Predicting Marital Adjustment Based on Emotional Commitment and Sexual Knowledge in Women Experiencing Emotional Divorce
Objective: This study aimed to predict marital adjustment based on emotional commitment and sexual knowledge in women experiencing emotional divorce.
Methods: The present research employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of married women experiencing emotional divorce who referred to counseling centers and psychological clinics in Tehran in 2026. Using purposive convenience sampling, 220 eligible women were selected. Data were collected using the Emotional Divorce Scale, the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Dimensions of Commitment Inventory, and the Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and simultaneous multiple regression in SPSS-28. The significance level was set at p<.05.
Results: The findings showed that marital adjustment had a positive and significant relationship with emotional commitment (r= .68, p< .001) and sexual knowledge (r= .41, p< .001). Emotional commitment and sexual knowledge were also positively correlated with each other (r= .36, p< .001). The regression model was statistically significant, F(2, 217) = 117.42, p < .001, and the predictor variables jointly explained 52% of the variance in marital adjustment (R= .72, R²= .52, Adjusted R²= .51). Emotional commitment was the strongest predictor of marital adjustment (β= .61, p<.001). Sexual knowledge also significantly predicted marital adjustment (β= .23, p< .001).
Conclusion: Marital adjustment in women experiencing emotional divorce can be significantly predicted by emotional commitment and sexual knowledge. Emotional commitment had the greater predictive role, although sexual knowledge also made a meaningful contribution.
Downloads
Ying WK, Rahman M, Kiyu A. Prevalence and Factors Determining Adolescents Risk Taking Behaviours in Sarawak, Malaysia. IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia. 2024 Jan 1;23(01). https://doi.org/10.31436/imjm.v23i01.2425
Varley D, Fenton C, Gargan G, Taylor O, Taylor A, Kirby N, Morton M, Barrow J, Hatton C, Wright B. A systematic review of systematic reviews exploring the factors related to child and adolescent self-harm. Adolescent Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 1;12(2):79-114. https://doi.org/10.2174/2210676612666220721101210
Leddie G, Fox C, Simmonds S. Nurses' experiences of working in the community with adolescents who self-harm: A qualitative exploration. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2022 Oct;29(5):744-754. doi: 10.1111/jpm.12806 . [PubMed: 34797016].
Kookalani Z, Bahari M, Sanatkaran A. The Effect of Eight Weeks of Aerobic Exercise on Self-Harm Symptoms in Adolescent Girls in Karaj. Journal of Applied Psychological Research. 2020 Aug 22;11(2):241-53. 10.22059/japr.2020.287526.643338
Ghamooshi F, Sobhi A, Kiani Q, Ahmadi MS. The Relationship of Emotional Child Abuse, Borderline Personality, and Self-harm Behavior with the Mediating Role of Object Relation in Female Adolescents. International Journal of School Health. 2022 Jan 1;9(1):26-35. 10.30476/intjsh.2022.93307.1192
Dorol O, Mishara BL. Systematic review of risk and protective factors for suicidal and self-harm behaviors among children and adolescents involved with cyberbullying. Preventive medicine. 2021 Nov 1;152:106684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106684
Iveson MH, Ball EL, Whalley HC, Deary IJ, Cox SR, Batty GD, John A, McIntosh AM. Childhood cognitive ability and self-harm and suicide in later life. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Feb 11:2023.02.10.23285747. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.10.23285747 . [PubMed: 36798203].
Shafti M, Taylor PJ, Forrester A, Pratt D. The Co-occurrence of Self-Harm and Aggression: A Cognitive-Emotional Model of Dual-Harm. Front Psychol. 2021 Feb 25;12:586135. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.586135 .[PubMed: 33716854].
Qian H, Shu C, Feng L, Xiang J, Guo Y, Wang G. Childhood Maltreatment, Stressful Life Events, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, and Non-suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents and Young Adults With First-Episode Depressive Disorder: Direct and Indirect Pathways. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 12;13:838693. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.838693 .[PubMed: 35492724].
Madjar N, Segal N, Eger G, Shoval G. Exploring Particular Facets of Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Their Relationships With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Adolescents. Crisis. 2019 Jul;40(4):280-286. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000566 .[PubMed: 35492724].
Dour HJ, Cha CB, Nock MK. Evidence for an emotion-cognition interaction in the statistical prediction of suicide attempts. Behav Res Ther. 2011 Apr;49(4):294-8. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2011.01.010.[PubMed: 21353203].
Chen H, Hong L, Tong S, Li M, Sun S, Xu Y, Liu J, Feng T, Li Y, Lin G, Lu F, Cai Q, Xu D, Zhao K, Zheng T. Cognitive impairment and factors influencing depression in adolescents with suicidal and self-injury behaviors: a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Apr 12;23(1):247. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-04726-8 .[PubMed: 37046299].
Cha CB, Wilson KM, Tezanos KM, DiVasto KA, Tolchin GK. Cognition and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Clin Psychol Rev. 2019 Apr;69:97-111. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2018.07.002 .[PubMed: 30166197].
Hasking P, Whitlock J, Voon D, Rose A. A cognitive-emotional model of NSSI: using emotion regulation and cognitive processes to explain why people self-injure. Cogn Emot. 2017 Dec;31(8):1543-1556. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1241219 .[PubMed: 30166197].
Alkire D, McNaughton KA, Yarger HA, Shariq D, Redcay E. Theory of mind in naturalistic conversations between autistic and typically developing children and adolescents. Autism. 2023 Feb;27(2):472-488. doi: 10.1177/13623613221103699 .[PubMed: 35722978].
Devine RT, Apperly IA. Willing and able? Theory of mind, social motivation, and social competence in middle childhood and early adolescence. Dev Sci. 2022 Jan;25(1):e13137. doi: 10.1111/desc.13137 .[PubMed: 34235829].
Sotomayor-Enriquez K, Gweon H, Saxe R, Richardson H. Open dataset of theory of mind reasoning in early to middle childhood. Data Brief. 2023 Dec 2;52:109905. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109905 .[PubMed: 38146306].
Smogorzewska J, Szumski G, Bosacki S, Grygiel P, Osterhaus C. Longitudinal relations between theory of mind and academic achievement among deaf and hard-of-hearing school-aged children. J Exp Child Psychol. 2024 Mar;239:105806. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105806 .[PubMed: 37967482].
Laghi F, Terrinoni A, Cerutti R, Fantini F, Galosi S, Ferrara M, Bosco FM. Theory of mind in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) adolescents. Conscious Cogn. 2016 Jul;43:38-47. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.05.004 .[PubMed: 27236355].
Moon H, Nam G, Hur JW. Neural correlates of affective theory of mind in medication-free nonsuicidal self-injury: An fMRI study. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 22;13:850794. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.850794 .[PubMed: 35935406].
Fidell LS, Tabachnick BG. Preparatory data analysis. Handbook of psychology: Research methods in psychology. 2003 Mar 19;2:115-41.
Muris P, Steerneman P, Meesters C, Merckelbach H, Horselenberg R, van den Hogen T, van Dongen L. The TOM test: A new instrument for assessing theory of mind in normal children and children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 1999 Feb;29:67-80. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025922717020
Aliakbari M, Juibari AK, Amirabadi F, Shaghaghi F, Zare N, Khaleghi F. The role of Theory of Mind and executive function in predicting empathy. Advances in Cognitive Science. 2013. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-44426-001
Khorashad BS, Baron-Cohen S, Roshan GM, Kazemian M, Khazai L, Aghili Z, Talaei A, Afkhamizadeh M. The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test: investigation of psychometric properties and test–retest reliability of the persian version. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2015 Sep;45:2651-66. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-015-2427-4
Garnefski N, Koopman H, Kraaij V, ten Cate R. Brief report: Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and psychological adjustment in adolescents with a chronic disease. Journal of adolescence. 2009 Apr;32(2):449-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.01.003
Samani S, Sadeghi L. Psychometric properties of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire. Psychological methods and models. 2010 Sep 23;1(1):51-62. https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.22285516.1389.1.1.5.9
Mizani S, Rezaei A, Khayyer M, Shegefti NS. The Mediating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation for Maladaptive Schemas and Negative Affects AmongYouth. Quarterly Journal of Psychological Methods and Models Spring. 2021;12(43).DOI:10.30495/jpmm.2021.4712
Sansone RA, Wiederman MW, Sansone LA. The self‐harm inventory (SHI): Development of a scale for identifying self‐destructive behaviors and borderline personality disorder. Journal of clinical psychology. 1998 Nov;54(7):973-83. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199811)54:7%3C973::AID-JCLP11%3E3.0.CO;2-H
Sansone RA, Sansone LA. Measuring self-harm behavior with the self-harm inventory. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2010 Apr 1;7(4):16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877617/
Hashemi Razini H, Dehghan M, Rasooli A. Discrimination self-harming individuals from normal people based on positive and negative experiences, neuroticism and motivational values characters. Quarterly of Applied Psychology. 2019;12(4):553-71.
Karimi F, Farahbakhsh K, Moatamedi A, Salimi H. Self-harm Behavior Affected by Mentalization and Family Relationships in high school Girl's Adolescents 14-18 years old (Qualitative Research). Knowledge & Research in Applied Psychology. 2021 Nov 22;22(3):47-61. https://doi.org/10.30486/jsrp.2019.582144.1633
HUANG F, LIU T. Effect of theory of mind on non-suicidal self-injury behavior in adolescent patients with depressive disorder for the first hospitalization. Chinese Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Brain Science. 2022:990-5. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/wpr-956192
Sundar SP, Bhola P. Dimensional Personality Traits and Non-suicidal Self Injury Among Emerging Adults: The Mediating Role of Mentalization. Psychological Studies. 2022 Jun;67(2):218-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00663-w
Fateminia M, Hasani F, Borjali A, Golshani F. The Mediating role of Emotional Intelligence in Explaining the Causal Relations between Theory of Mind and Cognitive Flexibility with Borderline Personality Disorder Traits in Adolescents. Quarterly Journal of Psychological Methods and Models Winter. 2023;13(50). 10.30495/jpmm.2023.31089.3719
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
