The effectiveness of life skills training on marital intimacy and family functioning among married women with major depression

BACKGROUND: This study was performed aiming to determine the effectiveness of life skills training on marital intimacy and family functioning among married women with major depression in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design accompanied by control and experimental groups. The statistical population included all married women with major depression referring to community centers of district 14 of Tehran. Among the desired centers, the Sarasiab center was selected using a simple random sampling method and a list of married women with major depression was provided. Finally, 30 subjects were randomly selected using the purposive sampling method and divided into the two groups of control and experimental. Initially, the pre-test stage was implemented. The experimental group received 10 90-minute training sessions of life skills, while the controls received no intervention. The instruments used included McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) and Walker and Thompson's Intimacy Scale which were employed by the participants of both groups. Data was analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: The results indicated that implementation of the independent variable at the significance level of 0.01 has affected the participants' marital intimacy (P < 0.01, F(1,27) = 13.00). In addition, implementation of the independent variable at the significance level of 0.05 influenced the participants' family functioning (P < 0.05, F = 4.70). CONCLUSION: The results showed that implementation of life skills training significantly increases marital intimacy among married women with major depression in Tehran. It also significantly increases the quality of family functioning among married women with major depression in Tehran.