Recent epidemiological data from Arabian Gulf nations suggest that mental health problems such as depression and anxiety have a relatively high prevalence, particularly amongst women. However, despite the widespread morbidity, treatment seeking for mental health problems is low. Mental health beliefs amongst female Emirati college students were explored. A questionnaire exploring perceptions about the causes, consequences and best forms of intervention for mental health problems was administered to 70 participants. Data revealed that social and environmental factors were given the most weight in terms of etiology. Social stigma was the most frequently identified barrier to help seeking. Religious practices were commonly reported as an approach to cope with mental health problems and to maintain good psychological health. Most participants reported willingness to seek help from a healthcare professional. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for improving the quality and accessibility of mental health services in the gulf region.

Marital satisfaction is a culturally bound construct influenced by many traditional family values and processes. Research on marital satisfaction in the United Arab Emirates is very limited perhaps due to unavailability of a culturally relevant scale. In this study, the Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS) was constructed and validated based on a community sample of 407 Emirati married men and women. The 30-item unidimensional EMSS was found to have high construct validity and internal consistency reliability estimates. The validity of the EMSS was supported by the positive correlations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction and self-esteem. Men reported higher level of marital satisfaction than women. Demographic variables such as religious commitment and living location affect marital satisfaction in the Emirates. Implications for research and practice were provided.

This study surveyed 1,000 married Emirati men and women to explore a model of marital satisfaction in relation to self-esteem, satisfaction with life, gender-role attitudes and general health (physical and psychological). The Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS; Al-Darmaki et al., were utilized. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the EMSS indicated a moderate fit of the data to one factor structure. CFA on SSES and SWLS indicated an adequate fit of the data to the four-factor solution and one factor, respectively. The structural equation model for the EMSS showed that both general health and gender-role attitudes predict marital satisfaction and that marital satisfaction seems to predict the individual's well-being as measured by life satisfaction and self-esteem. These results are discussed within the context of the UAE culture and directions for future research are provided.

Based on previous work on factors predicting marital satisfaction in Emirati society, this study aimed at examining whether anxiety and depression as well as perceived family functioning would predict marital satisfaction among a sample of 1,041 Emirati married individuals. Participants responded to the Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale along with an Arabic translation of the General Functioning (GF12) subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device and the Primary Care Anxiety and Depression Scale. Marital satisfaction negatively correlated with lower levels of family functioning as well as to depression and anxiety. Lower levels of depression and anxiety as well as healthy family functioning together explained about 50% of the variance in the marital satisfaction. The interaction between gender and depression and anxiety was insignificant. Findings are discussed within the United Arab Emirates cultural context.

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