A Sociological Analysis of Divorce Requests Among Couples with an Emphasis on Violence and Addiction Using a Decision Tree Model and in Comparison with Logistic Regression: An Exploratory Study in Taybad County

Document Type : Research

Authors

Ahmadreza Asgharourmasouleh ¹

Fatemeh Yaghooti ²

¹ Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

² Faculty of Humanities and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

https://doi.org/10.22067/social.2025.94028.1650

Abstract

Divorce, as one of the most significant contemporary social challenges, is an increasing phenomenon globally and in Iran, with widespread negative consequences for individuals, families, and society. This research was conducted with the aim of identifying patterns and underlying conditions influencing divorce requests, focusing on reasons such as spousal violence and substance abuse. The present study is descriptive-analytical and quantitative, based on the examination of 30 divorce cases from couples who referred to the Arbitration Councils of Taybad County in the year 1403 SH. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed using descriptive statistics and the decision tree technique. Findings showed that women were the applicants for divorce with a higher frequency (73.3%). Decision tree analysis revealed that violence as a reason for divorce was mainly raised in cases where the wife's age was over 25 years and the marriage duration was 17.5 years or less. In contrast, spousal addiction was almost exclusively reported by female divorce applicants and was more prevalent in very short-term marriages (up to 3.5 years). A combined pattern of violence and addiction was also primarily observed in marriages of medium duration (between 10 and 17.5 years). This research provides new insights into the contexts of these specific divorce reasons by identifying cutoff points and distinct pathways. The results have potential applications in designing preventive interventions and family counseling and, given the exploratory nature of the study, emphasize the necessity of future research with larger samples and longitudinal approaches.

Keywords

Addiction

Family Sociology

Domestic Violence

Decision Tree

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