Abstract

Background and Aim: Schema therapy is a psychological treatment available for divorcing women. The present research was carried out with the purpose of studying the effectiveness of schema therapy-based group counseling on the quality of marital relationships, differentiation and hardiness among divorced women of veteran families. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design that included a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all women seeking divorce whose fathers were war veterans and referred to the consulting center affiliated to the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs in Neyshabur in the winter of 2018. Thirty women were enrolled using the available sampling method and then randomly assigned to either an experimental (n=15) or control (n=15) group. Counseling sessions were conducted for 11 sessions for the experimental group (2 hours, one weekly) and the control group did not received any intervention. The women then completed the quality of marriage questionnaire by Bassby, Cran, Larsson, and Kristensen (1995), self-differentiation Scouron and Friedlander (1999) and hardiness (1998). Results: Women applicants for divorce were matched in terms of demographic variables, such as age and length of marriage. Group counseling based on schema therapy had significant effects on differentiation and hardiness of divorced women (P<0.05). However, group counseling with schema therapy had no effect on the marital quality of divorced women (P>0.05). The effects of treatment were maintained after one month (p <0.05). Conclusion: Group counseling with the schema therapy procedure led to improved differentiation and hardiness of divorced women, and may be useful as a therapeutic intervention to improve the psychosocial situation of female applicants for divorce in relevant settings. © 2019 Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.