Marital Satisfaction in Newly Married Women: A Two-Year Prospective Cohort Study from Iran

Abstract

Background: The transcendental society is characterized by cohesive, purpose-driven, and flourishing families. To achieve this, marital satisfaction (MS) plays a crucial role in the lives of married couples. Objectives: This study aimed to determine MS and its influencing factors among newly married women. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in Shiraz, Iran, involving 495 young first-married women within the first 2 years of their marriage. The participants completed a valid questionnaire encompassing demographic information, socioeconomic characteristics, and mate-selection criteria at the onset and after 2 years of marriage. The questionnaire in the second stage consisted of updated demographic and socioeconomic data and assessments of MS. These questionnaires demonstrated reliability rates of 70.6% and 88.6% in the first and second stages, respectively. Marital satisfaction was measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with scores ≤ 5 and > 5 indicating low and high satisfaction levels, respectively. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25. Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.2 ± 5.3 years. Most women (70.7%) had an age difference of 1 - 7 years with their husbands; however, 78.4% had an academic education. Additionally, 73.5% reported no blood relation with their spouses, 74.5% did not have children, 62.8% were employed, and 87.3% did not live with their parents after marriage. The average follow-up period was 23.8 ± 8.3 months. Marital satisfaction was reported as high in 442 (89.3%) participants and low in 53 (10.7%). Multiple regression analysis revealed that the following factors significantly influenced MS among young married women: belief in the correctness of mate-selection criteria (OR = 21.4, P < 0.001), meeting husband's expectations (OR = 13.1, P < 0.001), sexual satisfaction within the marriage (OR = 11.5, P < 0.001), pre-existing acquaintance with the husband (OR = 9.4, P < 0.001), and abstaining from cigarette, alcohol, substances, or psychological drugs after marriage (OR = 8.5, P = 0.001). Furthermore, not living with the husband's family (OR = 6.4, P = 0.002), having a healthy husband (OR = 5.9, P = 0.002), receiving support from the husband's family (OR = 5.9, P = 0.001), husband's abstinence from cigarette, alcohol, substances, or psychological drugs after marriage (OR = 3.6, P = 0.04), engaging in regular communication with the husband regarding mutual expectations (OR = 3.5, P = 0.03), and higher age of the husband (OR = 1.1, P = 0.03) were also correlated with MS. Conclusions: This study highlights the significance of various pre-marriage and post-marriage personal and familial factors in determining MS among young married women. These findings underscore the importance of providing guidance, education, and support to couples and their parents regarding these influential factors before and after marriage.