International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion Management Strategies based on Schema Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy on Improving Emotion Regulation of Young Couples with Marital Conflict

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Alireza Darvishnejad-Sicaroudi 1
Farhad Asghari 2
Mohammad Reza Zarbakhsh-Bahri 1
Azim Qasemzadeh 3
1 Department of Psychology, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
2 Department of Counseling, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
3 Department of Counseling, PaM.C., Islamic Azad University, Parsabad Moghan, Iran
10.30491/ijbs.2025.505338.2199
Abstract
Introduction: Couples' relationships always face many problems, and one of the things that increases the quality of marital relationships is emotion regulation. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion management strategies based on Schema Therapy (ST) and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) on improving emotion regulation in young couples with marital conflict.
Method: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on couples with marital conflict referring to Rasht counseling centers during the months of May, June and July 2022. 30 couples were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: EFT, ST, and control. The two experimental groups each received 10 90-minute treatment sessions with one session held weekly for a total duration of 10 weeks, while the control group did not receive any therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, a follow-up phase was incorporated into the design. The Gross Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) was used to collect data, and data analysis was performed using multivariate analysis of covariance tests in SPSS-24 software.
Results: Findings revealed that EFT was more effective than ST in improving couples' emotion regulation (P < 0.05). However, the results of the post-hoc test at the follow-up stage showed that the mean difference was not statistically significant (P ≤ 0.13).
Conclusion: Both ST and EFT methods were effective in improving couples' emotional regulation in the post-test phase, and the effect of EFT was greater than that of ST. However, no significant difference was found between these two treatments in the follow-up phase, and their effects were shown to be the same in the long term. It is suggested that the treatment be followed up continuously from time to time for the therapeutic effect to last.
 
Keywords
Emotion Management Strategies
Schema Therapy
Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy
Emotion Regulation
Young Couples
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International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume 19, Issue 2
Summer 2025
Pages 90-99