A Community-Based Survey Studying Causes of Divorce in Rafsanjan City, Iran (2021)

Identification of causes of divorce in any society is the first and most important step in proposing practical solutions to this social problem. This study aimed to investigate certain causes of divorce in a community of divorce applicants in Rafsanjan, Iran.

In this descriptive study, 278 people (139 couples) applying for divorce, referring to counseling centers in Rafsanjan, Iran (2021) were enrolled via convenience sampling method. The causes of divorce were examined from the perspective of the counsellor and subjects. The data were analyzed using SPSS.

The mean age were 34.70±9.85 years. From the perspective of counsellors, psychological- psychiatric and sociocultural issues were the most common reasons for divorce (19.4% and 19.1% respectively). Men stated that the most important causes of divorce were lack of boundaries (parental interference) (21.6%), lack of empathetic dialogue (18%), and lack of conflict resolution skills (17.6%). According to women, the principal causes of divorce were the husband's addiction (17.3%), poor anger control skills (15.1%), and economic problems (15.1%).

The findings of this study indicated that apart from the issue of addiction and economy, other causes of divorce are related to marital skills, which can be reduced with proper pre-marriage education.