Background and Objective: Nowadays, a large population in the world uses internet and in some studies serious side effects have been attributed to the excessive use of the internet which can also affect married women and harm the family. So this study aimed to investigate the relationship between internet addiction and emotional divorce in the married females in Tehran in 2016.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 402 married women who were living with their spouses were selected randomly. Data collection tools in this study were three questionnaires including demographic characteristics, Gottman's emotional divorce, and Young's addiction questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using Pearsonʼs correlation test and logistic regression analysis.
Results: The mean and standard deviation of the married women was 33.81 ± 7.94 years and the mean and standard deviation of the marriage years were 11.34 ± 8.42. The results of correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between emotional divorce and internet addiction (r=0.62, p<0.001) and the results of logistic regression analysis showed that among the predictive factors of emotional divorce, the only remained factor in the model was internet addiction (OR=1/116, p<0.001). Demographic variables including age (p= 0.023), age of spouse (p=0.033), and duration of marriage (p <0.001) had a reverse and significant relationship with emotional divorce.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate a direct relationship between internet addiction and emotional divorce. Therefore, it seems necessary to encourage policy makers to consider the role of online addiction as one of the risk factors in emotional divorce in health planning.
Key words: Emotional divorce, Internet addiction, Married Females, Tehran
Funding: This research was funded by University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Conflict of interest: None declared.
Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences approved the study.
 
How to cite this article: Latifian M, Arshi M, Eghlima M. The Relationship between Internet Addiction and Emotional Divorce in Married Females in Tehran in 2016. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2017; 16(6): 517-28. [Farsi]