The prediction of marital adjustment in context of interpersonal cognitive distortions, alexithymia and perceived spousal support

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between interpersonal cognitive distortions, alexithymia, perceived spousal support and marital adjustment. The sample of the study consists of 465 (262 female, 203 male) married individuals between the ages of 24-73 who have been married for at least 1 year and voluntarily participated in the research from different cities of Turkey. In this study, Personal Information Form, Revised form Dyadic AdjustmentScale (DAS-R), Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (ICDQ), 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Spousal Support Scale (SSS) were apply to the participants. In the analysis of the data obtained, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine whether marital adjustment differed according to demographic variables. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationships between the variables. Hierarchical regression analysis method was applied to determine the variables predicting marital adjustment. Marriage adjustment of married individuals differs according to age, education level, type of marriage, age of marriage, age difference with spouse, duration of marriage, number of children and income status; it was concluded that there was no difference according to the variables of gender, place of residence, number of marriages, and working status. The correlation results of the study revealed that marital adjustment has a negative relationship with cognitive distortions and alexithymia, and a positive relationship with spousal support. As a result of the hierarchical regression analysis; the sub-dimensions of avoidance of intimacy from cognitive distortions, difficulty in recognizing emotions due to alexithymia, emotional support, financial and information support, esteem support and social interest support from spousal support were found to be significant predictors of marital adjustment. The findings of the study were discussed in the context of the relevant literature and the results and recommendations were presented. Keywords: Marital Adjustment, Cognitive Distortions, Alexithymia, Perceived Spousal Support