The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Group Couple Therapy on Marital Adjustment, Communication Patterns, and Sexual Satisfaction in Couples with Marital Conflicts
Keywords:
Marital conflicts, marital adjustment, communication patterns, sexual satisfaction, emotion, focused group couple therapyAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of emotion-focused group couple therapy on marital adjustment, communication patterns, and sexual satisfaction among couples experiencing marital conflicts.
Methodology: This applied quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test–post-test control group design. The statistical population included all couples with marital conflicts who attended psychological counseling centers in Arak in 2024. Thirty participants were selected purposefully and randomly assigned to experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. Research instruments included the Marital Adjustment Questionnaire (Spanier, 1976), the Communication Patterns Questionnaire (Christensen & Salawy, 1984), and the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (Larson, 1998). The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of emotion-focused group couple therapy, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using covariance and mixed ANOVA with SPSS-26 software.
Findings: The results indicated significant improvements in marital adjustment, communication patterns, and sexual satisfaction in the experimental group compared with the control group (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.43, F = 8.88, p < 0.001) confirmed the overall effectiveness of the intervention. Bonferroni post-hoc tests showed that improvements persisted in the three-month follow-up period, with no significant decline in post-test scores.
Conclusion: Emotion-focused group couple therapy, by restructuring emotional experiences, fostering secure attachment, and improving emotional responsiveness, effectively enhances marital adjustment, constructive communication, and sexual satisfaction among couples with marital conflicts.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maryamalsadat Hashemi, Seyed Ali Aleyasin, Hasan Heidari, Hosein Davoudi (Author)
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