@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2008-2630    Iranian Journal of War & Public Health 2019;11(1):35-40

Background
... [1-5]. Attitude towards marriage as an aspect of marriage is one of the main predictors of behavioral and emotional patterns in close relationships as well as personal relationships. Positive and negative strong attitudes are specifically more likely to affect the perception and behavior of individuals about the relationship [6] and its related behaviors, such as decision making for marriage [7]. Attitude towards marriage can be defined as the meaning and expectation of a person for marriage and future marital relationship and may change through the life [8].
Previous Studies
... [9-12]. The results of various studies show that family dynamics and performance play an important role in marital attitude, so that a high level of family dynamics is associated with positive attitudes towards marriage [10, 13]. In addition, a survey on the attitude of male children of normal divorced families showed that male children of normal families have more positive attitude towards marriage and more negative attitude towards divorce [14]. ... [15]. Studies has also shown that self-differentiation plays a role in the attitude towards marriage [10], and there is a relation between differentiation components such as emotional responsiveness, my position, emotional escape and consistency with the attitude towards marriage [16] and those who are more likely to get married have a higher degree of differentiation than those who scape from marriage [10, 17]. Life satisfaction is another factor influencing the attitude towards marriage [10, 18]. ... [19-23]. A research on single girls revealed that there is a relationship between lifestyle as a set of attitudes, values, behaviors and personal preferences in life with the attitude towards marriage [24]. Another study showed that people with a high level of life satisfaction have a more stable level of emotions and have a positive attitude towards marriage [10]. ...[25].
Aim(s)
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between family function, self-differentiation and life satisfaction with the attitude towards marriage of veterans’ children.
Research type
This research is a descriptive-correlational study.
Research society, place and time
This study was done on 5128 veterans’ children of Qaem Shahr in 2018.
Sampling method and number
The sample size calculated 357 subjects using Morgan table, however since it was hard to access to veterans' children as well as the limitations of completing questionnaires in the foundation of martyrs and veterans affairs 300 subjects selected by available sampling method. Accordingly, the male and female children of the veterans who referred to various departments of the foundation of martyrs and veterans affairs in Qaem Shahr city (admission, health care, social work and education departments) were asked to complete the questionnaires of this research. The inclusion criteria included being single, alive parents, living with parents and no physical problems.
Used devices&materials
All participants were assured that their information would remain completely confidential. The data was collected using 1) Attitudes towards Marriage Scale (Kinnaird & Gerrard) [26-28]; 2) Self-differentiation Questionnaire [29, 30]; 3) Family Assessment Device (FAD) by Epstein et al. [31-34]; and4) Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) by Diener et al. [35-37]. Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationship between variables and stepwise multiple regression analysis was applied to predict the attitude towards marriage based on the family function, self-differentiation and life satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the multiple relationships between self-differentiation, family function and life satisfaction with the attitude towards marriage of children. Parametric statistics assumptions were first studied prior analyzing the data. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results confirmed the normal distribution of variables and Durbin-Watson test confirmed that error terms are independent of each other. The results of the multicollinearity test showed that there was no collinearity between independent variables. SPSS 21 software was also used.
Findings by Text
54.0% of the participants were female and 46.0% were male. 14.33% of participants were younger than 20 years old, 39.0% were 20 to 25 years old, 36.0% were 25-30 years old and 10.67% were over 30 years old. 7.0% of participants had below diploma degree, 15.0% had diploma, 32.67% had undergraduate degree, and 45.33% had master's degrees and above. There was a negative correlation between attitude toward marriage of veterans 'children with family functioning and also a positive correlation between attitude toward marriage of veterans' children with self-differentiation and its components, including emotional reactivity, “I” position, emotional cut off and fusion with others as well as satisfaction with life (p<0.05; Table 1). Family functioning and satisfaction with life variables, and self-differentiation components, including “I” position and emotional reactivity could predict attitude toward marriage of veterans’ children. In the first phase, family functioning explained 9% of the variance of attitude toward marriage. In the second phase, by including “I” position in analysis, coefficient of determination obtained 20%. In the third phase, by including satisfaction with life in regression analysis, attitude toward marriage obtained 27%, and in the fourth phase, it was observed that the emotional reactivity (self-differentiation subscale) also significantly can predict attitude toward marriage. In total, the studied variables predicted 30% of the variance of attitude toward marriage. Standardized regression coefficients for family functioning (β=-0.30) was the strongest variable in predicting attitude toward marriage (p<0.001).
Main comparison to the similar studies
In this study, the results of correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between family functioning and attitude toward marriage and among predictive variables, family functioning was more effective in predicting the attitude toward marriage of veterans’ children, which is consistent with other studies. Kim and Jung showed that there is a significant relationship between family functioning and attitude toward marriage in South Korean student [10]. Bagheriyan and Kazemiyan found that attitude toward marriage is correlated with social components of the students' families [38]. Lazinski also showed that there is a relationship between family functioning and the attitude and feeling of young people toward marriage [39]. ... [40, 41]. The results also showed that there was a positive relationship between self-differentiation and attitude toward marriage, which is consistent with other studies. Kim and Jung in a study on single Korean students found that there is a positive relationship between self-differentiation and the attitude toward marriage of student [10]. Jahanbakhshi and Kalantarkousheh also showed that there is a positive relationship between self-differentiation and attitude toward marriage [42]. ... [43]. Another finding of this study showed that there was a positive relationship between satisfaction with life and attitude toward marriage. Literature review showed that no relevant study has been done in Iran. However, Kim and Jung found that there is a significant relationship between satisfaction with life and attitude toward marriage [10].
Suggestions
It is suggested that this research be carried out in other societies in order to increase the generalizability of research data and also using a qualitative interview-based research in the future is recommended.
Limitations
The most important limitation of this study is external validity, because the statistical population limited to a particular group (veterans’ children), therefore the results should be cautiously of generalized. Self-reported method was used for data collection, which can be considered as another limitation of this research, since the reports are susceptible to distortion due to unconscious defense and bias in response.
Conclusions
There is a correlation between family functioning, self-differentiation and satisfaction with life and attitude toward marriage of veterans’ children, and family functioning is the strongest predictor of the attitude toward marriage in veterans’ children.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to all who collaborated with us in this research, especially the participants and all staff members at the foundation of martyrs and veterans affairs of Qaem Shahr city.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
Ethical standards were considered to complete the questionnaires and all participants were assured that their information would remain completely confidential.
Funding Sources
The research was funded by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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