The Comparison of Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on Covert Relational Aggression of Couples

The purpose of this study was comparison of effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction program on covert relational aggression of couples. This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest control group design with a two-month follow-up. The statistical population of this study included all the couples referring to counseling and psychological services in Shiraz city in 2020 (M=90). From the target population, 60 couples were selecte by random sampling as the study sample and randomly assinged into two experimental groups (10 couples in each group) and  a control group (10 couples). The experimental group underwent emotion-focused couple therapy (nine 90-minutes sessions) and mindfulness-based stress reduction program (nine 90-minutes sessions), but the control group received no training and remained in the waiting list. To collect data, couples relational aggression and victimization scale (CRAViS) of Nelson and Carroll (2006) was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-24 software at the descriptive and inferential (analysis of variance with repeated measures and Bonferroni) levels. The results of the study indicated that both types of treatment in post-test and follow up had a significant effect on covert relational aggression of couples (P<0.05).  Also, emotion-focused couple therapy had stronger effects in improvement of covert relational aggression of couples (P<0.05). Based on the results of this study, it can be said that emotion-focused couple therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction program can be used as a treatment for the purpose of improvement of covert relational aggression of couples in therapeutic settings.