The Relationship between Mind Reading and Marital Satisfaction with Mediating Role of General Health

Aim and Understanding in the minds of the couples (mind reading) and mental disorders are among the problematic factors between couples. Since these variables have not been studied beyond simple relationships, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of mind-reading on marital satisfaction with the mediating role of general health.
Methods and Materials: This was a descriptive correlational study. The research population consisted of all couples who referred to counseling centers in Kerman, Iran, in 2016. 82 couples (164 individuals) from three centers with convenience sampling answered to ENRICH couple scale (ECS), reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET) and general health questionnaire (GHQ). Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including path analysis were used to analyze the data.
Findings: Direct effect of mind reading on somatic symptoms (P ≤ 0.01, β = -0.37), social dysfunction (P ≤ 0.05,
β = -0.29), depression (P ≤ 0.01, β = -0.34) and conflict resolution (P ≤ 0.05, β = -0.22) was significant, while its effect on idealistic distortion (P ≤ 0.01, β = 0.11) and marital satisfaction (P ≤ 0.05, β = 0.10) was significant indirectly, which was applied by the mediating role of depression. Finally, the variables of this study explained 20% of marital satisfaction total variance.
The relationship between mind reading and marital satisfaction is not simple and linear. Variables such as depression have a partial mediating role in this relationship in a way that the mind reading effect through mental health further increases marital satisfaction.