The Relationship between Veteran's Psychological Damages and their Spouse's Mental Aspect of Quality of Life in Isfahan, Iran

Iran-Iraq war during the 1980–1988 has left many consequences on veterans and their families that persist long after the war ended. In this research, we evaluated the relationship between veterans’ psychological damages and mental quality of life in their spouses.
Two hundred sixty-one veterans were selected among all veterans of Isfahan that registered by Veterans and Martyrs Affair Foundation, using systematic randomized sampling. They filled out Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and demographic questionnaire. In addition, their spouses filled out the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Two hundred twenty-one couples, who both have completely filled the questionnaire, were selected as the final sample.
Mental quality of life of spouses was significantly and inversely related to all SCL-90-R questionnaire subscales. The higher rates of somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, aggression, and psychosis in veterans were accompanied with lower mental quality of life in their spouses. From nine subscales of SCL-90-R, scores of depression and obsession in veterans were the best predictors for mental quality of life in their spouses.
The results showed that the veterans’ psychological damages, especially depression and obsession, have a great impact on mental quality of life in their spouses.