Iranian Women's Divorce Style: A Qualitative Study.

Divorce has received scant attention in Iran, despite the problems that arise for individuals and families and in social life. The present study aimed to find the divorce process of the Iranian couples among whom the woman was the divorce initiator. For this purpose, interviews were conducted, using the grounded theory method, with 34 Iranian divorcing men and women (women initiating a divorce and their spouses) to investigate their divorce experience. The results revealed that the psychological, communication, cultural, and social factors involved in the divorce phenomenon were observed in five stages: (1) emergence of thinking about divorce, (2) hesitation on stay, (3) difficult decision-making, (4) separation, and (5) legal action. Despite more restrictive laws and more complicated social conditions for women initiating divorce than men, the number of women initiating the divorce is increasing in the changing cultural context of Iran. Therefore, we hope that our results on the divorce process help couples, families, and especially professionals plan preventive measures and develop clinical interventions targeting marriage and marital relationships.

El divorcio ha recibido escasa atención en Irán a pesar de los problemas que plantea para las personas, las familias y la vida social. El presente estudio tuvo como finalidad estudiar el proceso de divorcio de parejas iraníes entre las cuales la mujer fue la iniciadora del divorcio. Con este fin, se realizaron entrevistas usando el método de teoría fundamentada con 34 hombres y mujeres iraníes que se estaban divorciando (mujeres que iniciaron el divorcio y sus cónyuges) para investigar su experiencia de divorcio. Los resultados revelaron que los factores psicológicos, comunicativos, culturales y sociales implicados en el fenómeno de divorcio se observaron en cinco etapas: 1) aparición del pensamiento de divorcio, 2) duda sobre si aplazarlo, 3) toma de decisión difícil, 4) separación y 5) acciones legales. A pesar de que las leyes son más restrictivas y las condiciones sociales son más complicadas para las mujeres que inician el divorcio que para los hombres, el número de mujeres que inician el divorcio está aumentando en el contexto cultural cambiante Irán. Por lo tanto, esperamos que nuestros resultados sobre el proceso de divorcio ayuden a las parejas, a las familias y especialmente a los profesionales a planificar medidas preventivas y a diseñar intervenciones clínicas orientadas al matrimonio y a las relaciones conyugales.

Sexual Dynamics of Married Women with Interpersonal Dependency: A Qualitative Study on Iranian Women.

BACKGROUND: Considering the lack of documented research on the sexuality of dependent persons, this qualitative study examined sexual dynamics among Iranian married women with excessive interpersonal dependency. METHODS: Interviews with 18 married women with high interpersonal dependency were coded using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three major areas emerged from the data under which the themes clustered. These were (1) intrapersonal level which included confused sexual cognitions, intrusive thoughts during sex, preoccupation by sexual thoughts, low tolerance for reduction or interruption of sexual activity, and emotional distress during sex, (2) interactional dynamics including imposing pressure on the husband to have sex and assuming a submissive and receptive role during sex, and (3) contextual processes including social stigma and the effects of social phenomena. CONCLUSIONS: These findings presented a relatively clear understanding of the impacts of interpersonal dependency on the sexuality of Iranian women. The majority of the women reported maladaptive sexual strategies, attitudes, and emotions. Moreover, there were several similarities between the sexual dynamics of the women and those of individuals with anxious attachment style. These findings suffer from some limitations in terms of generalization due to the small size of the sample and clinical and cultural considerations. The implications of these findings for practitioners are also considered.

Investigating the anxiety level in Iranian medical residents in 2010-2011.

BACKGROUND: University entrance is accompanied by major changes in social relationship, rules, and expectations that lead to psychological disorders in susceptible students. The goal of this research is to study the anxiety rate in Iranian medical residents in 2010-2011. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. It contains 370 medical residents from the 1(st) year to the 4(th) year of medical universities in Isfahan, Gilan, Zahedan, Sanandaj, and Kashan. The stratified sampling method proportionate to volume of participants is used in this study. The information is collected based on researchers' questioners and Zung self-rating anxiety scale and analyzed with the use of spss software version 16, addition to descriptive and analytic tests (Pearson, one-way analysis of variance, t-test). Meaningful level is regarded as P ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The study showed that more than 92% of residents participated in the study did not demonstrate anxiety. Among 370 subjects 5.5% presented with mild symptoms of anxiety and no one had symptom of severe anxiety. A meaningful statistical relationship was observed between anxiety and sex, major of study and the city of study (P < 0.05). The results showed a positive meaningful relationship between the number of visits and the score of anxiety. On average the number of night floats were two in 1 week and the number of patient visit was 19 in the past 24 h. A meaningful statistical relationship between anxiety score and number of patient visits was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The anxiety rate in medical students in this study compared to the findings of previous studies reveled very low anxiety in medical residents. The low rate of anxiety could be attributed to the sense of job security and the hope for a better future among residents. The high percentage of anxiolytics abuse and absence of anxiety producing factors among residents in addition to inaccurate response to the questionnaire may all contribute to the low rate of anxiety in this study.

Predictors of family strength: the integrated spiritual-religious/resilient perspective for understanding the healthy/strong family.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of spiritual well-being and family protective factors on the family strength in a propositional structural model. METHODS: The research population consisted of all the married people of the Isfahan, Iran, in 2012 with preschool-aged children and in the first decade of marriage with at least eight grades of educational level. Three hundred and ninety five voluntary and unpaid participants were selected randomly through multi-stage sampling from seven regions of the city. The instruments used were the Spiritual Well-being Scale, Inventory of Family Protective Factors, and Family Strength Scale. Descriptive statistics and a structural equation modeling analytic approach were used. RESULTS: The analytic model predicted 82% of the variance of the family strength. The total effect of the spiritual well-being on the family strength was higher compared to the family protective factors. Furthermore, spiritual well-being predicted 43% of the distribution of the family protective factors and had indirect effect on the family strength through the family protective factors (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirmed the interrelationships among spiritual well-being and family protective factors, and their simultaneous effects on family strength. Family counselors may employ an integrated spiritual-religious/resilient perspective to inform their strength-based work with individuals and their families. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None.

Impulsivity, substance abuse, and family/friends history of suicide attempts in university students with and without suicidal ideation.

OBJECTIVE: Impulsivity appears to play an important role in suicidal behavior. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare the impulsivity, substance abuse, and family/friends history of suicide attempt between suicide-ideated and non suicide-ideated university students. METHODS: The research population consisted of all the students of the University of Isfahan in the academic year of 2009-2010. Three hundred and forty students (136 boys and 204 girls) were selected randomly through cluster sampling, of whom 53 participants were suicide-ideated and the rest were non suicide-ideated. The instruments used in this study were the 11(th) version of Barratt Impulsivity Scale, Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, and the demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine hypothesis. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between suicide ideated and non-suicide ideated subjects in impulsivity (F=3.83, p< 0.001). Accordingly, significant differences were observed between two groups in attentional (F=8.12, p< 0.005), motor (F=7.67, p< 0.006), and non-planning (F=4.60, p< 0.033) impulsiveness. The results showed a higher incidence of substance abuse, and family/friends suicide attempt among suicide-ideated compared with non suicide-ideated students. CONCLUSION: A higher level of impulsivity is probably related to various indices of suicidal behavior. Substance abuse is probably associated with suicidal behavior and this association may involve an interaction with impulsivity. This study provides an initial evidence of familial linkages of suicide ideation and suggests that the loss of an important person in life would be an important predictor of suicide ideation in university students.