Network Analysis of Marital Burnout Symptoms Based on Key Cognitive–Emotional Factors

Authors

    Mehdi Rostami * Department of Psychology and Counseling, KMAN Research Institute, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada mehdirostami@kmanresce.ca
    Leila Saeidtaleshi Phd in Councelling, Touch Brain Counselor Clinic in Coquitlam, Vancouver, BC

Keywords:

Marital Burnout, Network Analysis, Emotion Regulation, Rumination, Relational Beliefs

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the interactive structure of marital burnout symptoms and determine the core cognitive–emotional nodes sustaining this phenomenon among couples in Tehran. This quantitative descriptive–analytical study was conducted on 360 couples selected through multistage cluster sampling in Tehran. Data were collected using standardized instruments measuring marital burnout, emotion regulation, rumination, dysfunctional relational beliefs, emotional empathy, and marital satisfaction. Network analysis was performed using regularized Gaussian graphical modeling to estimate centrality indices, edge weights, and network stability. Network analysis revealed that rumination and dysfunctional relational beliefs exhibited the highest centrality indices and functioned as core nodes within the burnout network. Emotion regulation and marital satisfaction demonstrated significant negative associations with emotional and psychological burnout, indicating protective roles. Network stability indices confirmed adequate precision and robustness of the estimated model. Marital burnout represents a dynamic systemic condition predominantly governed by cognitive–emotional processes, highlighting the necessity of therapeutic interventions targeting central cognitive nodes and enhancing emotion regulation capacities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adl, H. a., Pirāni, Z., & Abbasi, M. (2024). Comparison of the Effectiveness of Enhanced Cognitive‐behavioral Couple Therapy on Emotional Self‐regulation and Couple Burnout of Self‐assigned and Court‐referred Incompatible Couples. Journal of marital and family therapy, 50(4), 785-800. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12722

Brandão, T., Diniz, E., Basto-Pereira, M., & Babore, A. (2024). Emotion Regulation and Parental Burnout: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 31(1), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000181

Cairns, P., Isham, A. E., & Zachariae, R. (2024). The Association Between Empathy and Burnout in Medical Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. BMC Medical Education, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05625-6

Chalak, M. H., Jafari, H., Yadollahifar, S., Rajabi, F., Zamandi, M., Masruri, B., & Rafati, S. (2022). The Effect of Occupational Burnout on Cognitive Failure and General Health in Industrial Workers (Case Study: Iran Tire Factory). Health Psychology Report. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2022.115659

Chalikkandy, S., Alhifzi, R. S. A., Asiri, M. A. Y., Alshahrani, R. S., Saeed, W. N. A., & Alamri, S. G. (2022). Burnout and Its Relation to Emotion Dysregulation and Social Cognition Among Female Interns and Undergraduate Dental Students at King Khalid University. Applied Sciences, 12(3), 1588. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031588

Duarte, I., Teixeira, A., Castro, L., Marina, S., Ribeiro, C., Jácome, C., Martins, V., Ribeiro‐Vaz, I., Pinheiro, H., Silva, A. R., Ricou, M., Sousa, B., Alves, C., Oliveira, A., Silva, P. A., Nunes, R., & Serrão, C. (2020). Burnout Among Portuguese Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. BMC public health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09980-z

Ferreira, P., & Gomes, S. (2021). The Role of Resilience in Reducing Burnout: A Study With Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Sciences, 10(9), 317. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090317

Fynes‐Clinton, S., Sherwell, C., Ziaei, M., York, A., Sanders-O’Connor, E., Forrest, K., Flynn, L., Bower, J., Reutens, D. C., & Carroll, A. (2022). Neural Activation During Emotional Interference Corresponds to Emotion Dysregulation in Stressed Teachers. NPJ Science of Learning, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-022-00123-0

Gomes, A. R., Fontes, L., Marta Daniela de Almeida, R., & Dias, B. (2021). Burnout in Referees: Relations With Stress, Cognitive Appraisal, and Emotions. International Journal of Psychology & Behavior Analysis, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.15344/2455-3867/2021/177

Goodboy, A. K., Dillow, M. R., Knoster, K. C., & Howard, H. A. (2023). Dyadic Processes of Relational Turbulence Theory. Personal Relationships, 30(3), 1000-1023. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12487

Holly, L. E., Buchanan, M., & Bowling, A. (2024). Parental Burnout and Emotion Regulation in Context: Considerations for Science and Practice. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 31(1), 113-116. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000200

jafari, T., Zarei, M., Shahraki, M. N., & Amani, O. (2023). Investigating the Relationship Between Burnout, Internalized Shame and Metacognitive Beliefs on Emotion Regulation in Women Affected by Marital Infidelity. PWJ, 4(1), 90-98. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.pwj.4.1.10

Karabey, T. (2024). Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Caregiver Roles of Nurses: A Descriptive, Cross-Sectional and Relational Study. Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Nursing Sciences, 16(1), 147-156. https://doi.org/10.5336/nurses.2023-98884

Kwon, W., Ha, J. H., Jang, H., & Lee, D. (2022). The Effects of Perfectionism and Dispositional Self-Focused Attention of Novice Counselor on Psychological Burnout: Moderated Mediating Effects of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 44(2), 283-297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-021-09460-y

Li, Y., Ni, X., Zhang, W., Wang, J., Chengfu, Y., & Zou, H. (2024). The Relationship Between Work–family Conflict and Job Burnout Among Primary and Secondary School Teachers: The Role of Depression and Cognitive Reappraisal. Frontiers in psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1438933

Manchana, V. (2023). Interpersonal Relationships, Subjective Health, Psychological Well-Being, and Quality of Life Among Older Adults in South India: Evidence From a Population-Based Study. Journal of education and health promotion, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_735_22

Martín-Brufau, R., Martín-Gorgojo, A., Suso‐Ribera, C., Estrada, E., Capriles-Ovalles, M.-E., & Romero‐Brufau, S. (2020). Emotion Regulation Strategies, Workload Conditions, and Burnout in Healthcare Residents. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(21), 7816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217816

Mendes, B., & Miguel, I. (2024). Age and Burnout: The Mediating Role of Emotion-Regulation Strategies. Social Sciences, 13(5), 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13050274

Monte, C. D., Monaco, S., Mariani, R., & Trani, M. D. (2020). From Resilience to Burnout: Psychological Features of Italian General Practitioners During COVID-19 Emergency. Frontiers in psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.567201

Muturi, E. (2023). The Impact of Boredom in Marriage on Marital Satisfaction. International journal of psychology, 8(3), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.47604/ijp.2120

Noja, A., Tement, S., & Kubicek, B. (2024). Negative Cognitive–affective Involvement as a Mechanism Linking Job Demands to Occupational Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Maladaptive Thinking Patterns. Journal of occupational health psychology, 29(1), 30-44. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000364

Rapp, D., Hughey, J. M., & Kreiner, G. E. (2021). Boundary Work as a Buffer Against Burnout: Evidence From Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(8), 1169-1187. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000951

Romano, L., Angelini, G., Consiglio, P., & Fiorilli, C. (2022). An Italian Adaptation of the Burnout Assessment Tool-Core Symptoms (BAT-C) for Students. Education Sciences, 12(2), 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020124

Schaufeli, W. B., Desart, S., & Witte, H. D. (2020). Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)—Development, Validity, and Reliability. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(24), 9495. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249495

Simães, C., Rodrigues, J., Gonçalves, A. M., Faria, S., & Gomes, A. R. (2021). Work–family Conflicts, Cognitive Appraisal, and Burnout: Testing the Mediation Effect With Structural Equation modelling. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 1349-1368. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12420

Stan, R., & Ciobanu, C. (2022). The Mediation Chain Effect of Cognitive Crafting and Personal Resources on the Relationship Between Role Ambiguity and Dentists’ Emotional Exhaustion. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(24), 16617. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416617

Tomaszek, K. (2023). You Better Stop Hiding Your True Self! The Relationship Between Perceived False Self, Academic Burnout, and Mental Health Problems. Current Problems of Psychiatry, 24, 217-227. https://doi.org/10.12923/2353-8627/2023-0021

Valdehita, S. R., Díaz-Ramiro, E. M., Rodríguez-López, A. M., & Wang, W. (2024). Burnout Among Retail Workers in Spain: The Role of Gender, Personality and Psychosocial Risk Factors. Social Sciences, 13(5), 264. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13050264

Wang, C., Grassau, P., Lawlor, P. G., Webber, C., Bush, S. H., Gagnon, B., Kabir, M., & Spilg, E. G. (2020). Burnout and Resilience Among Canadian Palliative Care Physicians. BMC Palliative Care, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-00677-z

Woine, A., Szczygieł, D., Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2023). An Experimental Manipulation of Cognitive Appraisals in Parental Burnout. Scientific reports, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38587-8

Yu, J., Song, Y., Dan, H., Shi, Y., & Zhao, J. (2022). Factors Influencing Mindfulness Among Clinical Nurses in China: An Observational Cross‐sectional Study. Journal of nursing management, 30(3), 758-766. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13560

Колачев, Н., & Novikov, I. D. (2020). Age as a Predictor of Burnout in Russian Public Librarians. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 15(4), 33-48. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29753

Downloads

Published

2025-07-23

Submitted

2025-05-31

Revised

2025-07-05

Accepted

2025-07-11

Issue

Section

مقالات

How to Cite

Rostami, . M. ., & Saeidtaleshi, L. . (2025). Network Analysis of Marital Burnout Symptoms Based on Key Cognitive–Emotional Factors. Couple Therapy Assessment, Evaluation, and Intervention, 1(2), 1-14. https://jctaei.com/index.php/jctaei/article/view/20

Similar Articles

1-10 of 33

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.