ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Mirhosseini   F. (1)
Nasirian   M. (2)
Bastami   F. (3)
Zamani-Alavijeh   F. (*4)






(*4) Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
(1) Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
(2) Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
(3) “Department of Public Health, School of Health and Nutrition” and “Social Determinants of Health Research Center”, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Lorestan , Iran

Correspondence

Article History

Received:  December  19, 2019
Accepted:  June 15, 2020
ePublished:  December 20, 2020

BRIEF TEXT


Achieving a satisfying and successful life will not be possible without considering the quality of married life and trying to improve it [1].

The marital relationship, as the most complex type of relationship, has the potential for releasing emotions. Marriage is the union of two people by maintaining the relative independence of each for the personality development of the parties [2]. Marital satisfaction has an undeniable effect on marriage quality and survival [3]. ...[4, 5]. Age and duration of the marriage, children, educational suitability, financial issues, sexual issues, relatives and acquaintances, religious beliefs, personality traits, ability to understand spouse, communication skills, leisure, and commitment have been identified as the effective factors on marital satisfaction [6-10]. In some studies, a decrease in social support has been expressed as a factor in reducing marital satisfaction [11, 12]; despite the emphasis on the importance of perceived social support of couples in marital satisfaction or the stability of relationships between them [11, 13, 14]. ...[15-18]. Yazd province is usually known as a traditional society with a historical context and ancient architecture that has undergone less social changes. Over time, the structural changes and the impact of specific social and economic factors have caused the divorce ratio for marriage to change compared to the past in this province [19].

The aim of this study was to determine the status of marital satisfaction and its related factors in married men and women.

The present study is a descriptive-analytical study.

This study was performed on married men and women referring to comprehensive health service centers in Taft city in Yazd province for 8 months from June 2017.

In order to estimate the sample size, the results of a recent study in Tehran [20] were used. Therefore, 365 people were determined as the sample size using the following formula and considering the average score of marital satisfaction in all participants, 95% confidence level, 0.017 error in estimating the mean score, and the correction factor of 1.5. Considering the 10% possibility of non-response of individuals in the study, 400 people were determined as the sample size.N=(〖Z^2〗_(1-α/2 )×σ^2)/δ^2 ×Deff Proportionate to the rural and urban population of Taft city, 168 and 232 samples were determined as the sample size for the village and city, respectively. The Multi-stage sampling method and stratified sampling method were used for sampling in villages and cities, respectively.

The questionnaire consisted of 4 sections; the first part included personal information. The second part included the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Olson et al. [21]. ...[22]. The third part consisted of the Social Protection Questionnaire, which was developed in 1986 based on Kobe's definition of social protection [23]. …[24]. The fourth section included the Internet Addiction Questionnaire [25]. ...[26]. The reliability of all three questionnaires was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=0.70-0.95) on a sample of 30 people whose demographic characteristics were similar to those studied. After obtaining a permit for sampling from Yazd University of Medical Sciences, in the counseling room of the comprehensive health service centers, the questionnaires were completed through interviews with the subjects. An approximately 20-minute session was determined to complete each questionnaire by the subjects (with the consent of the participant). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to investigating the normality of data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient. The categorical variables were presented in frequency and percentage. The quantitative variables were reported by the mean and standard deviation. The stepwise regression model was used to predict marital life satisfaction. Data analysis using stepwise linear regression model starts with the most important variable and other important variables are added to the model one by one [26]. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software at a significance level of 0.05.

365 people among 400 subjects completed the questionnaires. The other incomplete questionnaires were excluded from the study. Therefore, the data of 365 questionnaires were analyzed. The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed the normal distribution of the quantitative variables (p<0.05; Table 1). The mean of marital satisfaction was 64.19±13.62 and 65.37±12.73 in men and women, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the two genders (p=0.368). The average of social support was 64.56±11.44, and the internet addiction average was 29.35±12.90 (Table 2). The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient showed that there was a direct and significant relationship between social support and marital life satisfaction (p<0.001; r=0.383). There was a significant inverse relationship between Internet addiction and marital satisfaction (p<0.006; r=-0.144; Table 3). The results of the multivariate linear regression test showed that the variables of social support, spouse training, Individuals occupation, Internet addiction, income, age of spouse, and the date of parents' marriage predicted marital life satisfaction at 0.235 (Tables 4 and 5).Social support, spouse education, and income are positively associated with marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction increases through increasing a unit in social support by 35%, and a unit increase in spouse education by 12% improves marital satisfaction. Also, marital satisfaction increased by 12% through a unit increase in income. There was an inverse relationship between the age of spouse, Internet addiction, parental marriage fate, and occupation satisfaction with marital satisfaction and these factors have a negative effect on marital satisfaction; so that the rate of Internet addiction, marital disputes between parents, the occupation status of the subjects towards unemployment, and marital satisfaction decreased by 13, 15, 10 and 15%, respectively through increasing one unit in the age of the spouse.

The mean scores of marital satisfaction of men and women were 65.37±12.73 and 64.19±131.62, respectively. In one study, marital life satisfaction was similar to the present study [27]. In another study, it was shown that couples have less satisfaction with married life [28]. Studies conducted in Yazd and Tehran, also showed that there was no significant difference between men and women in sexual satisfaction, general health, and marital satisfaction [19, 29]. In another study, the results showed that there was a significant relationship between marital satisfaction of men and women and the authors reported higher marital satisfaction in men [20]. ...[30-35]. The results of this study showed that Internet addiction has an inverse and significant relationship with marital satisfaction and predicts it. A study showed that internet addiction can lead to infidelity and divorce in couples [36]. The study conducted on Kerman students also showed that there is a significant relationship between the use of virtual social networks and marital infidelity in students [37]. ...[38, 39]. A study conducted in Tehran couples showed that marital satisfaction also increases by increasing the level of education of spouse [3] which contradicts the results of previous studies in this field [2, 19, 40, 41]. Some studies have shown that marital satisfaction decreases through increasing education, [29, 42]. ...[43]. As the age of the spouse increases, marital satisfaction decreases. The authors found that marital satisfaction decreases with increasing age of women [44] and other studies have shown that with age increase, the marital relationship improves [3, 42]. Family income is positively related to marital satisfaction. The results of previous studies showed that with the increasing income level of the spouses, the level of marital satisfaction also increases [3, 42]. The present study also showed that occupation status predicts marital satisfaction. According to the research results, the socio-economic status of the family has a significant relationship with marital satisfaction [2]. The fate of parental marriage is related to marital satisfaction. According to the previous studies, it was observed that this factor has an effect on the compatibility of couples [45, 46].

Whereas the social, economic, and cultural conditions of different societies are different; therefore, to measure marital satisfaction and examine it in accordance with the conditions and characteristics of a society, it is necessary to design native tools and use them in the study of marital satisfaction.

The use of health center clients as a statistical population is one of the limitations of the study, because the results cannot be generalized to all couples. The problems in sampling, lack of cooperation of men to answer the questionnaire were other limitations of this study.

There is a need to pay attention to this variable in reducing conflicts, problems, and improving and increasing satisfaction in marital relationships.

We thank all the participants in the study, the staff working in the research department of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, and the Yazd health department, especially in Taft city, who cooperated in conducting this research.

There is no conflict of interest.

This study was conducted after obtaining permission from the Ethics Committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences with the code of IR.MUI.RESEARCH.REC.1398.315.

This research is funded by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

TABLES and CHARTS

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