Modeling the Relationship Between Psychological Capital and Alexithymia With Emotional Divorce Through the Mediating Roles of Marital Adjustment and Spiritual Intelligence in Couples Applying for Divorce
Keywords:
psychological capital, alexithymia, emotional divorce, marital adjustment, spiritual intelligenceAbstract
The present study aimed to examine the goodness of fit of a model explaining the relationship between psychological capital and alexithymia with emotional divorce, mediated by marital adjustment and spiritual intelligence, among couples applying for divorce. The research method was descriptive–correlational. The statistical population consisted of all couples applying for divorce who referred to counseling centers in the city of Babol in 2023 (N = 780). Using simple random sampling, 271 women were selected (n = 271) and completed the Psychological Capital Questionnaire by Luthans et al. (2007), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale by Bagby et al. (1994), the Emotional Divorce Scale by Gottman et al. (1995), the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale by Busby et al. (1995), and the Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire by Abdollahzadeh et al. (2008). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and path analysis with SPSS and LISREL software. The findings indicated a significant negative relationship between self-efficacy and emotional divorce (r = −0.424, p < .01). Resilience was also significantly and negatively related to emotional divorce (r = −0.141, p < .05). A significant negative relationship was found between hope and emotional divorce (r = −0.243, p < .01). Optimism showed a significant negative relationship with emotional divorce (r = −0.191, p < .01). In contrast, difficulty identifying feelings was significantly and positively related to emotional divorce (r = 0.353, p < .01). Difficulty describing feelings had a significant positive relationship with emotional divorce (r = 0.315, p < .01). Externally oriented thinking was also significantly and positively associated with emotional divorce (r = 0.332, p < .01). Overall alexithymia demonstrated a significant positive relationship with emotional divorce (r = 0.380, p < .01). The results further showed that psychological capital and alexithymia were related to emotional divorce through the mediating roles of marital adjustment and spiritual intelligence among couples applying for divorce, and that the proposed model exhibited adequate goodness of fit. These findings can assist family counselors and couple therapists in planning preventive and intervention strategies for emotional divorce by considering the role of predictive factors among divorce applicants and designing more effective interventions.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Hedieh Sabaghpour Sabzehmeidani (Author); Masoumeh Azmoodeh; Reza Abdi, Amir Panahali, Javad Mesrabadi (Author)
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