Document Type : Research Article
Authors
Department of Psychology, Adiban Institute of Higher Education, Garmsar, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Divorce reflects a flaw in different aspects of life and the dynamics of the family structure, and it is associated with higher levels of hostility in both women and men. Furthermore, divorce indicates the inability of the family which usually manifests itself in the form of unstable, dogmatic, or turbulent family patterns. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the group cognitive behavioral therapy on attributional styles, coping strategies, and alexithymia of divorced applicant couples in Eqlid city.
Method
This is a quasi-experimental study with three pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages with two experimental and control groups. From all divorced applicant couples referring to the Social Emergency Centers of Eqlid, 40 individuals were selected by the available sampling method and they were assigned to two experimental and control groups by completely random allocation. The participants of the experimental group underwent the group cognitive-behavioral therapy for 12 sessions over three months (one day a week and each session for 120 minutes). The Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WoCQ), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (FTAS-20) were used to collect data during pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. Then, data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.
Results
The results showed that individuals in the experimental group in comparison to persons in the control group had significantly higher performance in all components of attributional styles (except seeking social support subscale), coping strategies, and alexithymia. Also, the effects of the group cognitive-behavioral therapy were stable until the four-month follow-up.
Discussion
Mental health professionals can apply these findings to promoting a couple's mental well-being and reducing marital conflict among couples in both clinical and non-clinical settings. Also, these results are useful for effective treatment and prevention goals by family and community psychologists who work with dysfunctional families and divorced applicant couples.
Keywords
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