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Author(s): Ezeani Paschal Tochukwu (Ph.D.), Asuzu Chioma C. (Prof.).

Volume/Issue: Volume 9, Issue 1 (2026)

Page No: 36-54

Journal: British Journal of Education, Learning and Development Psychology (BJELDP)

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Abstract:

Marital dysfunction (MD) occurs when there are unresolved conflicts between married individuals steadily over time. The rates of MD have increased in Nigeria, particularly in Anambra State (AS). Previous studies focused more on causes of MD among married individuals with little attention to interventions such as family system therapy (FST) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to manage the problem. This study, was carried out to determine the effects of FST and CBT on the management of MD among married individuals in AS. The moderating effects of self-esteem (SE) and socio-economic status (SES) were also investigated. The study was anchored to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design with a 3×3×3 factorial matrix was adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. The 3 senatorial districts (South, North and Central) in AS were enumerated. The simple random sampling technique was used to select one Local Government Area (LGA) each from the 3 senatorial districts and a town from the selected LGA. 3 town halls (one per LGA) where people gather were selected. 384 MDs who were willing to participate were screened with Marital Dysfunction scale (MDS) ( =0.78), and 89 who scored 30 points and above on MDS were selected. The town halls were randomly assigned into FST (30), CBT (30), and control (29) groups. The instruments used were MD Test ( =0.81), SE ( =0.80) and SES ( =0.81) scales. The treatment and intervention guides lasted 8 weeks. The data were analysed using Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni pair-wise test at 0.05 level of significance. The participants’ age was 28.0±2.1 years, and 65.0% were female. There was a significant main effect of treatment on MD (F(2;61)=13.194, partial η2 =.302). The participants in the FST group had the lowest mean score (31.10) on MD, followed by those in the CBT (31.56) and control (40.23) groups. This implies that participants in the FST group benefit more than other groups. There was a significant main effect of SE on married individuals’ MD (F(2;61)=3.42, partial η2= 0.10). The participants with high SE (x̄=35.82) had a better reduction on MD than their counterparts with moderate (x̄=35.26) and low SE (x̄=31.81). There was no significant main effect of SES on MD. There was no significant interaction effect of treatment and SE on MD. There was no significant interaction effect of treatment and SES on MD. There was a significant interaction effect of SE and SES on MD (F(4,61) =3.563, ηp2 = .189) in favour of the participants with high SE. The three-way interaction effects of treatment, SE and SES were not significant. FST and CBT were effective in the management of MD among married individuals in AS, Nigeria, although the former was more effective. Therapies should adopt these interventions to reduce marital dysfunction.

Keywords:

Family system therapy, Cognitive behavioural therapy, Marital dysfunction, Married individuals in Anambra State.

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