Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Sep;84(1):493-511.
doi: 10.1353/sof.2005.0131.

As Good as it Gets? A Life Course Perspective on Marital Quality

Debra Umberson  1 , Kristi Williams, Daniel A Powers, Meichu D Chen, Anna M Campbell
Affiliations

As Good as it Gets? A Life Course Perspective on Marital Quality

Debra Umberson et al. Soc Forces. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

Marital relationships, like individuals, follow a developmental trajectory over time with ups and downs and gains and losses. We work from a life course perspective and use growth curve analysis to look at trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Although the tendency is for marital quality to decline over time, some groups begin with much higher levels of marital quality than others. Moreover, a number of life course and contextual factors can accelerate or slow this path of change. Our findings point to the importance of considering the multi-dimensionality of time (e.g., age, marital duration, the passage of years) as well as family transitions (e.g., having children, emptying or refilling the nest) in creating the meanings and experiences of marriage over time.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Predicted Trajectories of Negative Marital Experience for Selected Parental Status Transitions from Linear Growth Curve Main Effect Model
Figure 2
Figure 2
Predicted Trajectories of Negative Marital Experience for Selected Parental Statuses by Age from Linear Growth Curve Life Course Interactive Model
Figure 3
Figure 3
Predicted Trajectories of Positive Marital Experience for Selected Parental Statuses by Age from Linear Growth Curve Life Course Interactive Model Discussion
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Almeida David M, Wethington Elaine, Chandler Amy L. Daily transmission of tensions between marital dyads and parent-child dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1999;61:49–61.
    1. Aneshensel Carol S. Social Stress: Theory and Research. Annual Review of Sociology. 1992;18:15–38.
    1. Booth Alan, Dabbs James M. Testosterone and Men’s Marriages. Social Forces. 1993;72:463–77.
    1. Bradbury Thomas N, Cohan Catherine L, Karney Benjamin R. Optimizing Longitudinal Research for Understanding and Preventing Marital Dysfunction. In: Bradbury TN, editor. The Developmental Course of Marital Dysfunction. Cambridge University Press; 1998. pp. 279–311.
    1. Bryk Anthony S, Raudenbush Stephen W. Application of Hierarchical Linear Models to Assessing Change. Psychological Bulletin. 1987;101:147–158.