The effectiveness of attachment-based couples therapy on intimacy, sexual satisfaction, empathy and marital self‐disclosure of women with marital conflict

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of attachment-oriented couple therapy on intimacy, sexual satisfaction, empathy and marital self-disclosure of women with marital conflict in Isfahan city. The method of the current research was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test with a control group and a 2-month follow-up phase. The statistical population was all married women with marital conflicts who referred to counseling centers and psychological services in Isfahan city in 2022. In the first stage, using the purposeful sampling method, 30 people had marital conflicts, they were selected and then they were replaced by a simple random method in an experimental group (15 people) and a control group (15 people) and they were asked the marital conflicts questionnaire of Sanai Zaker et al. (2008), Thompson and Walker's Marital Intimacy Scale (1983), Meston and Trapnell's Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire for Women (2005), Jolliffe and Farrington's Basic Empathy Scale (2006) and Waring et al.'s Marital Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (1998) responded. Data were also analyzed through mixed analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test using SPSS-26 software. The results showed that the mentioned treatment had a significant effect on the intimacy, sexual satisfaction, empathy and marital self-disclosure of women with marital conflict in the post-test and follow-up phase compared to the control group (P<0.05). Attachment-based couple therapy can be used as a suitable treatment method to improve intimacy, sexual satisfaction, empathy and marital self-disclosure of women with marital conflict in counseling centers and psychological services.