| Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of
acceptance and commitment therapy adopted for couples with integrative
couple therapy in improving marital conflicts of couples with breast cancer.
Methods: In this semi-experimental study, a pre-post design was used. Using
available sampling, we approached 200 couples facing breast cancer referred to
the educational and therapeutic center of Alzahra Hospital in Tabriz and
enrolled 45 couples with the highest scores on the Marital Conflict
Questionnaire in the study. They were randomly divided into three groups: two
experimental groups and one control group. One of the experimental groups
received 8 consecutive 90-minute sessions of acceptance and commitment
therapy adopted for couples, and the other experimental group received 16
sessions of integrative couple therapy. The control group did not receive any
intervention. The research tool was the Marital Conflict Questionnaire. Data
were analyzed using analysis of covariance.
Results: The treatment based on acceptance and commitment therapy was
effective in reducing marital conflict (P < 0.05). Integrative couple therapy, too,
reduced marital conflict in women with cancer (P < 0.05). There was no
significant difference between the two treatment modalities (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Both acceptance and commitment therapy and integrative couple
therapy are effective approaches to solving couples’ individual and
communicative problems.
Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Integrated Couple Therapy,
Marital Conflicts |