Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive–Behavioral Group Counseling and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Emotional Styles in Women on the Verge of Divorce
Keywords:
group counseling, cognitive–behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, emotional styles, divorceAbstract
The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of group-based cognitive–behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on emotional styles in women on the verge of divorce. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest, and two-month follow-up assessments, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of women seeking divorce who referred to counseling centers in District 5 of Tehran during the second half of 2024. Using voluntary sampling, 45 participants were selected and randomly assigned to a cognitive–behavioral therapy group, an acceptance and commitment therapy group, or a control group, with 15 participants in each group. The interventions were delivered in 12 group sessions. Emotional styles were assessed using the Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire, measuring positive emotion expression, negative emotion expression, intimacy expression, and overall emotional styles. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and Tukey post-hoc tests. Inferential analyses indicated a significant main effect of time for both intervention groups, with large effect sizes, while no significant changes were observed in the control group. Both cognitive–behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy led to significant improvements in overall emotional styles, including increased positive emotion and intimacy expression and decreased negative emotion expression from pretest to posttest. Tukey post-hoc comparisons revealed that acceptance and commitment therapy produced significantly greater improvements than cognitive–behavioral therapy at posttest. Although a slight reduction in treatment effects was observed at the two-month follow-up, the improvements in both intervention groups remained statistically significant compared to baseline levels. The findings suggest that both cognitive–behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy are effective interventions for improving emotional styles in women on the verge of divorce, with acceptance and commitment therapy demonstrating superior and more sustained effects.
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