The effectiveness of schema therapy on marital conflict and perceived spouse responsiveness in women affected by infidelity

Authors
mahsa rohani otaghs sara
afsaneh Khajound Khoshli
elnaz pooaahmadi
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on marital conflict and perceived responsiveness of the spouse in women affected by infidelity. Marital infidelity is considered one of the most important crises in couples' relationships, which has widespread consequences, including the intensification of marital conflicts and damage to the spouse's perception and perceived responsiveness. In this regard, schema therapy, as an integrated and deep approach focusing on identifying and modifying early maladaptive schemas, can help rebuild couples' emotional and cognitive relationships. This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental method with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included all married women referring to counseling centers and psychological clinics in Babol in the winter of 1403 who had reported experiencing infidelity of their spouse. Among them, 45 people were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to three groups: schema therapy, compassion therapy, and control. The schema therapy group received ten ninety-minute sessions of intervention, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The research instruments included the Marital Conflict Questionnaire and the Perceived Spouse Responsiveness Scale, and the data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The findings showed that schema therapy significantly reduced marital conflicts and improved perceived spouse responsiveness in women affected by infidelity. Also, the effectiveness of this intervention in reducing marital conflict was greater than compassion therapy. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that schema therapy is an effective approach to improving the psychological consequences of infidelity and can be used as an efficient intervention in family counseling centers and in the treatment of disorders resulting from marital crises.
Keywords
Schema therapy
marital conflict
perceived spouse responsiveness
Marital Infidelity
traumatized women
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