The Comparison of Effectiveness of Acceptance-Commitment Therapy with Reality Therapy on Covert Relational Aggression in Women with Marital Burnout

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to comparison of effectiveness of acceptance-commitment therapy with reality therapy on covert relational aggression in women with marital burnout.Method: This semi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a follow-up period of two months. The statistical population consisted of all women who visited counseling centers in Tehran in 2022. In the first stage, women with who scored of 73 or higher on marital Marital Burnout Questionnaire developed by Pines (2003) were selected and using a convenience sampling method. These participants were randomly divided to two experimental groups (each group 15 people) and one control group (15 people). The groups underwent acceptance-commitment Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (8 sessions 90 minutes) and reality therapy (8 sessions 90 minutes). Data were collected using the Covert Communication Aggression Scale developed by and Carroll (2006). Analysis Data analysis was conducted using repeated measures analysis variance with repeated software software.Results: The results indicated that both interventions significantly affected covert relational aggression among women experiencing marital burnout (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that acceptance and commitment therapy was more effective in reducing covert relational aggression (P < 0.05).Discussion and conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Reality Therapy can be effective treatment methods for addressing covert relational aggression among women experiencing marital burnout in counseling centers.