Effectiveness of Adlerian-based Educational Program on Decision Making Problems of Spouse Selection and Attitude Toward Marriage and Divorce among Children of Divorced Parents

Abstract

Background and Aim: One of the most important complications of parental divorce for children is uncertainty about marriage and its outcomes and, in the next step, doubts about decision making about choosing a suitable spouse. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Adlerian educational program on the problems of choosing a spouse, attitude toward marriage and divorce of children of divorced parents. Materials & Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. This study's statistical population was all divorced children referred to a counseling center in Tehran, 60 of whom were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of 30 experimental and control. Premarital education was conducted based on the communication training program for the experimental group. Before the intervention and the final session, pre-test and post-test were taken, and follow-up was performed 45 days after the post-test. Data were collected using the decision problems in spouse selection questionnaire (2004), marriage attitude scale (1998) and attitude toward divorce (1986) were analyzed using one-way covariance analysis and SPSS.22 software. Results: The results showed that the Adlerian educational program was effective on choosing a spouse (p <0.01), attitude toward marriage (p <0.01), and attitude toward divorce (p <0.01) of children of divorced parents.Conclusion: It can be concluded that Adlerian's educational program was effective on increasing attitude toward marriage and decreasing decision problems and attitude toward divorce of children of divorced parents.