Effectiveness of Structural Family Therapy on Emotional Reactivity and Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Women with Experience of Spousal Infidelity

Maryam Hassani-Nejad; AbdolRasoul Kaviani

Authors

Maryam Hassani-Nejad Department of General Psychology, Marv.C., Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran. Author
AbdolRasoul Kaviani Department of Psychology, Marv.C., Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran.

Keywords:

Structural family therapy, Emotional reactivity, Relationship obsessive-compulsive symptoms, Marital infidelity, Women

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of structural family therapy in reducing emotional reactivity and relationship obsessive-compulsive symptoms among women with experience of spousal infidelity. This applied quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with an experimental group and a wait-list control group. The statistical population consisted of married women who had experienced marital infidelity by their husbands and had sought counseling and psychological services at Nirvana Counseling and Psychological Services Center in Shiraz, Iran, in 2024. Using convenience sampling, 34 eligible women were recruited and randomly assigned to the structural family therapy group (n = 17) or control group (n = 17). The experimental group participated in nine weekly structural family therapy sessions, each lasting approximately 75 minutes, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected using the Emotion Reactivity Scale and the Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in IBM SPSS Statistics version 26, with pretest scores entered as covariates. The significance level was set at p < .05. After controlling for pretest scores, structural family therapy produced a statistically significant reduction in emotional reactivity compared with the control group, F(1, 31) = 13.499, p = .001, partial η² = .303, with an observed statistical power of .945. The intervention also significantly reduced relationship obsessive-compulsive symptoms, F(1, 31) = 12.162, p = .009, partial η² = .282, with an observed power of .922. Thus, group membership accounted for 30.3% of the adjusted variance in posttest emotional reactivity and 28.2% of the adjusted variance in posttest relationship obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Structural family therapy was effective in reducing both emotional reactivity and relationship obsessive-compulsive symptoms among women who had experienced spousal infidelity. By restructuring dysfunctional interaction patterns, clarifying family boundaries, and strengthening the marital subsystem, this approach may help reduce affective instability and obsessive relationship-centered concerns in women coping with marital betrayal.

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