Identifying themes relevant to sexual dissatisfaction of dual career couples: Design and effectiveness of a psycho-educational package – A mixed method study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Today, dual-career couples are becoming increasingly prevalent around the world. Due to the nature of the life of this group of people, their sexual and marital life can be damaged. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a psycho-educational model based on the lived experiences of dual career couples who are dissatisfied with sexual relations and its effectiveness on sexual satisfaction. METHODS: This research was done based on a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) method. The qualitative part was performed using the phenomenological method and 13 couples were selected for semi-structured interviews using the purposive sampling method. In a small part of this study, a single case plan (AB plan) was used, and three couples were selected from those who referred to counseling centers in Ardabil and underwent counseling interventions. In a small part, the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire was used to measure the changes of couples during the implementation of the intervention program. The information obtained in the qualitative part was analyzed through content analysis and the quantitative part was analyzed using visual analysis, clinical significance and recovery percentage. RESULTS: Based on the results obtained in the qualitative analysis section, the experiences of sexual dissatisfaction of dual-career couples can be classified into 10 main themes, 20 sub-themes and 30 categories that affect the sexual satisfaction of dual-career couples. The results of the quantitative section indicate that the designed psycho-educational model has led to an increase in sexual satisfaction of dual-career couples. CONCLUSION: Achieving sexual and marital satisfaction and finally mental health and reducing divorce is a process that begins with pathology in the cultural context and is achieved by emphasizing indigenous culture through developing a counseling package for appropriate intervention by therapists and counselors.