Enhancing Empathic Functioning in Married Individuals Experiencing Marital Conflict Through Mentalization-Based Therapy in Iran.
Zeinab Mousapour, Hossein Ghamari Kivi, Ali Rezaeisharif et al.
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In 30 seconds
This randomized controlled study examined whether Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) changed self-reported empathy among 30 married individuals experiencing marital conflict in Iran. Participants were allocated to MBT or a control group; the intervention comprised 12 weekly 45-minute sessions. Empathy was measured with the 28-item Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index before and after treatment. After adjustment for baseline empathy, the MBT group had higher posttest empathy than the control group (F(1, 27) = 12.643, p = 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.319). The authors describe this as preliminary evidence of an association with improved empathy.
Key findings
- After controlling for pretest empathy, posttest empathy was higher in the MBT group than in the control group (F(1, 27) = 12.643, p = 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.319).
- The intervention consisted of 12 weekly 45-min MBT sessions.
- Empathy was assessed using the 28-item Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index.
Why it matters
Empathy may be relevant to how couples understand one another during conflict. These findings suggest that MBT could be associated with improved self-reported empathy in married individuals experiencing marital conflict, offering a potential therapeutic outcome for further study. The result concerns an empathy measure, however, and does not establish that therapy resolves marital conflict or improves other relationship outcomes.
What to keep in mind
The study included 30 participants and assessed self-reported empathy; the abstract provides no follow-up results, so persistence of the change is unknown.