Grounded Theory Approach in Discovering the Factors Effective on the Sexual Communication of Iranian Couples

The quality and manner of couples’ communication in sexual matters is one of the most important and effective variables on the couples’ sexual health and satisfaction. The aim of this study was to discover the factors affecting the couples’ sexual communication from the perspective of couples’ therapists, couples, and research. The present study was conducted qualitatively using the grounded theory method that has three statistical population. In the research section, electronic resources, books, dissertations, and valid journals were used. In interviewing all the Iranian couple therapists and interviewing all couples who were referred to counseling centers in Mashhad, purposeful sampling was used. Data were collected using semi-structured and interactive interviews. For the validity of the data, after saturation, 2 more people were added, and the interview continued. Finally, 13 couple therapists and 21 couples were interviewed. MAXQDA20 software was used for data analysis. In the text analysis of the interviews with couple therapists, in open coding 62 categories and in axial coding 14 categories; in interviews with couples, in open coding 56 categories and in axial coding 14 categories; and in qualitative analysis of research, in open coding 42 categories and in axial coding 13 categories were obtained. Finally, with the use of triangulation, three main categories of couple, individual, and situation were identified. According to the results obtained, couple therapists are advised to have a combination of multidimensional attitudes towards the couples’ sexual communication and pay attention to it in therapeutic and educational sessions.