The Effectiveness of "Systemic-Behavioral Couple Therapy" on Sexual Satisfaction and Self- Differentiation in Each Couple with Marital Conflict

Introduction: Marital conflict is caused by the incompatibility of the couple in the type of needs and the method of satisfying it and irresponsible behavior towards the marital relationship and marriage. One of the treatments can be couple therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of "Systemic-Behavioral Couple Therapy" on self-differentiation and sexual satisfaction in couples with marital conflict. Methods: The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pre-test design, post-test with control and follow-up groups. The statistical population of this study consisted of couples with marital conflict who referred to 2 health centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran in winter of 2020 (due to easier access of researchers to these two centers). The “Marital Conflict Questionnaire Revised” was used to identify conflicting couples. 20 couples (40 people) who had a score of 115 or more than 270 of the total questionnaire, were selected by simple random sampling method and after matching, were divided into two groups of intervention and control. The instruments used in the study included demographic information, "Index of Sexual Satisfaction", “Differentiation of Self Inventory” and “Marital Conflict Questionnaire Revised”. The validity of the instruments was measured by the content validity ratio method and the reliability by the internal consistency method by calculating the Cronbach's coefficient. "Systemic-Behavioral Couple Therapy" was performed on the intervention group in 10 sessions of 90 minutes once a week. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS. 21. Results: Intervention on female sexual satisfaction (P <0.05, F = 15.00), male sexual satisfaction (P <0.05, F = 12.27), female differentiation (P <0.05, F= 22.51) and male differentiation (P <0/05, F=16.92) was effective and this effect remained stable in the follow-up stage.  Conclusions: “Systemic-Behavioral Couple Therapy” has been effective in increasing the level of sexual satisfaction and differentiation of each couple. It is suggested to use the above method as a practical and effective treatment method to improve their sexual satisfaction and differentiation in couples with marital conflict.