Background and Objective: Considering the declining fertility rate in Iran, it is critically important to identify factors that influence the desire for childbearing. The present study was therefore designed to examine the association of lifestyle, mental health, and spiritual health with the desire for childbearing among couples preparing for marriage in Babol, northern Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 440 premarital individuals (220 males and 220 females) selected through convenience sampling. Data were gathered using standardized instruments, including the Childbearing Desire Questionnaire (score range: 8-40), the BASIS-A Lifestyle Inventory (score range: 62-310), Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (score range: 0-72), and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (score range: 20-120), and were subsequently analyzed.
Findings: Childbearing desire was found to be significantly and positively associated with lifestyle (B=0.04, p=0.026) and spiritual health (B=0.30, p<0.001), whereas a significant negative association was observed with mental health (B=-0.39, p<0.001). Furthermore, age (B=-0.23, p<0.001) and educational level (B=-1.76, p<0.001) also exhibited significant negative correlations with childbearing desire. In the multivariate regression analysis, spiritual health emerged as a key independent predictor of childbearing desire among couples, with each one-unit increase in spiritual health score corresponding to a 0.5-unit increase in childbearing desire (B=0.52, p<0.001).
Conclusion: The study findings suggest that enhancing spiritual well-being may be regarded as an effective intervention to promote childbearing desire among couples preparing for marriage.