Designing and evaluating an intervention based on Bowen family systems theory to improve health and quality of relationships

Family conflicts has have an important role in individuals’ health, but there are a few family-based interventions for reducing conflict and improving health. The aim of this study was to design and evaluate a brief family-based and psycho-educative intervention based on Bowen family systems theory for improving quality of relationship and health in couples diagnosed with anxiety disorders and marital conflicts. 19 couples as  the experimental group and 19 couples as the control group diagnosed participated in this semi-experimental project using accessible sampling and a 2 months follow-up. Participants completed quality of relationship questionnaire (Pierce, Sarason and Sarason, 1991) and WHO quality of life questionnaire (1996). Variance analysis with repeated measures indicated that this intervention improves quality of relationship and health in couples. These findings confirm effectiveness of Bowen systemic therapy and could be used in introducing new models in health psychology based on the role of interpersonal and emotional factors in health