Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: Nurses play a vital role in healthcare, and their well-being directly impacts the quality of patient care they provide. However, the demanding nature of nursing work, characterized by long hours, shift work, and emotional strain, can affect their personal lives, including marital quality.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional empathy, alexithymia, and marital quality in nursing students in Ahvaz City and to predict marital quality based on emotional empathy and alexithymia.
Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population included all married nursing students at Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences in 2023. A sample of 204 married students was selected using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression analysis. SPSS software v27 was used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that emotional empathy had a positive and significant correlation with marital quality (p <0.001), and alexithymia had a negative and significant correlation with marital quality (p <0.001) in nursing students. The results of the simultaneous regression analysis showed that emotional empathy and alexithymia predicted 49% of the variance in marital quality.
Conclusion: This study identifies emotional empathy and alexithymia as important factors in marital quality for nursing students. However, recognizing the complexity of marital satisfaction, the authors advocate for interventions that address these factors alongside other relevant contributors.