Impact of Psychological Factors on Marital Satisfaction and Divorce Proneness in Clinical Couples

Seong Sook Kong

doi:10.4040/jkan.2008.38.4.550

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Kong: Impact of Psychological Factors on Marital Satisfaction and Divorce Proneness in Clinical Couples

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2008; 38(4): 550-560.

Published online: 31 August 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2008.38.4.550

Impact of Psychological Factors on Marital Satisfaction and Divorce Proneness in Clinical Couples

Seong Sook Kong

Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Kong, Seong Sook. Department of Nursing, Soonchunhyang University, 336-1 Ssangyong-dong, Cheonan 330-090, Korea. Tel: 82-41-570-2488, Fax: 82-41-575-9347, kongsun@sch.ac.kr

Received 3 June 2008 Accepted 14 July 2008

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychological factors that affect marital satisfaction or divorce likelihood in clinical couples.

Methods

Clinical couples (n=57) who visited "M" couple clinic participated in the study. Data was collected from September 2005 to June 2006 using a Marital Satisfaction Scale, a Marital Status Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Results

The couples showed high scores on depression, obsessive-compulsion, personality factors and divorce probability and a low score on marital satisfaction. The wife's obsessive-compulsion was a predictor of her marital satisfaction, and the wife's social introversion and depression, and husband's obsessive-compulsion were predictors of the wife's prospect of divorce. The husband's hypomania and depression were predictors of his marital satisfaction, and there were no predictors of the husband's prospect of divorce.

Conclusion

Obsessive-compulsion is a significant factor in a couple's relationship, although previous studies have not been interested in obsessive-compulsion. Divorce likelihood should be evaluated for clinical couples as well as marital satisfaction, because it is more important for divorce prevention. Each spouse who has a psychological problem such as depression, obsessive-compulsion, and deviated personality needs individual therapy as well as couple therapy.

Keywords: Depression, Obsessive-compulsion, MMPI, Marital satisfaction, Divorce

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of the Subjects (N=57)

Table 2

Demographic Characteristics and Major Variables of the Couples (N=57)

Table 3

Major Variables of the Couples according to Cutoff Scores (N=57)

^*N=56 (one uncompleted questionnaire for wife's MOCI was excluded); ^**This frequency is calculated by counting the number of participants who corresponded to at least one subscale among 10 subscales of MMPI.

Table 4

Correlations among Marital Satisfaction, Divorce Proneness, Depression, Obsessive-Compulsion and MMPI subscales in Couples

D=depression; OC=obsessive-compulsion; MS=marital satisfaction; DP=divorce proneness.

^*p<.05; ^**p<.01; ^***p<.001.

Table 5

Correlations among Marital Satisfaction, Divorce Proneness, and Psychological Factors in Couples

D=depression; OC=obsessive-compulsion; MS=marital satisfaction; DP=divorce proneness.

^*p<.05; ^**p<.01; ^***p<.001.

^†This is made with dummy variable (correspondents with ≤30 or 70≤ at least one subscale among 10 subscales of MMPI, 0; correspondents with 31-69 in all 10 subscales of MMPI, 1).

Table 6

Stepwise Multiple Regression for Marital Satisfaction and Divorce Proneness

MA=hypomania; SI=social introversion.

Notes

This work was supported by Professor Sabbatical year program (2007) of Soonchunhyang University.

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