Comparison of the Effectiveness of Transdiagnostic and Solution-Focused Therapies on Decision-Making Quality in Married Women

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of transdiagnostic therapy and solution-focused therapy on the decision-making quality in married women in Isfahan.

Materials and Methods: The research methodology was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest-follow-up design, and the sample included 48 married women who were purposively selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and then randomly assigned into three groups of 16 (two experimental and one control group). While the control group was on a waiting list and did not receive any training, the transdiagnostic experimental group underwent 10 90-minute sessions according to the integrated transdiagnostic therapy protocol by Barlow et al. (2011), and the solution-focused experimental group underwent 8 90-minute sessions according to the protocol adapted from 'Key Concepts in Solution-Focused Therapy' by De Shazer (1985). All three groups filled out the relevant questionnaire at three stages: pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The measuring instrument used in this study was the Akhbari Decision Making Quality Questionnaire (2015). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance).

Findings: The results showed that both therapeutic groups, compared to the control group, improved decision-making quality; however, transdiagnostic therapy was more effective than solution-focused therapy.

Conclusion: Thus, both therapies can be used to enhance decision-making quality in married women.