The Effectiveness of Emotion-Based Couple Therapy on Anger Rumination, Communicative Covert aggression and Emotional Styles of Couples with Domestic Violence Experiene

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Couples with domestic violence experience have many emotional and communication problems. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determine the effectiveness of emotion-based couple therapy on anger rumination, communication covert aggression and emotional styles of couples with domestic violence experience.

Methodology: The present research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The population of the present research was couples with domestic violence experience in Tehran city in 2023 year, which 16 couples were selected using purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to two equal groups. The experimental group underwent 8 sessions of 90 minute (one session per week) of emotion-based couple therapy, and the control group remained on the waiting list for training. The research instruments included the Anger Rumination Scale (Sukhodolski et al., 2001), Communication Covert Aggression Scale (Nelson and Carroll, 2006), Emotional Styles Questionnaire (Kesebir et al., 2019), and Violence Against Women Questionnaire (Haj-Yahia, 2000). The data of this study were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS version 26.

Findings: The results of this study showed that emotion-based couple therapy reduced anger rumination and communication covert aggression and increased emotional styles of couples with domestic violence experience (P<0.001).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, health professionals and therapists can use emotion-based couple therapy alongsidee other therapeutic methods to improve couples' emotional and communication characteristics, especially reducing anger rumination and communication covert aggression, and increasing emotional styles.