The Effectiveness of Emotional Schema Therapy on Insecure Attachment Styles, Emotional Regulation, and Cognitive Flexibility in Couples on the Brink of Divorce

Determining the effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on insecure attachment styles, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility in couples on the verge of divorce

A randomized, parallel-group, controlled clinical trial was conducted on 28 individuals (14 couples) on the verge of divorce. Simple randomization was used for randomization.

This study is being conducted at the Hamdeli Psychology Clinic in Semnan and involves couples on the verge of divorce. Participants are randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group, which receives emotional schema therapy, and the control group, which only follows the center's routine programs.

Inclusion criteria: The couple must be between 25 and 45 years old, the couple must be on the verge of divorce and have a case pending in counseling centers or family court, and the couple must not have psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Exclusion criteria: Participants must not have severe psychiatric illnesses, drug or alcohol addiction.

In this study, the experimental group will participate in 12 90-minute sessions over a month, designed based on the principles of emotional schema therapy. The content of these sessions includes identifying maladaptive schemas, processing negative emotions, and strengthening emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility in couple relationships. In contrast, the control group will only receive the center's routine programs and will not receive any specialized therapeutic intervention related to the research topic.

Insecure attachment styles, emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility

In this study, 28 people (14 couples) will be randomly divided into two groups: intervention and control. For this purpose, a simple random allocation method will be used. First, each of the 14 couples will be given a unique number from 1 to 14. These numbers will then be entered into the Random Allocation Software (RAS). The software will randomly select 7 numbers and assign them to the intervention group. The remaining 7 numbers will be assigned to the control group. To ensure that the randomization is carried out correctly and to prevent any bias, the allocation process will be carried out by an independent person who is not involved in the research. This randomization method ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being placed in one of the groups and that the number of people in each group is balanced.

In this study, blinding is done one-way, so that participants are unaware of the type of intervention they are receiving. To this end, all participants attend therapy sessions that are identical in appearance and physical environment. Therapists, who are aware of the type of intervention, consistently implement the same procedure for all groups, and there are no obvious differences between sessions for participants. In order to maintain blinding, participants are not provided with information about the exact type of intervention. They are only informed that they are participating in a study to investigate the effectiveness of emotional schema therapy. No additional explanation of the details of the treatments is given to participants until the end of the study to reduce the effects of bias.

In this study, data and documentation will be shared in accordance with ethical principles and confidentiality considerations. Individual data of participants will only be published after removing identifying information and in the form of anonymous data. The original data, including the results related to the research variables, will be made available to qualified researchers in the form of a structured dataset without personal information. In addition to quantitative data, methodological documentation of the research, including the study protocol, data collection methods, intervention implementation instructions, and tools used, will also be shared.

Data and documentation from this study will be available for one month after the publication of the final results. This time frame is intended to ensure thorough data analysis and ethical sharing of information.

The data and documentation of this research will be available only to researchers and experts in the relevant scientific field who work in academic institutions, research centers, and reputable scientific organizations. Access requests from independent researchers will also be considered if they submit a relevant research plan and receive approval from the research ethics committee. Access to data for people working in industry will only be possible if they cooperate with academic or research centers and comply with research ethics principles.

The data and documentation of this study may only be used for scientific and research purposes related to the subject of the study, and any commercial or promotional use is prohibited. Statistical analyses and meta-analyses are permitted in compliance with scientific and ethical principles. The use of data must be in such a way that the identity of the participants cannot be identified. Applicant researchers must submit a formal application, sign an ethical commitment letter, and receive approval from the research ethics committee. Reference to the original source is mandatory, and sharing of data with third parties without official permission is prohibited.

If you need data, please contact atisotoudeh9@gmail.com.

After receiving the request and reviewing it by the principal investigator, the data will be sent to the applicant within a maximum of one week, along with a commitment not to publish the data without the name of the principal investigator.