Determining the Relationship Between Spiritual Intelligence and Psychological Hardiness and Marital Adjustment of Mothers With Students With Special Learning Disabilities

Specific learning disabilities are the most important cause of poor academic performance, and many affected students have difficulty learning curricula. In addition to interrupting educational activities, learning disabilities affect students’ psychological, developmental, and familial factors. Marital adjustment is one of the threatening factors in married life that may occur in the parents of children with special learning disabilities. Also, due to the importance of parents’ mental health, especially mothers with students with special learning disabilities, their resilience to psychological pressures is crucial and can make this burden lighter for them. On the other hand, spiritual factors are a determining factor in the dynamics of marital relations and family strength. In general, the study of family relationships and systemic factors affecting the health and dynamism of students with special learning disabilities is very important because parental involvement in children’s education can provide meaningful services and maximize educational potential. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and hardiness with marital adjustment of mothers with students with special learning disabilities.

The method of the present study was descriptive–correlational. The statistical population comprised all mothers of students with special learning disabilities living in the city of Khosf, Iran, in the academic year of 2018–19. One hundred mothers from the statistical community were selected via the available sampling method. The inclusion criteria of mothers with students with specific learning disabilities included a definite diagnosis of their child’s learning disability by experts and trainers of the learning disability center, not having a mental illness based on the Rutter form and the student’s file, having at least reading and writing literacy, and having consent to complete the research questionnaires. The exclusion criteria were unwillingness to cooperate or being illiterate. Data collection tools included Spiritual Intelligence Scale (King, 2008), Ahwaz Psychological Hardiness Questionnaire (Kiamarsi et al., 1998), and Marital Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1987). To analyze the obtained data, the descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (the Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression test) were performed at a significance level of α=0.05 in SPSS version 25.

The linear regression coefficients showed the values of standardized regression coefficient (β) as follows: existential critical thinking, β=0.112 (p=0.034); production of personal meaning, β=0.245 (p<0.001); transcendent awareness, β=0.137 (p<0.001); development of consciousness, β=0.143 (p=0.017); struggle, β=0.118 (p<0.001); commitment, β=0.109 (p=0.041); and control, β=0.127 (p=0.025). So, spiritual intelligence and psychological hardiness could significantly predict marital adjustment.

Based on the study findings, by promoting spiritual intelligence and hardiness, it is possible to improve the marital adjustment of mothers with students with special learning disabilities.