Comparing the Effectiveness of Reality Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Family Process in Female Household Heads

Female household heads are exposed to various psychological and social harms. Therefore, it is necessary to take psychological measures to reduce these injuries. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on the family process in female household heads.

This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, follow-up and control group. The statistical population of this study included all female household heads admitted to Baran and Navid Social Welfare Clinic in Sari in 2019, of which 45 people were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. Training sessions on both reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy were held in 8 90-minute sessions each, and no action was taken for the control group. The instruments used was the Samani Family Process Questionnaire (2008). Data analysis was performed by mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures.

In both groups of reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy, the difference between family process scores in female household heads in post-test and pre-test was statistically significant (p=0.00) and the difference in scores at follow-up with post-test was non-significant (p<0.05). The results showed that the difference between the mean of reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in the family process was not significant (p<0.05).

Based on the results of this study, in the case of female household heads, health professionals can use both reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy to improve the family process.