Effects of Marriage Preparation based on Satir’s Communication Model and Narrative Therapy on the Empathy and Emotional Expression of Single Young Adults

Background: Empathy and emotional expression as important psychological elements play a key role in the marital satisfaction of couples. The pre-marriage counseling models are designed to increase positive coupleschr('39') communication behaviors and emotional style. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study was to compare the Effects of marriage preparation based on Satir’s communication model and narrative therapy on empathy and emotional expression of single young adults. Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The research population included all girls and boys on the age of marriage in Kashan who referred to Vesta Counseling Clinic in Kashan from March 20, to Sep. 22, 2019. The participants were a total of 45 persons who were selected by convenient sampling and were randomly assigned to three groups (narrative therapy intervention group, Satir intervention group, and   control group) each with 15 clients.  The participants in the two intervention groups attended 11 sessions of narrative therapy and Satir communication therapy, while the members of the control group did not receive any intervention. The instruments used to collect the data were the Emotion Expression Scale (EES), and the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (QMEE). The research hypotheses were tested using the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with SPSS 22 software. Results: The results of the study showed that narrative therapy (F=53.97; P=0.0001) was more effective than the Satir’s communication model (F=33.82; P=0.0001) in terms of emotional expression. Both intervention groups had higher mean scores on emotional expression than the control group (F=29.005; P=0.0001). Besides, the participants in the narrative therapy group gained a higher mean score for empathy on the post-test (F=101.12; P=0.0001) compared to the participants in the Satir group (F=84.93; P=0.0001) and both interventions were more effective compared to the control group (F=68.27; P=0.0001). Conclusion: The narrative therapy was more effective for improving both emotional expression and empathy compared to the Satir’s communication model. Consolers of Family and marriage are recommended to apply these pre-marital models for young single adults in counseling centers.