Technologies and various media have affected social institutions such as family and cause shape changes in relationships within the family. One of the means of communication that are easily and widely used in the household is Internet. With the entrance of media, especially the Internet to the family, changes in personal, social, public and private relationships are occurred. The use of social networks gets more and more popular day by day and it can be said that information technology has become an integral part of life. As social networks in diminish face-to-face relationship which can be especially seen in the relations between spouses. This study aims to evaluate the impact of social networks on the couple's COMMITMENT with descriptive and analytical method. Because the sample in this study is in synchrony with the population, a sample of married couples working at the Red Cross, Social Security Organization and medical universities are selected by convenient sampling technique. Questionnaires are provided after their approval, the sample size is 300 persons. Results show that there is no significant difference in using social networks between genders. There is an indirect significant relationship between using social networks COUPLES’ trust. There is an indirect significant relationship between using social networks COUPLES’ COMMITMENT. There is a direct significant relationship between using social networks COUPLES’ dependence. Finally it can be said that despite the positive results of using social networks, they also have negative consequences such as a kind of alienation called living alienation which is emerging. In other words self-alienated and alien self are occurring.

Aims Infertility is among the main problems in a marriage. It is associated with various psychological consequences, including the inability to establish a quality couple relationship as well as an unstable marital COMMITMENT. The present study aimed to investigate marital COMMITMENT and the relationship quality in fertile and infertile couples in 2016-2017. Methods & Materials This was an analytical cohort study. The statistical population consisted of all couples admitting to Sarem subspecialty Hospital in 2016. Two hundred people (96 infertile, 104 fertile) have been randomly selected as the samples. The completed the marital COMMITMENT and the relation to quality scales. After checking the normality of the data, the statistical analysis was performed using Pearson’ s correlation coefficient, Student t-test, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Findings The obtained data revealed a significant positive association between marital COMMITMENT and relationship quality in fertile and infertile couples (r=0. 27 and r=0. 18, respectively) (P<0. 05). However, this association was stronger in the fertile couples, compared with the infertile ones (relationship quality and marital COMMITMENT: P<0. 0121 and P<0. 0416, respectively). Moreover, the Student t-test and MANOVA results indicated significant differences in relationship quality and marital COMMITMENT between the two groups (P<0. 0001 and P<0. 002, respectively). Conclusion Infertility reduces couples’ COMMITMENT and negatively affects the quality of their relationships.

The rising rate of divorce in Iranian society is disconcerting. This study aimed at comparing religious COMMITMENT and forgiveness in couples on the rink of divorce and normal couples. The research method is descriptive and causal-comparative. To select the group of couples on the brink of divorce, firstly, the researcher referred to counseling units of the courts and law offices of various cities of the Guilan province. The cases of the couples who were qualified to enter the study were reviewed and of these cases 173 were selected based on availability. Then, 143 normal couples referring to the courts and offices of lawyers which the cause of their resort is nothing but the completions of the divorce case were selected through purposive sampling. They responded to Glock and Stark's Religious COMMITMENT questionnaire, and Ray and et al Forgiveness scale. Obtained data were analyzed by Pearson Chi-squares, independent t-test, multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed that the mean of forgiveness and religious COMMITMENT in couples on the brink of divorce and normal couples significantly different, that is, couples on the brink of divorce have less level of forgiveness than normal couples and in terms of faithfulness and ritual religious COMMITMENT, they scored less scores than normal couples. The remarkable difference between the two groups has important marital therapy implications for implementation of forgiveness-oriented intervention and also promotion of religious beliefs and ritual among couples in order to maintain and strengthen the marriage contract.

IntroductionDivorce and destructive conflicts between couples are major endangering issues that cause mental disorders and harms in the family and endanger communities’ psychological health. So, many social institutions try to take preventive measures in this regard. Conflict is an inevitable phenomenon of marital relationships, the result of which could be COUPLES’ aroused negative feelings. Couples may think differently about each other, and the difference would result in stress or tension among them. The decision for living together as a couple creates diverse expectations and various hopes, some of which will probably remain unfulfilled. Failing to manage different challenges or expectation of married life may lead to destructive behaviors. Destructive behaviors make worse the situation, make couples dissatisfied, and even in some cases may result in such behaviors as insulting, shouting, and criticizing the other one. If one of the couples face the negative behaviors, probably shows similar or worse behaviors. Several therapeutic methods have been proposed for helping couples to solve their conflicts, among of which is acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy. Acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy is a psychological method that aims helping those who experience a long-lasting problem or pain. Some studies have shown that acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy can positively impact on such marital variables as the quality of life, compatibility between couples, intimacy, marital satisfaction, interpersonal conflicts, and psychological distresses. Many scholars have paid attention to marital conflicts, since more examining feelings, behaviors, and cognition can help find more solutions for marital challenges. This research, then, tried to investigate the impact of acceptance and devotion couples therapy on marital conflict among those who have applied for divorce. The study tries to answer the following questions:Does acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy decrease the marital conflicts among the couples applying for divorce?Do the impacts of acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy on decreasing the marital conflicts last to the follow-up phase?MethodThis semi-experimental research used a pre-test, post-test, and a follow-up design. The statistical population consisted of all couples applying for divorce and referring to Andisheh Counseling Center of Tabriz, Iran, from May to December 2021. According Cohen’s table, 30 couples were selected as members of the sample. The couples were divided randomly into experimental and control groups (15 couples in each group). The experimental groups were trained using acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy over 10 sessions of 90 minutes, twice a week (and a follow-up session), and the control group did not receive any treatmen and were told that they were on the waiting list. Barati and Sanaei’s (2000) revised Marital Conflicts Questionnaire that includes 54 items was used to measure the type and extent of conflicts in marital relationships. The questionnaire has content validity. Its reliability coefficient of the questionnaire in was calculated using Cronbach's alpha to be 0.91. The collected data were analyzed at descriptive and inferential levels. Mean and standard deviation were used for the descriptive part and mixed model ANOVA was used for the inferential part of data analysis.ResultsThe average age of the participants was 34.34 and their marriage duration was 3 to 24 years. Most participants had been married for 3 to 6 years. Of 30 couples, 26.56% had no children, 26.55% had one child, 33.44% had two children, 9% had three children, and 3.35% had four children. Regarding degrees, of the 30 male participants, 3.4% had PhD, 20% had a MA/MSc degree, 26.5% had a BA/Bsc degree, 13.6% had an associate degree, and 36.7% had diploma. Of the 30 female participants, 16.6% had a MA/MSc degree, 46.6% had a Ba/Bsc degree, 3.4% had an associate degree, and 33.4% had a diploma. Descriptive statistics showed that the average score for the subscales and the overall marital conflict have decreased in the experimental group in post-test and follow-up tests, but no changes can be seen in the control group. Moreover, the significance of the difference between the groups regarding the scores was evaluated through mixed ANOVA, the normal distribution of the data was tested through Mauchly’s Test of Sphericity, and the interaction effect was measured through Wilk’s lambda test. Since both were insignificant, the data are normally distributed and the homogeneity of variances is valid. The analysis of the variance of intergroup and intragroup effects regarding marital conflicts in different situations showed the reduction of conflicts between couples in the experimental group (F=108.110, p=0.0001) and the stability of the results in the follow-up phase (F=39.40, p=0.001). Therefore, regarding Question 1 of the study, it can be said that acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy had reduced the marital conflict between couples in the experimental group over time. Regarding Question 2 of the study, the stability of the effectiveness of the intervention over time was approved.Discussion and ConclusionThe results showed that acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy reduces marital conflicts. The difference between marital conflicts in the experimental and control groups after the intervention is significant; that is, the average score of marital conflicts was lower at the post-test of the experimental group. According to Cohen, the effect size of 40% is medium. The effect size of this study was 49%, meaning that the effect is valid after three months. Accordingly, implementing each of the six stages of acceptance and COMMITMENT couples therapy (experiential avoidance, acceptance, cognitive dissonance, being present, self-monitoring, and values) improves the damage caused to different dimensions of the COUPLES’ behavior, cognition, emotion, and relationship. This therapy increases COUPLES’ intimacy, reduces their marital conflicts, improves the quality of their communication, and enhances their marital satisfaction.

Family is the main core of every community and it is the focus of well-being and mental health, not just a place for providing emotional, physical, and spiritual development of its members, but it is also the origin of human emotions and the heart of the most intimate interpersonal relationships. The aim of this research was the study the effectiveness of couples therapy based on acceptance and COMMITMENT and emotional focused couples therapy on reducing alexithymia and improve marital intimacy in Arak City. For this purpose, during a quasi-experimental research in form of pretest-posttest and control group 90 couples who referred to Azad University counseling center with convenience method were selected and were assigned randomly divided into three experimental groups and the control group. Experimental group received couples therapy based on acceptance and COMMITMENT for ten sessions. Groups were tested before and after the completion and follow-up in terms of alexithymia and intimacy. The results showed that couples therapy based on acceptance and COMMITMENT and emotionally focused couple therapy have been significantly effective on alexithymia and intimacy. It seems that attention to couples therapy based on acceptance and COMMITMENT and emotionally focused couple therapy in counseling environment and family psychotherapy are of high importance.

Aims Infertility is one of the main problems in a marriage, which can have various psychological consequences, including the inability to establish quality relationship between the couples and the instability of their marital COMMITMENT. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between marital COMMITMENT and relationship quality of fertile couples compared with infertile couples. Instrument & Methods In this descriptive cohort study conducted between 2015 and 2016, 170 fertile (N=89) and infertile (N=81) men and women (infertile) referred to Sarem Hospital were selected, using available sampling. The instrument of study was marital COMMITMENT questionnaire and couples’ relationship quality questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS 19, using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Student t-test. Findings There was a significant difference in the quality of relationship and all its subscales except the attention paid to the spouse as well as only in the subscale of personal COMMITMENT among the subscales of marital COMMITMENT of fertile and infertile couples (p<0. 05). In both groups, there was a positive and significant correlation between marital COMMITMENT and quality of life, which was stronger in the fertile group (r=0. 27) (r=0. 28) than in infertile group (r=0. 18; p<0. 05). Conclusion Infertility decreases the level of couples’ personal COMMITMENT to marital life and can undermine the quality of their relationship.

Background: Dysfunctional families suffer from poor communication, negative relationships, and countless conflicts. Achieving goals is challenging in such families and requires significant energy. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and COMMITMENT therapy (ACT) and integrated behavioral couples therapy (IBCT) in improving intimacy and family functioning in divorce-seeking couples in Bushehr City, Iran in 2020. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study based on a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The study population consisted of all married couples applying for a divorce in Bushehr City, Iran. A total of 45 couples were selected as the sample through convenience sampling and were randomly and equally assigned to three groups. The research instruments included, Walker and Thompson intimacy scale, and the McMaster family assessment device. The data were statistically analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance via SPSS software. The Bonferroni post hoc test was used to determine the mean difference between the groups. Results: The results showed a significant difference between ACT and IBCT groups with the control group in the posttest scores for intimacy and family functioning (P<0. 001). Moreover, there was no significant difference between ACT and IBCT in improving intimacy and family functioning in divorce-seeking couples. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, both ACT and IBCT can be used for improving intimacy and family functioning between divorce-seeking couples.

Background and Objective: Many couples face challenges in maintaining healthy relationships, leading to decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of acceptance and COMMITMENT therapy (ACT)-based couples therapy in enhancing marital quality of life and emotion regulation among distressed couples. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The population for this research consisted of distressed couples seeking counseling and psychological services at centers and clinics in Ahvaz City during the fall of 2023. Forty-eight of these couples were selected using a convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups of 24: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of ACT-based couples therapy, while the control group received no intervention. Data was collected using marital quality of life and emotion regulation scales. Data analysis was conducted using repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS-25. Results: Results indicated a significant difference between the ACT-based couples therapy group and the control group in terms of marital quality of life and emotion regulation at the post-test (P<0.001). Findings revealed that ACT-based couples therapy led to an increase in marital quality of life and emotion regulation among distressed couples (P<0.001). Conclusions: ACT-based couples therapy was found to be effective in improving marital quality of life and emotion regulation among distressed couples. It is recommended as a potential intervention for couples seeking to address relationship difficulties and enhance their overall satisfaction