Comparison of the Effectiveness of Structural Couple Therapy and Redecision Couple Therapy in the Reduction of Marital Conflicts among Infertile Couples

Background and Objective: Marital conflicts result from the disharmony of husband and wife needs and the way to meet them, egocentrism, difference in requests, and irresponsible behavioral schemas for marital relationship and marriage. The current study aimed to compare the effectiveness of structural couple therapy and redecision couple therapy in the reduction of marital conflicts among the infertile couples of Sanandaj, Iran. Materials and Methods: The present semi-experimental study was carried out on two experimental groups and a control group using a pretest and posttest design. The statistical population of this study were the infertile couples referring to the infertility center of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj in 2018 who were selected through convenient sampling and randomly assigned to three groups of 12 subjects. The marital conflicts questionnaire was used in order to collect data. The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS software (version 22). Results: The obtained results of the present study showed the effects of structural couple therapy and redecision couple therapy on decreased cooperation (F=14.17; P 0.001), decreased sexual relationship (F=28.53; P 0.009), increasing emotional reactions (F=16.99; P 0.001), increasing personal relationships with one’s relatives (F=24.02; P 0.001), decreasing family relationships with spouse’s friends and relatives (F=21.81; P 0.001), separating financial affairs from each other (F=18.70; P 0.001), and decreasing effective relationship (F=28.53, P 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the three experimental and control groups in increasing children support (F=0.091; P 0.05). There was a significant difference regarding the effectiveness of Minuchin’s structural couple therapy and redecision couple therapy in decreasing marital conflicts (P 0.001). Conclusion: The obtained results of the present study showed the importance of couple-therapy interventions through redecision in decreasing marital conflicts among infertile couples. Generally, the results indicated that Minuchin’s structural couple therapy is more effective than redecision couple therapy in decreasing marital conflicts among infertile couples.