The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Couple Therapy in Improving Marital Satisfaction and Adjustment of Couples

Abstract

Background and Aim: Solution-focused therapy is a branch of the postmodern approach in the field of family and couple therapy and focuses on finding solutions to problems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of solution-focused couple therapy on marital satisfaction and adjustment of couples. Methods: The present study was quasi-experimental with experimental and control groups and pretest-posttest and one-month follow-up, and its statistical population consisted of couples who visited Mehravar Counseling Center of Tehran in 2016. After screening with marital satisfaction Scale (Fowers and Olson, 1993) and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier, 1976), we selected 20 non-adjustment couples using the purposive method, and randomly replaced 10 couples in the experimental group and 10 couples in the control group. The experimental group received eight sessions of solution-based couple therapy interventions in a group, and the control group was placed on a waiting list. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated that the solution-focused couple therapy significantly increased marital satisfaction (F= 10.68, P= 0.002) and marital adjustment (F= 13.58, P= 0.001) and the results were stable in the follow-up phase (P=0.05). Conclusion: Based on the findings, solution-focused couple therapy could be a suitable treatment to increase marital satisfaction and adjustment in couples.