Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Bahram Rostami ^{1, 2}
• Fahime Khaleghi ³
• Yadolah Kasirloo ⁴
• Saeideh Jabbari ⁵
• Elahe Saadati ⁶
• Zarrintaj Hoseinzadeh ⁷

¹ School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

² Department of eLearning in Medical Sciences, School of Medical Education and Learning Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

³ Beheshti Educational and Medical Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

⁴ Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

⁵ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

⁶ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁷ Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

Background: In recent years, the growing divorce rate in Iran has emerged as a pressing social issue, and one of the predictive factors in this regard is marital conflict. Therefore, the present study aimed to design a women’s empowerment training program based on Sternberg’s theory and evaluate its effect on reducing marital conflict.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 20 women with mild or moderate marital conflict, as determined by the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ). The study participants were evenly divided into two groups experimental (n=10) and control (n=10). The intervention included six 60-minute training sessions. Data were collected using the Marital Conflict Questionnaires and Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23, employing independent t-test, and ANCOVA. A significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.
Results: The mean score of marital conflict before the intervention was 71.49±22.80, which reduced to 65.04±45.08 after the intervention (P=0.050). Similarly, the mean score of triangular love reduced from 316.08±55.14 to 285.30±92.57 (P=0.030). Significant reductions were observed in intimacy (P=0.040) and commitment (P=0.030), while passion showed no significant changes.
Conclusions: The women’s empowerment training program, developed based on Sternberg’s theory, had a positive effect on reducing marital conflict among women with mild or moderate marital conflict.

Keywords

• Family Conflict
• Empowerment
• Interpersonal relations