The Relationship Between Factors Related to Divorce Request and Mental Health Among Divorce Applicant Women Referred to Legal Medicine Organization in Ahvaz, Iran

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between factors related to divorce request with mental health among divorce applicant women in order to understand the effect of these factors on women's mental health. Materials and methods: This study was a cross-sectional study performed on 434 divorce applicant women who referred to legal medicine department of Ahvaz in 2013 based on convenience sampling. Information was collected by using researcher made questionnaire for factors affecting divorce and symptom checklist-25 (SCL-25) standard questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver.18. Results: The results showed that among the social factors, life skills and communication, family and individual factors had a significant relationship with mental health among divorce applicant women (p < 0.05). No relationship was seen with economic and cultural factors affecting divorce request (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the negative effects of various causative factors of divorce on mental health of women including social, life skills, communication, family and individual factors strategies for prevention and reduction of these factors should be seriously considered for prevention and early treatment of mental health problems. These strategies include counseling before marriage, after marriage and during the divorce process.