Abstract

Introduction: The main aims of this study are to compare widows of the killed-in-action (KIA) regarding the rate of remarriage, basic preventive factors of remarriage, the affective factors on marital adjustment, the rate of marital adjustment, and finally the variables which are related to marital adjustment. Method: Participants were 450 widows (207 usual widows whose husbands have died, and 243 KIA widows) who were randomly selected from Tehran. The assessment measures used were the Symptom Checklist- 90-Revised (SC-90-R), a researcher-made questionnaire, and the Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaire. Result: The results showed that 24.5 of widows (both groups) had remarried, 36 of remarried widows had marital maladjustment, and 16 of them were on the verge of separation. Also, the results indicated that the age of widows was the only variable correlated with the marital adjustment. Other variables such as martyrdom, education, family relationship with the present spouse, and marital status of the present husband did not have a significant correlation with their marital adjustment. The major factors preventing widows to remarry were: worries about the future of their children, lack of motivation for remarriage, not finding an appropriate man, and loyalty to their previous husbands. Results also showed that the major symptoms among unmarried widows are somatoform disorder, obsession, depression, anxiety and paranoid ideation. These symptoms were more prevalent in ordinary widows than in KIA widows. © 2007 The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.