Authors: Waed Migbel & Fadwa Halabiyah
The study aims at identifying the relationship between marital adjustment and symptoms of mental disorders among Palestinian couples in Bethlehem Governorate. The study approached the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, which addressed both theoretical and applied research. The significance of this recent study is the first, which dealt with this theme, to the author knowledge, which in turn encourages other researchers to work on further research on this important issue.
To achieve this end, the study adopted the quantitative research approach using the sampling survey method. The questionnaire is appropriate for the exploratory nature of the research. A 80-item questionnaire was formulated which was divided into three sub-scales as follows: the basic information of the participants; the second section dealt with the marital adjustment (27 items), that introduced by (Spinner, 1976); and the third section included the symptoms of mental disorders scale (BSI-53 items), taking into consideration the cultural appropriateness in the Palestinian society.
The sample comprised of (379) males and females couples at Bethlehem Governorate using the convenience sampling during 2021. A 5-point Likert scale (ranging from very often to never) was used to assess the marital adjustment and symptoms of mental disorders among the sampled population through an online survey that was launched on February 12, 2021, and the data were collected for a period of two months. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
The results revealed that Palestinian couples experienced a high level of marital adjustment, and a moderate level of mental disorders. The mean scores and standard deviation were (M 3.72 SD 0.71; M 2.61 SD 0.75) respectively. The study revealed the determinant effect of marital adjustment on decreasing mental disorders among Palestinian couples. It was found that when marital adjustment increases, mental disorders decrease and vice versa.
The results of the study revealed significant statistical differences in marital adjustment among Palestinian couples due to gender, age, age differences, way of marriage, number of children, and husband educational level. Additionally, the findings of the study revealed significant statistical differences in mental disorders among Palestinian couples due to age differences, way of marriage, children number, wife profession, monthly income, and wife and husband educational level.
These findings confirm the value of marital adjustment on decreasing mental disorders among Palestinian couples at Bethlehem Governorate, and recommend the necessity to organize counseling sessions and seminars for those who are about to get married, to prepare them for the new stage in their lives, and to intensify the role of media and educational institutions in family awareness, further research is essential in the area of marital adjustment and symptoms of mental disorders using the qualitative research design.
Keywords: Marital adjustment, symptoms of mental disorders, couples, Palestine.
Waed Migbel, MA. Psychological Counselling, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Independent Researcher, Hebron, Palestine. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fadwa Halabiyah, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
