Strategies for coping with the consequences of divorce: opinions of women and mental health professionals in today's society

Hajiheydari, Zahra; Pourshahriari, Mahsima; Hosseinian, Simin; Yazdi, Seyedeh Monavar

Strategies for coping with the consequences of divorce: opinions of women and mental health professionals in today's society

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Hajiheydari ¹

Mahsima Pourshahriari ²

Simin Hosseinian ²

Seyedeh Monavar Yazdi ³

¹ Department of Counseling, The faculty of Education &amp; Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

² Department of Counseling, The faculty of Education & Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

³ Department of Psychology, The faculty of Education & Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Strategies affect reducing or increasing damages after divorce and lead to negative or positive consequences. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the strategies used by women to cope with psychological, social, and economic challenges after divorce in the current socio-cultural context of society, to reduce the negative consequences of divorce. The study used a qualitative method, a conventional content analysis approach, purpose sampling saturation, and triangulation. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 35 women and 10 mental health professionals. According to the analysis of the data, 2 themes and 8 main categories were identified. The damaging strategy theme includes four categories non-acceptance, emotional coping, requesting and accepting support without recognition, and isolation; the growth strategy includes the four categories of acceptance, adopting a realistic perspective, seeking support from competent resources, and striving for growth after trauma. In addition, due to the emphasis on economic problems as one of the main reasons that lead women to choose some damaging strategies, government resources must follow up and support the economic needs of vulnerable women after divorce.

Keywords

Remarriage

family support

self-compassion

grief

parenting after divorce

Subjects