Validation and Development of the Iranian Family Instability Scale based on the Lived Experience of Women Who Experienced Extramarital Relationship: A Mixed Method Study

Introduction: Various studies have cited several reasons for the instability of the Iranian family, but what was missing was a native scale for such studies. Therefore, this study aims to validate the Iranian family instability scale based on the lived experience of women who experienced extramarital relationships. Method: The present study utilized a mixed method. In the qualitative part of the study, semi-structured interviews were used to examine the lived experience of women who experienced extramarital relationships. The statistical population of the present study was women with extramarital affairs who referred to counseling centers in Yazd in 2020. By multi-stage cluster sampling, 540 subjects were selected. In this study, the marital adjustment and attitudes toward infidelity questionnaires were used. Results: Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha method, concurrent validity, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to investigate the factors extracted from the interviews, the reliability, the validity of the scale, and also the fit of the research conceptual model, respectively.  Conclusion: The results identify Iranian family instability factors in three levels and five subscales, including maternal role and religious myths, parenting knowledge, self-esteem and feelings of inferiority, relationship and aesthetic challenges, and apostasy and pre-relationship relationships. They are measured in a 35-question scale called "Iranian Family Instability Scale". The results of the present study show that the instrument of Iranian family instability has good validity and reliability and Cronbach's alpha of the whole scale is equal to 0.89.