Family Stability Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Family is the most appropriate place to meet human needs and the best place to support human security and psychological well-being. Accordingly, young people should be encouraged to get married as soon as they meet the requirements for marriage. They also should be trained on how to strengthen their family life. For this reason, the present qualitative study aimed to develop a family model based on the theory of planned behavior to explain family stability. Methods: The data analysis method was a rule-guided qualitative content analysis. The data were collected by conducting interviews with 19 family therapists and experts in Yazd Province in 2018. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. The questions asked in the semi-structured interviews were developed based on the theory of planned behavior dealing with issues including behavioral intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control.  The interviews continued to the data saturation point when no new information or themes were observed in the data. Then the transcripts of the interviews were typed and the related themes were extracted and coded. After coding the data, qualitative research experts were asked to determine the content validity of the codes and their related categories. Then, based on the extracted categories, a local model was developed. Results: Based on the data analysis, 4 main themes (behavioral intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control) and 8 sub-themes (self-control, patience, luxury-seeking, self-esteem, parenting, need satisfaction, positive attitudes toward marriage, and attainment of peace) were extracted. Conclusion: Since the family is the best emotional, social, and psychological shelter for its members, this study developed a model that can be valuable for educating families who have different problems. The developed model can also be used by family therapists and professionals dealing with family issues.