Mediating role of differentiation of self in the causal relationship between depression and martial satisfaction in married women

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between depression and marital satisfaction with the mediating role of self-differentiation in women in Ahvaz. This descriptive-correlation research was conducted through structural equation modeling by multivariate correlation method. 260 married women in Ahvaz in 1399 were selected by convenience sampling. The instruments used were Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998), Enrich martial Satisfaction Questionnaire (cited in Soleymanian, 1994) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and bootstrap method was used to investigate the mediating effects. Structural equation modeling analyzes confirmed that the fit of the proposed model is appropriate. The results showed that depression syndrome directly affects the variable of marital satisfaction (p = 0.001) and also the results of indirect path analysis showed that depression syndrome through mediation of its differentiation and its subscales (emotional separation, Emotional reaction, my position and interaction with others) have been effective on marital satisfaction (p = 0.001). According to the obtained results, the discussion of differentiation seems necessary and familiarizing couples with this variable at the time of marriage leads to more satisfaction in marriage and their marital relationship.