Surveying Marital Satisfaction and Spiritual Vitality in the Parents of 14-18-Year-Old Females with Conduct Disorder

One of the most common behavioral disorders among adolescents is Conduct Disorder (CD), threatening their mental health. The stronger the family system and the more emotional and rational the relations between its members, the more the children will benefit from education. An approach to promote the family's mental health is creating Spiritual Vitality (SV) based on mental states. Adolescents' mental state also substantially impacts numerous factors that affect the development of CD; these characteristics are related to communication issues between husband and wife. Behavioral interactions between adolescents and Marital Satisfaction (MS) create a suitable, emotional environment. It is healthy to raise children; naturally, this satisfaction can affect the parents–children relationship. Accordingly, the present study investigated marital satisfaction and SV in the parents of girls aged 14 to 18 years with CD.

This was a descriptive–analytical and cross–sectional study. The statistical population included the parents of all adolescent girls aged 14 to 18 years in Tehran City, Iran, with CD studying in the secondary school in 2020. The purposive sampling method was applied to select the study subjects, i.e., considering the sample size of descriptive studies and based on previous variance (S2 = 36.61), equaled 124 mothers and 124 fathers (N=248) who were targeted by sampling among adolescent girls with a higher odds of CD. To be screened, during negotiations with the principals of some girls' high schools in districts 14 and 19 of Tehran, while informing them of some symptoms of CD, they were requested to introduce adolescents with this syndrome. Accordingly, 512 students were introduced. Then, screening was performed; out of 512 students, 131 had the highest score in CD (18 & above) based on the Youth Self–Report Questionnaire (YSRQ; Achenbach, 1991). The exclusion criterion of the study was the lack of cooperation. In the grading process, by excluding the families of seven students (due to the lack of cooperation), 124 mothers and 124 fathers were eventually included in the study. The measurement tool included YSRQ, Afrooz Marital Satisfaction Scale (AMSS; Afrooz, 1999), and Afrooz Spiritual Vitality Scale (Afrooz, 2016) with appropriate validity and reliability. Furthermore, data analysis was performed in SPSS using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, and inferential statistics, including Independent Samples t–test at the significance level of 0.01. We assessed the status of MS and SV, and the mean scores of mothers, fathers, and the whole sample were compared with the cut–off point of the questionnaires.

The collected results indicated that the status of the parents of adolescents with CD, concerning MS (p<0.001) and the components of desirable–thinking of spouses (p<0.001), MS (p<0.001), religious behavior (p<0.001), parenting (p<0.001), and parental interaction (p<0.001), were unpleasant and vulnerable. Additionally, the scores of the parents of adolescents with CD concerning SV (p<0.001) and the components of beliefs (p<0.001) and feelings and behavior (p<0.001) were unacceptable.

This study emphasizes the importance of MS and SV in preventing CD in adolescents; therefore, it is necessary to improve the situation of adolescents' parents, appropriate practical planning, and necessary measures must be taken.