Journal of Counseling Research

---

The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate psychometric properties of the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills of Couples Scale (IISCS). In terms of testing, the research method was of descriptive type and the sampled statistical population included married men and women living in the city of Tehran, Iran. In this respect, 470 Iranian married men and women (277 women and 193 men) volunteered to participate in the given study.
The resulting scale in this study was the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills of Couples Scale (IISCS). To develop this scale, the first step involved planning for the subject matter of the test and the second step contained designing a questionnaire based on theoretical foundations and reviews of existing questionnaires. The given scale was implemented in two stages and the final questionnaire was analyzed in order to assess its construct validity through measurement methods including internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient), Pearson correlation coefficient, test-retest method, exploratory factor analysis, as well as confirmatory factor analysis.
 According to the findings of this study, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (internal consistency) were from 0.65 to 0.78 and the results of the test-retest method confirmed the correlation coefficients between 0.54 and 0.81. In this regard, the results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed a goodness of fit index (GFI) equal to 0.95. Likewise, the goodness of fit index (GFI) was 0.95 and the adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) was equal to 0.91 which showed a favorable goodness of fit for the model. The normed fit index (NFI) and the comparative fit index (CFI) were respectively equal to 0.93 and 0.95 indicating the desirable goodness of fit for the model. Furthermore, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.43 which suggested a favorable goodness of fit for the given model. The results of this study showed that the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills of Couples Scale (IISCS) benefited from sufficient reliability, validity, and goodness of fit to measure such constructs among Iranian samples.

---

Purpose: Mental rumination is a strong predictor for depression. Depression can damage the marital relationship. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the consequences of rumination in women with marital conflicts. Methods: This research was carried out qualitatively using thematic analysis method. The sampling method was purposeful and continued until data saturation. The data was obtained from 15 married women who had marital conflicts. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were used. Results: After analyzing the data content, six main categories were obtained, including: symptoms of depression (physical pains, loss of energy, impatience, reduced desire to live, sleep problems and lack of motivation, and lower sexual desires), negative emotions (anger, sadness, hatred, sense of revenge, malice, and anxiety), impulsivity (aggression and lack of control over behavior), lowered efficiency (aggression to children, reduced association with children, and failing to do the household chores), getting caught up in negative association cycles (controversy, criticism, resentment towards spouse), and resentment towards others (reduced communication with others and withdrawal). Conclusion: When the conflict is not resolved, the process of mental rumination is activated in women which leads to consequences such as reduced efficacy in both individual and marital relationships, as well as depression. Depression leads to increased mental rumination and marital conflics.

 

---

Aim: Considering the prevalence of career problems in the helping professions, the aim of the present study was to investigate the career problems of social workers. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis approach. The population included all the social workers of Shahrekord city, 17 of whom were selected through purposeful sampling until theoretical data saturation was reached. For collecting the information, semi-structured interviews were used. Atride-Sterling network theme analysis method was used to analyze the data. Findings: Social workers perceive career problems in three overarching themes: Intrapersonal problems, interpersonal problems and transpersonal problems. Intrapersonal problems included two organizing themes of emotional-sentimental problems (anxiety, general depression, burnout and violence), and physical problems. In the field of interpersonal problems, the themes of the organizer include: career problems transfer into the family and home, communication problems with clients (collapse of work and personal boundaries with clients, inability to manage clients' high expectations and cultural, educational and social problems of clients), problems related to lack of organizational commitment (feeling of discrimination and low conscientiousness of colleagues), problems related to the policy of the organization (change and diversity of the policy of the organization and the contradiction of the policy of the organization with the needs of clients). The reports of the social workers in the context of transpersonal problems also indicated that the problems related to the nature of the job (high volume of work, high challenge of work), problems related to working conditions (high noise, inappropriate ergonomics and pollution of the work environment) financial and welfare problems and the interference of living environment problems with job duties were the factors that led to career problems in this profession. Conclusion: Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that social work is a very challenging job and social workers are among the most vulnerable groups of society who experience many problems in various fields, where the involved related organizations can help them reduce these problems by using career counselors and psychologists, in addition to better comprehensive planning