The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy on Love Schemes and Marital Satisfaction of Married Women

Marital relations play an important role in the mental health of spouses and family strength. Cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) can be effective in improving marital satisfaction by modifying cognitive and behavioral patterns. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CBCT on love schemes and marital satisfaction of married women.

The present research is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study consists of all married women aged 25-40 years who were admitted to counseling centers in Tehran in 2018. Availability sampling was used to select 40 married women admitted to Psychological Services and Counseling Center in Tehran for marital problems. They were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group underwent ten 2-hour sessions of CBCT but the control group did not receive any intervention. The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Love Scheme Scale were used to collect the data which were then analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS software version 16.

Data analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the studied groups in the post-test stage in love schemes and marital satisfaction (F=1.71, Wilkes lambda=0.017, p<0.001). Thus, CBCT could significantly change the scores of love schemes and marital satisfaction in the experimental group.

Based on the results of this study, cognitive-behavioral couple therapy can be effective in improving the love schemes and marital satisfaction of married women. Therefore, this intervention can be used to improve and strengthen the couple's relationship.