Impact of Object Relations Couple Therapy on Marital Intimacy of Divorce Applicant Couples With High-leveL Borderline Personality Organization: A Pilot Study Considering the Moderating Role of Executive Functions

Recently, the stability of marriages and the proper communication between couples has become more difficult. Therefore, exploring the impacts of relevant clinical interventions in resolving marital conflicts seems crucial. This study investigates the effectiveness of object relations couple therapy on marital intimacy of divorce applicant couples with high-level borderline personality organization while considering the moderating role of executive functioning.

Using a quasi-experimental design, a sample of 90 volunteers was selected from all couples seeking a divorce and referred to counseling centers in Tehran City, Iran. All participants were screened by Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO). A final sample of 38 individuals with high-level personality organization was randomly divided into control and experimental groups. After dropping the sample, 11 couples remained in the experimental group and 8 in the control group. Participants in the experimental group received 14 sessions of object relations couple therapy, while the control group remained on the waiting list. The Wisconsin Card Classification Test (WCST) and Thompson and Walker’s marital intimacy scale were administered on pre- and post-intervention occasions as well. The data were analyzed by a multivariate analysis of covariance.

Significant positive effects were found on marital intimacy in the post-intervention stage (P<0.001). Significantly, better results were also evident for couples with higher executive function scores (P<0.001).

It could be concluded that object relation couple therapy could promote the marital intimacy of couples with high-level borderline personality organization, and executive functioning could moderate the therapeutic effects.