Applied Family Therapy Journal (AFTJ)

Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Family Therapy on Marital Intimacy and Psychological Flexibility in Couples with Marital Conflict

Narjes Derakhshandeh iD , Niloofar Mikaili Baghi ^* iD , Masomeh Rahimian iD

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-focused family therapy in improving marital intimacy and psychological flexibility among couples experiencing marital conflict.

Methods and Materials: This applied study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of couples with marital conflict who attended counseling and family service centers in 2026. Using purposive sampling, 30 couples were recruited and randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group, with 15 couples in each group. The experimental group received emotion-focused family therapy, whereas the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected using the Thompson and Walker Marital Intimacy Scale and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory developed by Dennis and Vander Wal. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) followed by univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 26, with pretest scores statistically controlled when examining posttest differences between the groups.

Findings: The multivariate analysis indicated that the overall effect of group membership on the combined dependent variables was statistically significant (p < .001), demonstrating a significant difference between the experimental and control groups after controlling for baseline scores. The univariate analyses further showed that emotion-focused family therapy produced a significant increase in marital intimacy compared with the control condition, F(1, 26) = 22.17, p < .001, partial η² = .460. A statistically significant intervention effect was also observed for psychological flexibility, F(1, 26) = 21.25, p < .001, partial η² = .450. The effect sizes indicated that approximately 46.0% of the adjusted variance in marital intimacy and 45.0% of the adjusted variance in psychological flexibility were attributable to group membership, supporting a substantial intervention effect on both outcomes.

Conclusion: Emotion-focused family therapy appears to be an effective intervention for enhancing marital intimacy and psychological flexibility among couples experiencing marital conflict. By facilitating emotional experience and regulation, restructuring maladaptive interactional patterns, and strengthening emotional connection between partners, this therapeutic approach may improve both relational closeness and couples’ capacity to respond flexibly to stressful interpersonal situations. Its application in couple and family counseling settings is therefore supported, while future studies should examine the durability of these effects using larger samples and long-term follow-up assessments.

Designing a Conceptual Model of Family Relationship Quality among Adoptive Couples: A Meta-Synthesis Study

Nafiseh Mostafaee iD , Mahdi Zare Bahramabadi ^* iD , Atefeh Nezhad Mohamad Namaghi iD , Alireza Pirkhaefi iD

Objective: This study aimed to develop a comprehensive conceptual model of family relationship quality among adoptive couples by synthesizing evidence from previous qualitative and empirical studies.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using a meta-synthesis approach based on the seven-step model proposed by Sandelowski and Barroso (2007). A systematic search was performed in relevant national and international scientific databases using keywords related to adoption, adoptive couples, family relationships, marital relationships, parent–child relationships, and family cohesion. After identifying potentially relevant records, the studies were screened according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and subsequently subjected to methodological quality appraisal. Ultimately, 20 eligible articles were included in the final synthesis. Data extracted from the selected studies were organized into initial codes and analyzed through secondary coding, conceptual comparison, and thematic integration. The codes were progressively classified into concepts, categories, and overarching themes to construct the final conceptual model.

Findings: The meta-synthesis indicated that family relationship quality among adoptive couples is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by the interaction of psychological–identity, relational, and sociocultural factors. Psychological and identity-related challenges included unresolved infertility grief, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, and difficulties in reconstructing parental identity. At the relational level, the quality of parent–child attachment, marital cohesion, emotional communication, mutual support, and adaptive patterns of interaction emerged as central determinants of family stability. Sociocultural influences included adoption-related stigma, social pressure, cultural attitudes, and limitations in formal and institutional support. Conversely, adequate social support, access to counseling services, cultural acceptance, and supportive family environments facilitated psychological adjustment, relational cohesion, and positive adaptation following adoption.

Conclusion: Adoption should be conceptualized as a dynamic and transformative family process rather than a single event. The proposed model demonstrates that favorable family relationships emerge through the reciprocal interaction of psychological adjustment, effective couple and parent–child relationships, and supportive sociocultural conditions. The model may provide a useful framework for assessment, counseling, and interventions designed to strengthen family functioning among adoptive couples.

Exploring the Lived Experiences of Couples Experiencing Emotional Divorce: A Phenomenological Study

Saeideh Golkar iD , Hasan Heydari ^* iD , Hossein Davoudi iD

Objective: This study aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of couples experiencing emotional divorce and to identify the principal dimensions through which this phenomenon is perceived and experienced.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed a descriptive phenomenological design based on Colaizzi’s approach. Twelve participants with lived experience of emotional divorce were selected through purposive sampling and participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Following verbatim transcription, the interview data were systematically coded and analyzed according to Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological method to identify significant statements, formulated meanings, thematic clusters, and overarching themes. MAXQDA 2020 software was used for data management and coding. To enhance the credibility and dependability of the findings, several rigor-enhancing strategies were applied, including member checking with 10 participants, review and evaluation of the findings by three experts, and the involvement of 24 individuals in different stages of the data analysis and validation process.

Findings: The phenomenological analysis yielded five overarching themes representing the core dimensions of emotional divorce: cognitive factors, emotional-regulatory factors, affective factors, communicational factors, and sexual factors. The participants’ accounts indicated that emotional divorce was experienced not as an abrupt relational rupture but as a progressive and multidimensional process involving the gradual erosion of cognitive engagement, emotional connection, affection, constructive communication, and sexual intimacy. These dimensions appeared to interact dynamically, generating a self-reinforcing cycle characterized by increasing emotional coldness, psychological distancing, relational disengagement, and declining hope for restoration of the marital relationship.

Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of developing multidimensional couple-centered interventions and integrating communication skills training, emotion regulation, and emotional-sexual literacy into culturally sensitive preventive and therapeutic programs for Iranian couples.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Parent Management Training and Life Therapy on Feelings of Shame and Guilt Among Mothers of Children with Autism in Sari

Aref Zolfaghar Roshan iD , Seyed Abdolmajid Bahrainian ^* iD , Fatemeh Shahabizadeh iD

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Parent Management Training (PMT) and Life Therapy in reducing feelings of shame and guilt among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Sari, Iran.

Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest control-group design with a three-month follow-up. The statistical population consisted of mothers aged 25–45 years who had children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and were living in Sari during 2025–2026. A total of 45 eligible mothers were selected through purposive sampling based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria and were subsequently assigned by simple random allocation to three equal groups: Parent Management Training, Life Therapy, and control. Feelings of shame and guilt were assessed using the Shame and Guilt Scale developed by Cohen et al. (2011). The intervention groups received their respective therapeutic programs, whereas the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were analyzed using mixed-design repeated-measures analysis of variance in SPSS version 26.

Findings: Mixed repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated significant changes in feelings of shame and guilt across measurement occasions and significant differences between the experimental and control conditions (p < .05). Both Parent Management Training and Life Therapy significantly reduced shame and guilt compared with the control group. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was observed between the two intervention groups (p < .05), with Life Therapy producing greater reductions in feelings of shame and guilt than Parent Management Training. The difference between posttest and three-month follow-up scores was not statistically significant, indicating that the therapeutic improvements achieved following the interventions were maintained over time.

Conclusion: Both Parent Management Training and Life Therapy appear to be effective psychological interventions for reducing shame and guilt among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. However, Life Therapy demonstrated comparatively greater effectiveness. These interventions, particularly Life Therapy, may therefore be incorporated into psychological and supportive programs designed to promote the mental health and emotional well-being of mothers caring for children with ASD.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Marital Satisfaction among Discordant Couples Referred to Psychological Counseling Centers in East Tehran

Ebrahim Bana iD , Homeira SoleimanNejad ^* , Vahid Ahmadi iD

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on cognitive emotion regulation and marital satisfaction among discordant couples referred to psychological counseling centers in East Tehran.

Methods and Materials: This applied study used a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group and a one-month follow-up. The statistical population consisted of discordant couples referred to psychological counseling centers in East Tehran during 2024–2025. From 80 eligible individuals, 45 participants were selected through random sampling and randomly assigned to three groups of 15: CBT, ACT, and control. The experimental groups received eight 90-minute couple-therapy sessions, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale at pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons in SPSS version 26.

Findings: Repeated-measures ANOVA showed significant effects of time, group, and time × group interaction for cognitive emotion regulation, with F = 11.21, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.44; F = 9.84, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.38; and F = 7.53, p = 0.004, partial η² = 0.31, respectively. Significant effects were also found for marital satisfaction, with F = 14.31, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.52; F = 12.11, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.48; and F = 9.42, p = 0.002, partial η² = 0.39, respectively. Bonferroni comparisons indicated that both CBT and ACT significantly outperformed the control group at posttest and follow-up, while no significant differences were observed between CBT and ACT.

Conclusion: Both CBT and ACT were effective in improving cognitive emotion regulation and marital satisfaction among discordant couples, with no clear overall superiority of either intervention.

Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy on Sexual Satisfaction, Extramarital Relationships, and Marital Frustration

Mahtab Yahyapour Boeini iD , Hossein Davodi ^* iD , Mohammad Mahdi Jahangiri iD

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT-C) in improving sexual satisfaction and reducing tendencies toward extramarital relationships and marital frustration among distressed couples.

Methods and Materials: The study employed a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population consisted of distressed couples experiencing marital difficulties, from whom 24 couples were selected and randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group. Participants in the intervention group received eight structured sessions of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, emphasizing emotional bonding, identification and expression of attachment needs, enhancement of emotional responsiveness, and restructuring of maladaptive interaction patterns. The control group received no therapeutic intervention during the study period. Data were collected at pretest and posttest stages using standardized measures of sexual satisfaction, tendencies toward extramarital relationships, and marital frustration. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and subsequent univariate analyses of covariance were used to examine intervention effects while controlling for pretest scores.

Findings: The inferential analysis indicated statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups across the study outcomes. After controlling for baseline scores, participants receiving EFT-C demonstrated significantly higher sexual satisfaction than controls, F(1, 22) = 26.14, p < .001, partial η² = .48. The intervention also significantly reduced tendencies toward extramarital relationships, F(1, 22) = 18.67, p < .001, partial η² = .36. Furthermore, marital frustration was significantly lower in the EFT-C group compared with the control group, F(1, 22) = 21.39, p < .001, partial η² = .42. The effect sizes indicated substantial intervention effects across all three dependent variables.

Conclusion: Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy appears to be an effective attachment-based intervention for enhancing sexual satisfaction and reducing extramarital relationship tendencies and marital frustration by strengthening emotional connection, improving responsiveness to attachment needs, and modifying dysfunctional relational interaction patterns among distressed couples.

Explaining the Formation Process and Examining the Causes and Consequences of Unhealthy Relationships in Iranian Families and Providing Guidelines for Their Reduction: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study

Dima Cheaib iD , Hossein keshavarz Afshar ^* iD , Zahra Jahanbakhshi iD , Keyvan Salehi iD

Objective: This study aimed to explain the process through which unhealthy relationships develop in Iranian families, identify their underlying causes and consequences, and formulate context-sensitive guidelines for preventing and reducing such relationships.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory approach. Participants were 15 divorced Iranian women residing in Tehran in 2025 who had experienced unhealthy marital relationships. Participants were recruited through criterion-based purposive sampling, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed concurrently with data collection using open, focused, and theoretical coding. Constant comparison, iterative category development, and theoretical integration were applied to construct an explanatory model of unhealthy family relationships.

Findings: Data analysis generated 105 open codes, 18 axial codes, and six focused categories. The emergent theoretical model, conceptualized as the “Vicious Cycle of Unhealthy Relationships in Iranian Families,” demonstrated that unhealthy relationships develop through an interconnected process involving contextual conditions, relationship deterioration, multidimensional consequences, coping responses, and preventive or intervention strategies. Contextual conditions consisted primarily of uninformed marriage and dysfunctional family backgrounds. The developmental process progressed from the establishment of initial unhealthy patterns to their escalation and deepening, followed by relational crisis and breakdown. Consequences were manifested across psychological, economic, social, and familial domains. Participants adopted both constructive and maladaptive coping strategies. The findings further indicated that, without timely intervention, unhealthy relationship patterns may become self-perpetuating and potentially transmitted across generations.

Conclusion: Unhealthy relationships in Iranian families represent a multidimensional and dynamic phenomenon rooted simultaneously in individual, couple, family, and broader social processes. Effective reduction therefore requires multilevel, culturally sensitive interventions emphasizing premarital preparation, couple counseling, communication and emotion-regulation skills, early identification of dysfunctional patterns, and family-centered support programs.

Emotional Security and Perceived Family Functioning in Relation to Adolescents’ Emotional and Behavioral Problems: The Mediating Role of Adolescents’ Cognitive Appraisals of Interparental Conflict

Giti Nozari Kohne Shahri iD , Alireza Kakavand ^* iD , Somayeh Keshavarz iD

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationships of emotional security and perceived family functioning with adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems, with particular emphasis on the mediating role of adolescents’ cognitive appraisals of interparental conflict.

Methods and Materials: This descriptive-correlational study employed structural equation modeling. The statistical population comprised all adolescents enrolled in lower- and upper-secondary schools in District 5 of Tehran during the 2024–2025 academic year. A sample of 251 students was selected using multistage random sampling. Data were collected using the Security in the Interparental Subsystem Scale developed by Koss et al. (2007), the McMaster Family Assessment Device developed by Epstein et al. (1983), the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale developed by Grych and Fincham (1992), and the Symptom Checklist developed by Derogatis et al. (1973). The hypothesized structural model and the direct and indirect relationships among the study variables were examined using AMOS version 24.

Findings: Structural equation modeling indicated that the proposed model demonstrated an acceptable fit to the observed data. The model explained 32% of the variance in adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems. Emotional security and perceived family functioning had significant direct effects on emotional and behavioral problems. Both variables also exerted significant indirect effects through adolescents’ cognitive appraisals of interparental conflict. Thus, adolescents’ interpretations and evaluations of conflict between their parents significantly mediated the associations between family-related factors and psychological difficulties.

Conclusion: The findings highlight cognitive appraisal as an important psychological mechanism through which emotional security and perceived family functioning influence adolescents’ emotional and behavioral adjustment. Preventive and therapeutic interventions may therefore be strengthened by simultaneously enhancing adolescents’ emotional security, improving family functioning and parent–adolescent relationships, reducing destructive interparental conflict, and modifying adolescents’ negative or threatening interpretations of such conflict.

Applied Family Therapy Journal (AFTJ)

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The Effectiveness of Systemic-Behavioral Couples Therapy (SBCT) in Enhancing Relationship Outcomes Among Spouses of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease

The Mediating Role of Frustration Tolerance in the Relationship Between Early Maladaptive Schemas, Self-Differentiation, and Marital Conflict in Individuals Applying for Divorce

Development of a Neuropsychological Questionnaire for Marital Conflicts and Examination of Its Psychometric Properties in Iran

Comparison of Compassion-Based Positive Couple Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy on Emotional Experience Toward Spouse Among Young Couples in Tehran

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Marital Inhibition and Emotional Intimacy among Women in Second Marriages

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and Schema Therapy on Emotional Exhaustion and Attachment Styles in Women with Marital Conflict

The Metaverse and the Reconsideration of Pure Reason: Identity and Ethical Crises in Relation to Women and Family from a Psychological Perspective

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy on Hope and Family Cohesion in Incompatible Couples

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Choice Theory-Based Therapy on Post-Traumatic Growth in Divorced Women with Divorce Grief

Predicting Marital Burnout from Emotional Intimacy and Perceived Partner Responsiveness: The Mediating Role of Dyadic Coping

Predicting Family Functioning from Parental Stress and Coparenting Quality: The Mediating Role of Family Communication

Predicting Couple Relationship Quality from Adult Attachment and Emotional Intelligence: The Mediating Role of Empathic Communication

LightGBM-Based Prediction of Marital Satisfaction Using Emotional, Sexual, and Communication Indicators

Predicting Marital Satisfaction Using Random Forest Based on Attachment, Communication, Intimacy, and Conflict Indicators

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