Evaluation of behavioral and physical dimensions of childhood traumas in couples who have marital infidelity

When criteria such as kindness, loyalty, and respect are violated in an intimate relationship, it is a form of infidelity that can have a variety of causes. The purpose of this study was to determine the behavioral and physical dimensions of childhood trauma in men and women who have marital infidelity.

This study was a qualitative study. A total of 11 participants who have a history of marital infidelity (7 women and 5 men) were selected using purposeful samplmig method. They were then interviewed using semi-structured interview until participants' responses were saturated. Analysis of the interviews was also conducted using grounded theory by opening, centeal and selective coding.

The results of the interview analysis showed that individuals who have marital infidelity suffer from behavioral and physical traumas including: behavioral abuse (punishment, parental aggression, forced and behavioral coercion), incorrect parenting (extreme affection, parental self-centeredness, lack of supervision and behavioral contradiction of parents), malfunctioning family structure (family conflicts, border tensions and inequality between children). Moreover, it was demonstrated that the childhood trauma result in some problems for these people in various areas of their life in childhood and adulthood. Based on these findings, as well as the paradigm model, necessary plans can be taken to identify as well as prevent traumas that could potentially lead to marital infidelity.