ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Falahati   M. (1)
Shafiabady   A. (*2)
Jajarmi   M. (1)
Mohamadipoor   M. (3)






(*2) Counseling Department, Education & Psychology Faculty, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
(1) Psychology Department, Humanities Faculty, Bojnord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran
(3) Psychology Department, Humanities Faculty, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Counseling Department, Education & Psychology Faculty, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Dehkade-ye Olampik, West Hemmat Highway, Tehran, Iran. Postal code: 1489684511
Phone: -
Fax: -
ashafiabady@yahoo.com

Article History

Received:  July  30, 2019
Accepted:  January 11, 2020
ePublished:  March 17, 2020

BRIEF TEXT


Happiness is one of the most important mental needs of mankind which has a major impact on personality and mental health.

… [1-8]. One of the most important goals of psychological research is to increase the mental health of families, especially the families of injured or vulnerable veterans. Women play a key role in ensuring the mental health of the family and society as the most important element of the family, and veterans are more likely to develop most of the injuries [9]. … [10-31]. Considering the impact of the quality of life of caregivers on the quality of life of veterans, addressing various aspects of the lives of veteran spouses, examining their physical and mental condition, solving the problems caused by taking care of the veteran, necessary training in veteran care, life skills training, participating in social and sports activities, and providing social support can enhance the quality of life and marital relationships of veterans’ spouses [32].

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and Logotherapy on the happiness of veterans' spouses.

This research was a semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design.

In this study, 60 spouses of veterans of Tehran were studied in 2017.

The subjects were selected from the spouses of the psychiatric veterans covered by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Tehran by the Poisson simple random sampling. The sample size was estimated 19 individuals for each group based on Cohen's table (at the error level of 0.05, confidence interval of 0.95 and maximum variance) [33]. The total number of samples was 57 cases, which increased to 60 people (20 people per group) due to possible attrition.

The demographic information questionnaire assessing information, such as age, education, number of children, occupation, etc., as well as the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire were used as research tools. In the pre-test phase, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire was given to the subjects and they were asked to read the questions carefully, to select the answers that were appropriate to their characteristics, and not to leave the question as unanswered as possible. The spouses of the veterans were then randomly assigned to two case groups and a control group (20 cases per group). Accordingly, the samples were randomly assigned to two groups of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and logotherapy, as well as one control group. … [34-38]. Each case group received group therapy by the researcher in nine 120-min sessions. One group received ACT, and the other group logotherapy, whereas the control group did not receive any treatment. After the treatment, the treated groups and the control group were subjected to the post-test. The overall structure of the treatment sessions was based on the ACT according to Hayes' guidelines [39] and logotherapy based on Frankel's guidelines [40]. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 statistical software using a one-way analysis of covariance and Tukey’s post-hoc test. Also, the normal distribution of data was tested by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

The mean age of the ACT, logotherapy, and control groups was 42.94 ±4.90, 44.3±3.98, and 44.80. 4.58 years, respectively. The average age of the spouses in the ACT, logotherapy, and control groups was 50.2 ± 50.2, 50.2 ±2.83, and 51.5 ±3.31 years, respectively. The mean percentage of injury in the ACT, logotherapy, and control groups was 39.25 ±16.49, 36.75 ±13.79, and 41.50 ±17.32, respectively.Also, 8.3% of the participants had got married between the years 1984-88, 40.0% between the years 1989-91, 31.7% between the years 1992-95, and 20.0% between the years 1996-2000. The highest level of education in the ACT group was diploma and in the logotherapy and control groups was secondary school. The highest educational level of the spouses in the ACT group was secondary school and in the logotherapy and control groups was a diploma. Regarding occupation, most respondents in all three groups were housewives and their spouses were retired. Considering the number of children, the ACT group had one child and the logotherapy and control groups had two children. The average happiness scores of all groups in the pretest stage were lower than the cutoff point (the case mean); however, the mean happiness scores of the logotherapy and control groups in the post-test phase increased from the cutoff point (the case mean). After adjustment for the effect of pre-test scores, there was a significant difference between the mean happiness scores of the studied groups in the post-test stage (F = 102.82; p <0.001; Table 1). In paired comparing, the ACT (p <0.001) and logotherapy (p = 0.008) groups were significantly different from the control group and the interventions caused a significant increase in the mean scores of happiness in these groups compared with the control group, but there was no significant difference between the two (ACT and logotherapy) groups (p <0.05) and the effectiveness of the two treatments was almost the same (Table 2).

The obtained findings were consistent with the findings of Falahati et al. [24], Honarparvaran et al. [25], Walser et al. [26], Ruiz [27], Grafami et al. [28], Ghanbari Zarandi et al. [29], Kang et al. [30] Jarsma et al. [31] and confirmed them. … [41-48].

It is suggested that more studies be conducted on this subject and its different dimensions using larger sample sizes and comparing the results with the results of the present study. It is also recommended to conduct a meta-analysis of the studies.

One of the main limitations of this research was the lack of follow-up due to the time limit.

Both ACT and logotherapy are effective in increasing the happiness of veterans' spouses.

The authors are grateful to the officials and staff of the Danesh Pajoohan Center and Martyr and Veteran Associations of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, Cultural Commission of the Martyr and Veteran Associations, Shahid Bahonar High School, Tehran, and the spouses of the veterans who participated in this research.

None declared.

This research received the ethics Committee of the Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd Branch (IR.IAU.BOJNOURD.REC.1398.006).

This research was extracted from a Ph.D. thesis.

TABLES and CHARTS

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