Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Marriage is one of the basic foundations of human life. Relationships between husband and wife are increasingly crucial in promoting mental wellbeing. Various factors can affect mental wellbeing. One of these components is the health of the main family. Another factor that affects the mental wellbeing of couples is communication. One of the factors that married couples are dealing with is alexithymia. The factor of forgiveness is one of the variables that has drawn the attention of researchers in the field of couple conflicts. Despite the critical role of forgiveness in marital satisfaction and adjustment, little research has investigated the mediating role of this variable in the relationship between the communication patterns of the health of the main family and alexithymia with the mental wellbeing of couples. Therefore, the present study aims to model the structural relationships between the health of the original family and alexithymia, and communication beliefs with the mental wellbeing of couples were conducted with the mediating role of forgiveness.
Methods: The research method was correlational analysis with structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all married couples seeking counseling at counseling centers in the city of Javanrud, Iran. According to Kline's rule (2023) and considering the sample size criteria, 200 couples were initially considered, but 22 questionnaires were excluded due to incomplete responses. The inclusion criteria were as follows: age range of 20–55 years, minimum education of high school, at least one year of cohabitation, informed consent to participate in research, and completing questionnaires. The exclusion criterion was the failure to complete the questionnaires. The data collection tools consisted of the Subjective Wellbeing in Couple Relationship Scale (Urbano–Contreras et al., 2018), the Family–of–Origin Scale (Hovestadt et al., 1985), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby et al., 1994), the Relationship Beliefs Questionnaire (Romans & DeBord, 1995), and the Family Forgiveness Scale (Pollard & Anderson, 1998). To analyze the collected data, the statistical method of structural equation modeling by partial least square method was used in Smart PLS version 3 software.
Results: The effect coefficient of health in the main family on mental wellbeing in couples' relationships (β=0.41, p˂0.001), communicative beliefs on mental wellbeing in couples' relationships (β=0.213, p˂0.001), health in the family on the level of forgiveness (β=0.303, p˂0.001), communication beliefs on forgiveness (β=0.273, p˂0.001), and forgiveness on mental wellbeing in couples' relationships (β=0.252, p=0.002) was positive and significant and the effect coefficient of alexithymia on forgiveness was negative and significant (β=–0.481, p˂0.001). Also, the mediating effect of forgiveness in relation to health in the main family on mental wellbeing in couple relationships was positive and significant (β=0.076, p=0.018), the indirect effect of alexithymia through forgiveness on mental wellbeing in couple relationships was negative and significant (β=–0.121, p=0.002), and the mediating effect of forgiveness in relation to communicative beliefs on subjective wellbeing in couples' relationships was not confirmed (β=0.069, p=0.007).
Conclusion: According to the research findings, forgiveness plays a mediating role in the relationship between the health of the main family and alexithymia and communicative beliefs related to the mental wellbeing of couples.