Conceptualization of Addiction to Romantic Relationships: A Conceptual Model

Introduction: Addiction to romantic relationship is one of the prevalent disorders in the field of psychology. The objective of the present study is to formulate a qualitative model of addiction to romantic relationships. Methods: The research is an applied study using discovery manner, in which, qualitative research method and grounded theory were utilized. The population was the entire people who were addicted to romantic relationships, selecting purposefully 100 samples for interview process. To collect data, in-depth interview was used, and then, after the implementation of the data, they prepared for analysis. The process of data analysis was deductive. In the other hand, there was no previous conceptual framework for coding and categorizing; rather, it was analyzed freely by coding technique of grounded theory. Results: Regarding the results, the final model of the study comprised eight different concepts, including: affective mental, family, emotional, needs, critics, consequences factors, and the factors related to relationship. Discussion: The results addressed the different context and dimensions of vulnerability to romantic relationships addiction, thus, considering the results of the present study, practitioners particularly psychologists can adopt appropriate intervention either in treatment or prevention of romantic relationship addiction.