The Effectiveness of Imago Relationship Therapy on Marital Conflict, Suicidal Ideation, Emotional Regulation, and Resilience among Child Brides
Keywords:
Couple therapy: Imagination on couple conflict, Resilience, Emotion control, Suicidal thoughts, wife's childAbstract
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Imago Relationship Therapy on marital conflict, suicidal ideation, emotional regulation, and resilience among child brides.
Methods and Materials: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up phases alongside a control group. The statistical population consisted of married girls aged 12 to 18 years in Mashhad during 2024–2025. A total of 30 participants were selected through purposive and convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (15 participants in each group). Research instruments included the Sanaei and Barati Marital Conflict Questionnaire, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Gross and John Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of Imago Relationship Therapy, whereas the control group received no intervention. Data were collected across pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages and analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests in SPSS version 26.
Findings: The findings demonstrated that Imago Relationship Therapy significantly reduced marital conflict across all dimensions, including reduced cooperation, sexual dissatisfaction, emotional reactions, seeking children’s support, relationships with relatives, financial separation, and ineffective communication (P<0.001). The intervention also significantly increased resilience dimensions, including personal competence, trust in instincts, positive acceptance of change, control, and spiritual influences (P<0.001). In terms of emotional regulation, the results indicated increased cognitive reappraisal and decreased emotional suppression (P<0.001). Furthermore, suicidal ideation significantly declined in dimensions of desire for death, suicide preparedness, and actual suicidal tendency (P<0.001). The stability of treatment effects was confirmed at follow-up, as no significant differences were observed between post-test and follow-up scores.
Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that Imago Relationship Therapy is an effective psychological intervention for reducing marital conflicts and suicidal ideation while enhancing resilience and emotional regulation among child brides. Through increasing empathy, improving awareness of maladaptive relational patterns, and facilitating healthier emotional interactions, this approach contributes to better psychological well-being and marital functioning. Therefore, implementing Imago-based therapeutic programs in family counseling and support centers may play a substantial role in reducing the psychological and social harms associated with child marriage.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Zohre Eshrati, Abolfazl Bakhshipour, Hossein Mahdian (Author)
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