Comparing the effectiveness of positive psychology intervention and existential therapy on functional flexibility, meaning of life, and family functioning in conflicted couples

Abstract

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of positive psychology intervention and existential therapy on functional flexibility, meaning of life, and family functioning in conflicting couples. The research method was a semi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test design and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of this study was all conflicting couples referring to counseling and psychological services centers in District 2 of Tehran in 1404. Using purposive sampling method, 85 couples (170 people) were selected from the referrals of counseling centers based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study and the score obtained in marital conflict. From them, 36 couples (72 people) were selected by simple random method and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group (12 couples in each experimental group and 12 couples in the control group). The instruments used in the study were: Barati and Sanaei's Marital Conflict Questionnaire (1379), Connor and Davidson's Flexibility (2003), the Meaning of Life Questionnaire (2006), and Epstein et al.'s Family Functioning (1983). After selecting the sample in the pre-test stage, the participants of all three groups answered the research questionnaires. In the next stage, positive psychology intervention was implemented for the first experimental group and existential therapy for the second experimental group, and the control group remained on the waiting list and did not receive any psychological intervention until the post-test. At the end of the training period, the research questionnaires were answered again and a follow-up was conducted in the following three months to examine the stability of the intervention effects. After the end of the research stages, one couple was excluded from the positive psychology intervention group according to the exclusion criteria and the information of 11 couples was reviewed. Also, in existential therapy, two couples were excluded from the study due to absence of more than two sessions and the information of 10 couples was reviewed, but the control group consisted of 12 couples who were present at all stages. Finally, data analysis was performed on 33 couples. Data analysis was performed using the mixed analysis of variance method. The results showed that both interventions had a significant effect on functional flexibility, meaning of life, and family functioning compared to the control group (p < 0.01). In the functional flexibility variable, both interventions had a similar and stable effect. However, in the variables of meaning in life and family functioning, existential therapy showed significantly greater effectiveness than positive psychology at the post-test and follow-up stages (p < 0.0005). The results suggest that although both approaches are beneficial in reducing marital conflict, existential therapy can have a deeper and more lasting effect by addressing fundamental existential concepts.