Long-Distance, Strong Connection: Shaping Family Resilience in the Face of Long-Distance Marriage

Abstract

A long-distance marriage occurs when a married couple lives separately for various reasons but remains committed to keeping their marriage intact. Despite the separation, they still maintain their marriage by maintaining marital satisfaction above distance and physical contact limitations. This study explores marital satisfaction in commuter marriage couples through family resilience in dealing with marital circumstances while living apart. The research method used was a systematic literature review using PRISMA guidelines. Several databases were used to search for articles: Proquest, Science Direct, Ebscohost, Scopus, and Sagepub. The inclusion criteria used in this study include journal articles published in English and open access, articles that discuss family resilience in long-distance marriages, articles that focus on couples who travel apart at least three nights per week for at least three months, articles published between 2013-2023, and research that uses quantitative, qualitative and by using the keywords "marital satisfaction" AND "resilience" AND "long distance marriage" OR "commuter marriage" AND "quality". From the search, 4348 articles were found, and 8 articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected. The results showed that married life with couples living apart could maintain marital satisfaction due to family resilience. The process of family resilience in commuter marriage couples can be formed due to several protective factors, such as commitment, effective communication, family support, openness, positive coping, mutual support, collaborative conflict resolution, face- to-face meetings, socializing, health and trust.