Post-Divorce Regret among Iranian Women: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Post-divorce regret is a context-based phenomenon and in every community it is affected by the personal, social and cultural factors of that community. This study was conducted to investigate the post-divorce regret among Iranian women. METHODS: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted from November 2015 to December 2017 in Tehran. 15 divorced women were selected through purposeful and snowball sampling. The data were collected through in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. Interview with participant no. 13 was conducted in two sessions (not having enough time for a long interview). Data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman’s proposed method. The MAXQDA 10 software was used for the management of data. RESULTS: Four main categories and 12 subcategories of data were extracted. The main categories and their subcategories were identity threat (stigma, becoming a sex object, discrimination), loss of independence (economic dependence, lack of independence in choosing a place to live, being controlled), vague future (concerns about children’s future, little chance of having an appropriate remarriage, fear of loneliness) and the absence of the husband and his role (emotional and sexual needs, children’s need for their father, need for a supporter and security). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that many of the participants had got involved in multiple social, economic and support problems after divorce. Most of the participants were not able to adjust to life after their divorce and consequently regretted their decision to divorce. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the appropriate social and economic support for these women based on the culture of the society.