Predicting emotional divorce based on psychological basic needs, marital expectations and family function

Emotional divorce, as an essential factor in extramarital relations and legal divorce, is influenced by different variables such as psychological basic needs, marital expectations and family function. This study was carried out to provide a model for predicting emotional divorce based on psychological basic needs, marital expectations and family functioning. 248 married women (age 25-50) were selected from the participants in family training programs in Abhar. They completed the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale (BNSG-S), the Family Assessment Device (FAD), the  Marital Expectations Questionnaire (MEQ) and the Emotional Divorce Questionnaire (EDQ). The results showed negative correlations between psychological basic needs and marital expectations and emotional divorce as well as positive correlations between family function and emotional divorce. Also, psychological basic needs and family function were significantly correlated. Results of path analysis showed that psychological basic needs could affect emotional divorce indirectly through family function. Marital expectations exerted both a direct and an indirect effect, through family functionon emotional divorce. It was also shown that family function had an impact on emotional divorce. The findings suggest  that the relations between psychological basic needs, marital expectations and emotional divorce are not linear and family function could play a moderating role in these relations.