Influences on Marital Satisfaction during the Middle Stages of the Family Life Cycle

Abstract

Although researchers continue to study patterns of change in marital satisfaction over the family life cycle, little is known about the underlying reasons for such variation. Using cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal data, this investigation of 129 couples examines three sets of influences on marital satisfaction during the transitional period of the family life cycle between childhood and adolescence: aspects of the adolescent's development, features of the parent-adolescent relationship, and psychological characteristics of the midlife adults. Multiple regression analyses indicate that marital satisfaction during the family's adolescent years is negatively influenced by distance in the father-son or motherdaughter relationship, and by wives' concerns about midlife identity issues. Since previous studies indicate that the adolescent years may be a time of increased distance between parents and their children, and middle adulthood a time of increased concern about identity-related issues, the oft-reported dip in marital happiness midway through the family life cycle may be somewhat inevitable.