The Causal Relationship between Mental Strength and Mindfulness with Marital Satisfaction through Parental Stress

The purpose of this study was to design and test a model to investigate the effect of mental strength and mindfulness on marital satisfaction considering the mediating role of parenting stress in mothers of exceptional children. In this descriptive-correlational study, the statistical population consisted of all mothers of exceptional children in Ahvaz. A sample of 264 women was selected through convenient sampling method. The instruments were Clough, Earle & Sewell (2002) Mental Strength Questionnaire (2002), Baer, Smit, Hopkins, Krietemeyer & Toney Mindfulness Questionnaire (2006), Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale of Olson, Fournier, and Druckman (1985) and Abidin's Parenting Stress Index (1990). The proposed model was evaluated by path analysis method. Bootstrap test was used to test indirect relationships. The results showed significant and direct relationships between mental strength and parenting stress, mindfulness and parenting stress, parenting stress and marital satisfaction and mindfulness and marital satisfaction but there was no significant relationship between mental strength and marital satisfaction. Based on the results, the proposed model is a well-fitting model and is considered as an important step in determining the effective factors in the marital satisfaction of mothers.