Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Bowen Family Therapy Approach and McMaster’s Model on Relationship Beliefs in Couples Applying for Divorce

Introduction: Dysfunctional relationship beliefs are one of the factors affecting marital dissatisfaction in couples applying for the divorce. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of McMaster and Bowen family therapy approaches on the relationship beliefs of couples applying for the divorce. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental method including a pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all couples applying for the divorce and referred by the family court to counseling centers of Rasht city in 2017. Through the available sampling method, forty-eight couples who meet research entering criteria were selected as study and randomly assigned to three groups of sixteen people; in the end, the number reduced to ten people in each group due to Exit criteria. Two methods of McMaster and Bowen family therapy approaches were performed for Eight sessions of one hundred twenty minutes each for two experimental groups; while the control group did not receive any intervention. After completing the sessions, the post-test was applied to all groups. The instrument of this study was the Edelson & Epstein’s Relationship Beliefs Inventory. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and LSD post hoc test by SPSS22. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance and LSD post hoc test showed that Bowen Family Therapy and McMaster’s model had a significant effect on couples’ relationship beliefs while Bowen’s approach was more effective. (P = 0.037) Conclusions: The results showed that Bowen family therapy was more effective than McMaster’s model on relationship beliefs in couples applying for the divorce. Therefore, this approach can be used to reduce dysfunctional relationship beliefs in couples applying for the divorce.