Social Psychology Research

Abstract Introduction: Marital intimacy is a multifaceted construct encompassing emotional, affective, and social dimensions, rooted in acceptance, satisfaction, and love. This study develops a structural model of marital intimacy based on distress tolerance and differentiation, examining the mediating role of the quality of relationships with in-laws among married women seeking counseling.  Method: Using a descriptive-correlational design and structural equation modeling, this study included 239 married women from counseling centers in Nourabad County, Lorestan Province. Participants completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Smith, 1998), the Quality of Relationship with In-Laws Questionnaire (Cheraghi, 2014), the Marital Intimacy Scale (Thompson & Walker, 1983), and the Distress Tolerance Scale (Simons & Gaher, 2005). Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 and Smart PLS.  Results: Distress tolerance accounted for 17% and differentiation of self for 21% of the variance in marital intimacy. Additionally, distress tolerance indirectly explained 10% of marital intimacy through relationship quality with in-laws, while differentiation of self contributed 5%. Both constructs had significant direct, indirect, and total effects on marital intimacy (differentiation: β = 0.209, 0.110, 0.320; distress tolerance: β = 0.169, 0.167, 0.336; all p ≤ 0.05).  Conclusion: The findings highlight the significant roles of distress tolerance and differentiation in marital intimacy, with relationship quality with in-laws serving as a key mediator. Interventions aimed at enhancing these factors may improve marital intimacy in married women attending counseling centers. 

Abstract Purpose: parents’ divorce influences psychological, emotional and social components of the children. Therefore the present study was conducted aiming to determine the effectiveness of teaching self-differentiation on psychological distress and social adaptation in the adolescents with divorced parents.
Method: It was an experimental study with pretest, posttest, control group and two-month follow-up period design. The statistical population included first high school students with divorced parents conflicting parents in the city of Tehran in academic year 2017-18. The sample included thirty students with divorced parents who were selected and via clustered random sampling method and randomly replaced into experimental and control groups (15 in each group). The experimental group received ten sessions of self-differentiation teaching while the control groups didn’t receive any intervention. Psychological distress questionnaire (Kesler et.al, 2003) and social adaptation (Sinha and Sing, 1993) were applied in order to collect information. The data were analyzed through repeated measurement ANOVA method.
Findings: The results showed that teaching self-differentiation has significantly influenced psychological distress and social adaptation in the adolescents with divorced parents (p<0.001). Moreover, the results showed that this teaching can significantly maintain its effect in time (p<0.001)
Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study it can be concluded that teaching self-differentiation using social and emotional techniques can influence psychological distress and social adaptation of the adolescents with divorced parents. Therefore teaching self-differentiation can be applied as an efficient method to improve social adaptation and decrease psychological distress of the adolescents with divorced parents.