Developing and Validating the Model of Marital Satisfaction in Pandemics and Evaluating its Effectiveness on Psychological Well-being During the Coronavirus Pandemic

This research was conducted with the aim of developing and validating the model of marital satisfaction in pandemics and investigating its effectiveness on psychological well-being being during the coronavirus pandemic.

In this research, a mixed research method was used (in the qualitative part, the systematic method of grounded theory and in the quantitative part, the semi-experimental method and single-subject method with AB design). The research participants in the qualitative part were 24 married women (12 with marital satisfaction and 12 without marital satisfaction) who were selected by following the necessary criteria and the purposive sampling method until data saturation was reached. The target population in the quantitative section was married women aged 25 to 55 with children aged 6 to 13 in Tehran, 3 of whom were selected by purposive sampling and participated in the intervention. The data collection tool in the qualitative part was a semi-structured interview, and in the quantitative part, The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale (1993) and Ryff Psychological Well-being (PWB) Questionnaire (1988). The data were analyzed in the qualitative part, using the Strauss and Corbin constant comparison analysis method (in three stages of open, axial and selective coding and in the quantitative part, based on visual analysis indicators.

Data analysis in the qualitative section led to the identification of 79 open codes and 26 axial codes and 4 selective codes including: “communication needs; Personality characteristics; social factors and behavioral strategies". After integrating the categories, the model of marital satisfaction during the coronavirus pandemic was developed and its content validity was confirmed. The results of the research in the quantitative part showed the effectiveness of the model-based intervention on psychological well-being.

Based on the results of the present research, the extracted model can be used to conduct counseling interventions in the fields of couple and family to facilitate adaptation to similar crises.