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.

Factor Structure and Reliability of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) in Iranian Population.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the reliability and validity of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) with 14 items (short form) in Iranian population. METHODS: The English version of the RDAS was translated into Persian. Then, Persian version was retranslated to English. To study factor structure 338 questionnaires were filled out by parents of elementary students. Other measurement tools were The Marital Happiness Scale (MHS), Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (ENRICH).Both English and Persian forms were completed by 35 married undergraduate English students. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the RDAS, MHS, and ENRICH were 0.79, 0.87. and 0.76-0.91, respectively. RESULTS: The content validity of the backward translation of the original version was confirmed.The findings confirmed the factor structure.Also, the validity was confirmed by retest and internal consistency. There was relationship between RDAS with marital happiness and satisfaction in anticipated direct, between husband and wifeadjustment scores. CONCLUSION: The reliability and validity of the RDAS with 3-factor structure in Iranian population was confirmed with an appropriate validity and reliability.