Identifying the Stress Factors of Divorced Women’s Parents: A Qualitative Study

The phenomenon of divorce can leave the source family of divorced people with many stress factors that result from an unforeseen transition. The aim of this study was to identify the stressors of parents of divorced women. In this research, qualitative method and interpretative phenomenological design were used. Participants in this study included 12 parents of divorced women who were interviewed between January 2020 and July 2020. Inclusion criteria are no remarriage, no children, At least six months have been passed since the divorce and the divorce must be performed officially. These individuals were selected by purposive sampling method based on snowball strategy. The data collection process was performed using semi-structured in-depth interviews and the data were analyzed using Dickelmann's seven-step method. The results indicate that there are 348 primary codes, 19 concepts and 7 main categories. These categories include: negative social feedback, questioning of parental role, helplessness in the success of marriage, poor psychological support, lack of marital unity, loss of rights, and chronic instability after divorce. The results of the present study indicate that parents are affected by multiple stress factors due to having a divorced daughter and the emergence of an unpredictable stage in the family life cycle.