Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: The man's family appears to make a greater contribution to marital satisfaction and conflict than the woman's family. One important issue in the family field is the quality of the mother–in–law–daughter–in–law relationship. From the perspective of a group of researchers, the relationship between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law is conflict–filled and challenging. According to some, the mother–in–law and daughter–in–law relationship can be strengthened as a positive relationship in the family. In the East Asian countries, the role of the mother–in–law in couple relationships is more prominent. The relationship between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law is known to be the third most stressful factor in Asian married women, and sometimes one of the main causes of divorce. The mother–in–law is part of the couple relationship, and the quality of her relationship with the daughter–in–law has a significant impact on preventing damage to the couple's commitment and unity. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the program's effectiveness in improving the quality of the relationship between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law, focusing on the dimensions of the spouse's empathy and the bride's emotion regulation.
Methods: A quasi–experimental research design with a pretest–posttest control group was used. The statistical population included all brides and their husbands in the city of Khorramabad, Iran, in 2024. Using the convenience sampling method, 32 couples (bride and groom) were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (two groups of 16 people). To implement the program, necessary arrangements were made to participate, taking ethical considerations into account. Participants had a marriage history of at least 1 to 6 years. If a participant was absent twice in a row, he/she was excluded from the program. The treatment goals were clearly explained to the participants. Before implementing the program, a pretest was administered to the two groups, and the subjects completed the questionnaires. After the end of the educational program, the questionnaires were completed again.
The research was conducted based on ethical standards such as informed consent, keeping the participants' information confidential, using the findings only for research purposes, and freedom to participate in the session or leave the session if they were not interested. Data collection tools included the Davis Empathy Scale (Davis, 1983), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003), and a training program to improve the quality of relationships between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law, which, according to experts, had good content validity (CVI=0.62). For the experimental group, eight 90–minute training sessions were held once a week. A posttest was administered to both groups, and data analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum score, maximum score, skewness, and kurtosis, column chart) and inferential statistics (the Chi–square test and univariate analysis of covariance) were calculated using SPSS version 27 software. The significance level of the tests was set at 0.05.
Results: The results showed that the training program for improving the quality of the mother–in–law's relationship with the daughter–in–law had a significant effect on improvement empathetic concerns (p<0.001), perspective–taking (p<0.001), personal turmoil (p<0.001), emotional suppression (p=0.010), and emotional reappraisal (p=0.004) of the brides and their husbands in the experimental group. Also, the effect size values showed that 91.5%, 80.6%, 88.2%, 93.9%, and 87.8% of the changes in empathic concerns, perspective–taking, personal turmoil, emotional suppression, and emotional reappraisal at posttest can be explained by the training program for improving the quality of the relationship between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law.
Conclusion: According to the study's results, the training program to improve the quality of the relationship between mother–in–law and daughter–in–law can help daughters–in–law and their husbands learn to pay more attention to empathic concerns and bring their perspectives and personal concerns closer in their relationships with their mothers–in–law. It can reduce their suppressed emotions and help them reassess their positive and negative emotions, thereby improving the quality of their relationships with their mothers–in–law.