The Effectiveness of Group Therapy Based on Acceptance and Commitment on Metacognitive Beliefs and Psychological Flexibility of Women Damaged by Marital Infidelity

Background: Marital infidelity has many corrosive psychological consequences for women damaged by marital infidelity. Meanwhile, metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility are psychological variables what can be negatively affected by marital infidelity. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy on metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility of women damaged by marital infidelity. Methods: The present study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all women damaged by marital infidelity who referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal of Sangar in 2018. Among them, 30 women were selected by convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned to experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The data collection tools included demographic questionnaire, Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ-30; Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004), and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II; Bond et al., 2011). Acceptance and commitment group therapy was administered to the experimental groups in 8 sessions of 2 hours weekly. Finally, the data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results indicated that the acceptance and commitment group therapy significantly affect metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility (p<0.01). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, acceptance and commitment group therapy can reduce negative consequence of marital infidelity and increase adjustment in women damaged by marital infidelity by enhancing their metacognitive beliefs and psychological flexibility. Therefore, it is recommended to increase adjustment in women damaged by marital infidelity