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"Marriage - psychology"
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Sharing Your Husband: Adult Attachment Styles and Emotional Responses of Israeli Bedouin-Arab Women to Potential Polygynous Marriage
Polygynous marriage is prevalent among Israel’s Bedouin-Arab community, despite being explicitly banned by state law. Cultural traditions and customs permit men to take multiple wives, and Islamic teachings do not prohibit the practice. The impact of polygyny is significant, affecting women, children, and society as a whole in various ways. We examined the connections that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance had with hypothetical responses to the potential threat of polygynous marriages in a community sample of young unmarried Israeli Bedouin-Arab women (n = 306). Participants were randomly assigned to imagine either a high-threat scenario (i.e., finding that their husband decided to take a second wife; n = 151) or a low-threat scenario (i.e., their husband would not decide to take a second wife; n = 155) and report their anticipated responses to these scenarios. Results showed that attachment anxiety was positively associated with anticipated negative emotional responses in the high-threat condition but not in the low-threat condition. However, neither attachment anxiety nor attachment avoidance were associated with the perceived threat of polygyny to their marriage. The findings of this study suggest that attachment styles play a significant role in shaping women’s perceptions and reactions to hypothetical polygynous marriages. Women with anxious attachment styles are more likely to experience intensified negative emotions regarding such marriages, while those with avoidant attachment styles may display greater tolerance toward polygyny. These results highlight the need for tailored interventions and support systems that take into account individual psychological profiles as well as the broader cultural context of Israeli Bedouin-Arab society.
Journal Article
A protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of Balika Bodhu: A combined empowerment and social norm based sexual and reproductive health and rights intervention for married adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are vital for both individual well-being and development. Bangladesh has made long strides in improving SRHR over the last few decades. However, the progress has been uneven across various groups of reproductive-aged females, with the married adolescent girls (MAGs) often being more vulnerable to denial of SRHR than other women. This study intends to develop Balika Bodhu, a combined empowerment and social norm intervention for promoting SRHR among the MAGs and assess its impact.
The evaluation will employ a mixed-method two-arm Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (CRCT) design, where Arm 1 receives the intervention, and Arm 2 serves as the control. The trial will cover 32 clusters (villages) in Rajbari Sadar sub-district, randomized into two equally distributed study arms. A total of 1,120 MAGs aged 15-19 years will be randomly selected from the clusters (35 per cluster) to form a cohort. The MAGs, their husbands, selected elderly women (26 per village) and influential community members (26 per village) will receive group sessions in the intervention clusters. The MAGs and their husbands will be interviewed at baseline and endline. A randomly selected cross-sectional sample of community members aged 35-59 years at baseline and endline will also be surveyed to measure attitudes and social norm regarding SRHR of MAGs. Qualitative data will be collected using 32 In-depth Interviews, six Key Informant Interviews, and eight Focus Group Discussions from two intervention villages. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis will be performed to assess the impact of the intervention. Narrative analysis and the Grounded Theory approach will be used to analyze the qualitative data.
Rigorous evaluation of Balika Bodhu should contribute to the literature on what works and what does not in addressing denial of SRHR to MAGs using empowerment and social norm intervention and inform policies and programs.
Clinicaltrials.gov: identifier: NCT06126770; Date: Oct 7, 2023. Version 1.
Journal Article
Premarital intervention based on attachment and differentiation improves communication and conflict management in Iranian couples
This study examined the effectiveness of a premarital intervention based on the Attachment-Differentiation Premarital Model (ADPM) in enhancing communication patterns and conflict management skills among Iranian engaged couples. The engagement period is a pivotal stage for future marital quality, yet many couples—particularly in collectivist societies like Iran—lack access to structured relational education. In this quasi-experimental study using a pretest-posttest control group design, 40 participants (20 couples) were selected from a university-affiliated counseling center and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (10 couples) or control group (10 couples). All participating couples resided in a married student dormitory and represented various cultural regions of Iran. The experimental group received 8–10 structured ADPM-based sessions, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Communication patterns were measured using the Couples Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ), and conflict management styles were assessed using the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II). Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed significant post-intervention improvements in integrating (F = 21.90,
p
< 0.001), obliging (F = 19.49,
p
< 0.001), compromising (F = 8.73,
p
< 0.01), and dominating (F = 9.53,
p
< 0.01) communication styles, alongside a significant reduction in avoidance (F = 42.16,
p
< 0.001). Improvements were also found in constructive conflict communication (F = 8.13,
p
< 0.01), and reductions were observed in avoidance (F = 13.21,
p
< 0.001) and demand/withdrawal styles (F = 9.28,
p
< 0.01). These findings suggest that the ADPM offers a theoretically grounded and culturally responsive framework for premarital education, particularly in contexts where relational autonomy and emotional expression are constrained by traditional norms.
Journal Article
Promoting mental wellbeing in pregnant women living in Pakistan with the Safe Motherhood—Accessible Resilience Training (SM-ART) intervention: a randomized controlled trial
Background
The negative impact of adverse perinatal mental health extends beyond the mother and child; therefore, it is essential to make an early intervention for the management of mental illness during pregnancy. Resilience-building interventions are demonstrated to reduce depression and anxiety among expectant mothers, yet research in this field is limited. This study aims to examine the effect of the ‘Safe Motherhood—Accessible Resilience Training (SM-ART)’ on resilience, marital adjustment, depression, and pregnancy-related anxiety in a sample of pregnant women in Karachi, Pakistan.
Method
In this single-blinded block randomized controlled study, 200 pregnant women were recruited and randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group using computer-generated randomization and opaque sealed envelopes. The intervention group received the SM-ART intervention consisting of six, weekly sessions ranging from 60 to 90 min. Outcomes (Resilience, depression, pregnancy-related anxiety and marital harmony) were assessed through validated instruments at baseline and after six weeks of both intervention and control groups.
Results
The results revealed a significant increase in mean resilience scores (Difference:6.91, Effect size: 0.48,
p
-value < 0.05) and a decrease in depressive symptoms (Difference: -2.12, Effect size: 0.21,
p
-value < 0.05) in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, no significant change was observed in anxiety and marital adjustment scores.
Conclusion
The SM-ART intervention has the potential to boost resilience scores and decrease depressive symptoms in pregnant women and offers a promising intervention to improve maternal psychological health.
Trial registration
NCT04694261, Date of first trial registration: 05/01/2021.
Journal Article
The impact of positive psychology counseling on sexual and marital satisfaction and anxiety among reproductive-aged women during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Background
Sexual and marital satisfaction is considered one of the important factors in happiness and life satisfaction of couples. COVID-19 pandemic results in psychological effects, such as increased anxiety levels which can affect sexual and marital satisfaction. This study aimed to investigate the impact of positive psychology on women’s sexual and marital satisfaction.
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 72 married women of reproductive age in Tabriz, Iran between February 2021 and May 2022. The participants were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. There was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups in terms of the socio-demographic characteristics (
p
< 0.05). The mean age of the participants in the intervention and control groups was 31.8 ± 6.92 and 30.97 ± 5.09 years, respectively. The intervention group attended seven 60–90 min counseling sessions at weekly intervals. The Spielberger anxiety, sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction questionnaires were completed before and four weeks after the intervention.
Results
The results of this study indicated that after counseling, the average overall score of marital satisfaction [MD: 15.46, 95% CI: 7.47 to 23.41,
p
= 0.034] and sexual satisfaction [MD: 7.83, 95% CI: 6.25 to 9.41,
p
= 0.001] significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group. Also, the mean score of state anxiety [MD: -2.50, 95% CI: -4.19 to -0.80,
p
= 0.001] and trait anxiety [MD: -1.03, 95% CI: -2.46 to -0.09,
p
= 0.032] significantly decreased after counseling in the intervention group compared to the control group.
Conclusions
Using counseling based on a positive psychology approach can improve anxiety, sexual and marital satisfaction, and anxiety of women of reproductive age during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, further randomized clinical trials are needed before making a definitive conclusion.
Trial registration
Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT): IRCT20171007036615N8. Date of registration: 11/28/21. Date of first registration: 11/28/21. URL:
https://www.irct.ir/user/trial/58680/view
; Date of recruitment start date: 12/01/21.
Journal Article