A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of reality therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy training on the development of preventive and interventive self-control in incompatible couples

The purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis of teaching reality therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy on the development of preventive and interventive self-control in incompatible couples. In this study, we adopted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest and follow-up control group design. The sample was selected from the entire body of incompatible couples who were referred to Mehrana Counseling Center in Tehran in 2019, the total number of whom in the second half of the year 2019 reached 180 individuals. The participants were selected through the convenience sampling. In this study, the data was collected in two stages: in the first stage, the participants’ feedback on Reality Therapy (designed based on William Glasser’s Choice Theory) and Cognitive-Behavioral Couple and Family Therapy (designed by Dattilio and Epstein, 2015). And in the second stage, the participants were asked to fill out The Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) (Tangney et al., 2004) and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier, 1976). Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze data in SPSS 26. The observed results of the study are statistically significant at a P-value of less than 0.05 and the reported F-value in each component, indicating that the study hypothesis is confirmed with 95% CI. Therefore, Reality Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy training are effective tools in the development of self-control components in incompatible couples.