Comparing the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy and Systemic Couple Therapy on Affect Control and Hostile Attribution in Couples with Marital Conflicts

Haleh Sajedi; Seyedeh Zahra Sadati

Authors

Haleh Sajedi Department of Psychology, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7905-7653
Seyedeh Zahra Sadati Department of Psychology, QaS.C., Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran Corresponding Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2668-7854

Keywords:

emotion-focused couple therapy, systemic couple therapy, affect control, hostile attribution, marital conflicts

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy and systemic couple therapy on affect control and hostile attribution among couples experiencing marital conflicts.

Methods and Materials: The present study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest, and three-month follow-up assessments using a control group. The statistical population included married couples experiencing marital conflict who referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 2025. Following initial screening and informed consent procedures, 45 couples were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned into three groups: emotion-focused couple therapy (15 couples), systemic couple therapy (15 couples), and control group (15 couples). The research instruments included the Marital Conflict Questionnaire developed by Barati and Sanaei (2000), the Affect Control Scale developed by Williams et al. (1997), and the Hostile Attribution Questionnaire developed by Arntz et al. (2003). The first experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of emotion-focused couple therapy based on the protocol proposed by Greenberg et al. (2008), while the second experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of systemic couple therapy based on Minuchin’s protocol (1974). The control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests in SPSS version 26.

Findings: The results of repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that the main effect of time, the interaction effect of time and group, and the between-group effect were statistically significant for both affect control and hostile attribution (p < .001). Both emotion-focused couple therapy and systemic couple therapy significantly improved affect control and reduced hostile attribution compared with the control group. Bonferroni post hoc comparisons demonstrated that the emotion-focused couple therapy group achieved significantly greater improvements in affect control and significantly greater reductions in hostile attribution compared with the systemic couple therapy group at the posttest and follow-up stages (p < .001). The therapeutic effects of both interventions remained stable during the three-month follow-up period.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that both emotion-focused couple therapy and systemic couple therapy are effective interventions for improving emotional functioning and reducing maladaptive interpersonal interpretations among couples experiencing marital conflicts. However, emotion-focused couple therapy demonstrated superior effectiveness in enhancing affect control and decreasing hostile attribution. These findings highlight the importance of emotional processing and attachment-based interventions in the treatment of marital conflicts and suggest that emotion-focused approaches may provide deeper and more enduring changes in couples’ emotional and cognitive-relational functioning.

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