Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Divorce is an undesirable social phenomenon and a complex and stressful event for the people involved. The negative consequences of divorce affect both couples, but according to research, women are more vulnerable than men. Among the problems after divorce, economic issues, feelings of anxiety and depression, and reduction in quality of life have been the most significant problems of people, especially women. Therefore, divorce is associated with a wide range of adverse psychological consequences. Expression of emotions plays a crucial role in externalizing negative emotions caused by divorce and helps a person manage the experience of negative emotions. Also, rumination of anger is one of the strong predictors in reducing the mental health of divorced women. Therefore, it is essential to use psychological interventions that help release the emotions of divorced women. The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of narrative therapy on emotional self–disclosure and anger rumination of divorced women living in Mashhad City, Iran.
Methods: The research method was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest and a 3–month follow–up design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all divorced women referred to psychological counseling and service centers in 2019 in districts 1, 2, and 3 of Mashhad City. Among them, 24 qualified volunteer divorced women were included in the study using the available sampling method. They were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (12 women in each group). The inclusion criteria were as follows: personal satisfaction to participate in the research, the first experience of divorce, the age range of 25 to 40 years, having at least a diploma education, lacking a serious emotional relationship at the time of conducting the research with the help of the psychologist's diagnosis, and at least three years have passed since the divorce process. The exclusion criteria were as follows: absence of more than two sessions during training, entering into a new emotional relationship, and remarriage. The experimental group underwent group therapy in 8 sessions, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were collected using the Emotional Self–Disclosure Scale (Snell et al., 1988) and the Anger Rumination Scale (Sukhodolsky et al., 2001). Next, the data were analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measures and an LSD post hoc test using SPSS statistical software version 26. The significance level of the tests was considered 0.05.
Results: The results showed that the time effect and group effects and the interaction effect of time and group on the variables of anger rumination and emotional self–disclosure were significant (p<0.001). Also, in the variables of anger rumination and emotional self–disclosure in the narrative therapy group, the difference between the average scores of the pretest with posttest and follow–up was significant (p<0.001). In the narrative therapy group, a significant difference was observed between the average scores of posttest and follow–up in the variables of anger rumination (p=0.002) and emotional self–disclosure (p=0.003), indicating the persistence of the effectiveness of the treatment during the 3–month follow–up period.
Conclusion: According to the results of the research, the use of non–pharmacological intervention of narrative therapy is effective in increasing emotional self–disclosure, reducing rumination of anger, and improving psychological problems in divorced women. Therefore, it is recommended to use a narrative therapy program in welfare and counseling centers for divorced women.