection and Psychological Welfare of Married Women

Sustainability of marriage requires awareness of the impact of your choices. "Reality Therapy" can be effective in reducing marital disaffection. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of “Reality Therapy” on marital disaffection and psychological well-being of married women. 

The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and control group. The statistical population of this study included all married women referring to Mehrana Counseling and Psychological Service Center in Tehran in 2019 – 2020. 30 of them were selected by available methods. By simple random assignment by lottery method and age homogenization, they were divided into two groups of intervention and control. Research instruments included demographic questionnaire, the “Marital Disaffection Scale”, and the “Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale-Revised Form”. The validity of the instruments and training package was measured using content validity by qualitative method and reliability by internal consistency method by calculating Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient. “Reality Therapy” was performed for the intervention group in 8 sessions. Data were analyzed in SPSS. 24. 

“Reality Therapy” on the components of physical burnout (P=0.001, F= 170.026), emotional burnout (P=0.001, F=225.657) and psychological burnout (P=0.001, F=46.719) had a reducing effect. Reality therapy on the components of environmental dominance (P=0.001, F=43.25), self-acceptance (P=0.001, F= 43.60), positive relationship with others (P= 0.001, F=36.80), having a purpose in life (P=0.001, F=39.21), personal growth (P=0.001, F=150.32) and autonomy (P=0.001, F=62.21) had an increasing effect. 

"Reality Therapy" reduced the subscales of marital disaffection and increased the psychological well-being of married women. It is suggested that in counseling centers and psychological services, "Reality Therapy" to be provided for conflicting couples.