The effect of emotion-focused based psycho-education program for attachment injury: A mixed methods study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of emotion-focused based psychoeducation program on the self-forgiveness and relational resilience levels of married women with attachment injuries. The model of this research is an experimental (mixed) method design, which is one of the mixed method research models. The quantitative part of the study was designed as a pre-test, post-test, follow-up test placebo control group experimental design, and the qualitative part was designed as a case study. The quantitative data of the study were obtained with the Marital Attachment Injuries Scale, the Self-Forgiveness Scale and the Relational Resilience Scale, while the qualitative data were obtained with the Semi-Structured Interview form prepared by the researcher. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously. Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted to determine the construct validity of the Self-Forgiveness Scale, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of the resulting model. As a result of this study, the Self-Forgiveness Scale, consisting of 19 items and 3 factors (Self-acceptance, self-blame, strain), was obtained to measure the self-forgiveness levels of married individuals. In the experimental study, a total of 33 married women participants were studied in three different groups as Experiment I (11 participants), Experiment II (11 participants) and Placebo Control (11 participants). Within the scope of the research, an Emotion-Focused Psycho-Education Program consisting of 8 sessions was applied to the participants in both experimental groups, and a 4-session application independent of these applications was applied to the placebo control group. All participants were given a pre-test before the experimental process, a post-test after the experimental process ended and a follow-up test 6 weeks after the post-test. While the experimental process continued, the participants filled in the Semi-Structured Participant Diaries and the leaders filled in the Semi-Structured Leader Diaries. To test the effectiveness of the experimental process in the analysis of the data, a two-factor ANOVA was used, quantitative data were analyzed using the SPSS 26 program and qualitative data were analyzed using the MAXQDA 20 program, and themes and codes were extracted from the data obtained from the reflective diaries. According to the findings, there was a significant difference in favor of the Experimental groupI in the relational resilience scores, there was no significant difference in favor of the Experimental groupI in the self-acceptance and strain scores, which are the sub-dimensions of self-forgiveness, but the qualitative findings showed that the participants were able to deal effectively with the negative emotions and thoughts caused by the attachment injuries they experienced in these dimensions. It was seen that they could cope. When these findings are interpreted together, it is seen that there is an increase, albeit at a low level, in the self-acceptance and strain sub-dimensions as a result of the experimental application. As a result of the intervention program applied to the experimental group 2 to test the reproducibility of the results, a statistically significant difference was obtained in the self-acceptance and strain sub-dimensions in this group.