Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Marital Intimacy in Methadone Maintenance Treatment Patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on marital intimacy in individuals undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments. The study sample consisted of 60 individuals with opioid use disorder undergoing methadone maintenance treatment, who had visited addiction treatment clinics during the first six months of 2022. Participants were selected using convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy) and a control group. The research instrument was the Walker and Thompson Marital Intimacy Questionnaire (1983), and data were analyzed using analysis of variance. The findings indicated that, after controlling for the pre-test effect, the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on marital intimacy was statistically significant. Furthermore, at the follow-up stage, there was a significant difference in marital intimacy scores between the control and experimental groups. However, based on the mean scores of marital intimacy, no significant difference was observed between the effectiveness of the two interventions.