Design and Validation of an Educational Package Based on the Lived Experiences of Family Court Judges Aimed at Reducing Job Burnout and Enhancing Marital Satisfaction

Family court judges are prone to job burnout due to persistent exposure to familial conflicts and chronic emotional stress, which in turn adversely affects their marital satisfaction. Given the lack of structured educational interventions grounded in lived experiences, this study aimed to design and validate an educational package to mitigate these challenges. In the qualitative phase of this mixed-methods study, using a phenomenological approach and in-depth interviews with eight judges until theoretical saturation was reached, data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis. Main themes, including “decision fatigue,” “emotional spillover to the home,” and “psychological defensive barrier,” were extracted and served as the foundation for the educational package, the content validity of which was confirmed by an expert panel. In the quantitative phase, the effectiveness of the package was evaluated using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design among family court judges in Yazd. The experimental group participated in six 90-minute sessions, and changes were measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale. The findings indicated that participation in the program resulted in a significant reduction in job burnout and a significant increase in marital satisfaction in the experimental group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). These results confirm that the developed educational package, due to its alignment with professional realities and its localized approach, serves as an efficient and practical tool for promoting the mental health of human capital within the judiciary. It can be utilized as a successful model in judicial counseling centers to improve the professional and family life quality of judges.