Intention to Divorce and Its Determinants in the Young Newly Marrieds: A Field-Based Cross-sectional Study from Iran

Abstract

Background: Increasing the rate of divorce among young couples is a major social problem in Iran. Objectives: This study was planned to identify the determinants of intention to divorce in order to guide future preventive interventions. Methods: As a cross-sectional study, young married individuals whose marriages had lasted less than five years and who intended to divorce were interviewed in 2021 at Judiciary-affiliated counseling centers in Shiraz, Iran, using a validated questionnaire. Univariable and multivariable analyses (binary logistic regression: Backward LR) were conducted using SPSS software. Analyses were performed based on two different dichotomous categorizations (women/men, and marriages lasting less than 2 years/2 - 5 years). Results: A total of 222 respondents, including 168 women (75.7%) and 54 men (24.3%) with a mean age of 27.4 ± 6.4 years, were interviewed. In 85 cases (38%), less than two years had passed since their marriage, while 137 participants (62%) had been married for 2 - 5 years. The median period between the first thought of divorce and the wedding ceremony was six months, while the median time from marriage to filing the divorce petition at the Judiciary was two years. The results of the regression analysis revealed that husbands’ economic failure [odds ratio (OR) = 5.1], parsimony (OR = 3.7), chronic illness (OR = 3.4), parents’ luxurious lifestyle (OR = 3.1), and discriminatory behaviors (OR = 2.9) were the main determinants of intention to divorce among women. Furthermore, in the group whose marriages had lasted 2 - 5 years compared to those married for less than 2 years, unemployment (OR = 5.5), non-payment of alimony (OR = 2.2), infidelity (OR = 2.2), pornographic chats (OR = 1.9), spouse’s parsimony (OR = 1.7), and a long courtship period (OR = 1.1) were identified as major determinants of intention to divorce. Conclusions: Increasing marriage literacy and empowering single youths to address the identified determinants of divorce — both before marriage and especially during the first months of marriage — are of utmost importance.