Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 AIDS Prevention and Control Committee, State Welfare Organization
2 Department of Education Sciences, School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran
3 Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Paraclinical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Abstract
Aims: In the field of family research, previous studies have made great strides toward
understanding the relationship between marital conflict and quality. However, they have
only studied couples in short‑term marriages. Therefore, much remains to be unraveled with
regard to long‑term marriages. We aimed investigate the comparative contribution of aspects
of marital conflict to marital quality in short‑and long‑term marriages in Iranian families.
Materials and Methods: Using random clustered sampling, 400 dyads in intact first marriages
were surveyed across eight provinces of Iran. Complete surveys for both husbands and wives
were returned for 162 households (couple’s response rate: 40.5%). Survey measures included
demographics questionnaire, Barati and Sanai’s Marital Conflict Questionnaire and Blum
and Mehrabian’s Comprehensive Marital Satisfaction Scale. Structural equation modeling
was used to test the actor‑partner interdependence model of marital conflict‑marital quality.
Results: Generalized additive models were incorporated to define what constitutes short‑and
long‑term marriages. Based on the models regressed, duration ≤ 10 years was defined as
short‑term, whereas duration ≥ 25 years was labeled long‑term. In short‑term marriages (n = 44),
decreased sexual relations, increased daily hassles and sidedness in relations with parents were
negatively associated with marital quality in both actor and actor‑to‑partner paths. In long‑term
married couples (n = 46), only increased daily hassles (P < 0.001) and disagreement over
financial affairs (P = 0.005) contributed to actor paths and only sidedness in relationships with
parents showed significant negative association to marital quality in actor‑to‑partner paths.
Conclusions: Different themes of conflict contribute to the diminished level of marital quality
in early and late stages of the marriage. Conflicts over sex, relationship with extended family
and daily hassles are emphasized in the early
years of marriage, while in later years; dispute
over money and daily hassles dominate.
Keywords
global happiness. J Marriage Fam 1981;43:161‑168.
2. Wickrama K, Lorenz FO, Conger RD, Elder Jr GH. Marital quality
and physical illness: A latent growth curve analysis. J Marriage
Fam 1997;59:143‑155.
3. Umberson D, Williams K, Powers DA, Liu H, Needham B. You make
me sick: Marital quality and health over the life course. J Health Soc
Behav 2006;47:1‑16.
4. Davila J, Karney BR, Hall TW, Bradbury TN. Depressive symptoms
and marital satisfaction: Within‑subject associations and the
moderating effects of gender and neuroticism. J Fam Psychol
2003;17:557‑70.
5. Kiecolt‑Glaser JK, Newton TL. Marriage and health: His and hers.
Psychol Bull 2001;127:472‑503.
6. Gottman J. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.
New York: Three Rivers Press: Crown Publishing Group; 2002.
7. Gilford R. Contrasts in marital satisfaction throughout old age: An
exchange theory analysis. J Gerontol 1984;39:325‑33.
8. Glenn ND. The course of marital success and failure in five American
10‑year marriage cohorts. J Marriage Fam 1998;60:569‑76.
9. Lawson DM. Love attitude and marital adjustment in the family life
cycle. Sociol Spectr 1988;8:391‑406.10. Peterson CC. Husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of marital fairness
across the family life cycle. Int J Aging Hum Dev 1990;31:179‑88.
11. Orbuch TL, House JS, Mero RP, Webster PS. Marital quality over
the life course. Soc Psychol Q 1996;59:162‑71.
12. VanLaningham J, Johnson DR, Amato P. Marital happiness, marital
duration, and the U‑Shaped curve: Evidence from a five‑wave panel
study. Soc Forces 2001;79:1313‑41.
13. Harper JM, Schaalje BG, Sandberg JG. Daily hassles, intimacy, and
marital quality in later life marriages. Am J Fam Ther 2000;28:1‑18.
14. Papp LM, Cummings EM, Goeke‑Morey MC. For richer, for poorer:
Money as a topic of marital conflict in the home. Fam Relat
2009;58:91‑103.
15. Dew J. Two sides of the same coin? The differing roles of assets
and consumer debt in marriage. J Fam Econ Issues 2007;28:89‑104.
16. Bryant CM, Conger RD. Marital success and domains of social
support in long‑term relationships: Does the influence of network
members ever end? J Marriage Fam 1999;2:437‑50.
17. Litzinger S, Gordon KC. Exploring relationships among
communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. J Sex
Marital Ther 2005;31:409‑24.
18. Bagherabad TB. Effects of marital conflict on husband and wife
interrelationship (Master’s Thesis). In: Sanai B, AS, Falahati SH,
Houman A, editors. Family and Marriage Scales. Tehran: Besat
Publications; 2009, 1996.
19. Keikhayfarzaneh JK, Shahriari N, Ghorbanshiroudi S, Sourizaei M,
Keikhayfarzaneh R. The investigation of the effectiveness of the
solution‑oriented counseling in reduction of the marital conflicts
of two‑career couples. J Basic Appl Sci Res 2011;1:3309‑15.
20. Blum JS, Mehrabian A. Personality and temperament correlates of
marital satisfaction. J Pers 1999;67:93‑125.
21. Rajabi GR. Factorial structure of marital satisfaction scale in married
staff members of Shahid Chamran University. Iran J Psychiatry Clin
Psychol 2010;15:351‑8.
22. Hastie TJ, Tibshirani RJ. Generalized Additive Models.London:
Chapman and Hall, CRC Press; 1990.
23. Kenny DA. Models of non‑independence in dyadic research. J Soc
Pers Relat 1996;13:279‑94.
24. Cook WL, Kenny DA. The actor–partner interdependence model:
A model of bidirectional effects in developmental studies. Int J
Behav Dev 2005;29:101‑9.
25. Kline RB. Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling.
New York: Guilford Publication; 2005.
26. Vaillant CO, Vaillant GE. Is the U‑curve of marital satisfaction an
illusion? A 40‑year study of marriage. J Marriage Fam 1993;55:230‑9.
27. Martin TC, Bumpass LL. Recent trends in marital disruption.
Demography 1989;26:37‑51.
28. Prevention CfDCa. Marriage and Divorce Rates for the US Atlanta:
CDC; 2012: http://www.cdc.gov/[Last cited on 15 Oct 2012].
29. Iran. SCo. Statistical Yearbook of Iran. Tehran: Statistical Center
of Iran; 2012. Available from: http://www.amar.org.ir/Default.
aspx?tabid=133. [Last cited on 15 Oct 2012].
30. Commerce UDo. United States Cencus Beaureu: US Department
of Commerce; 2007‑2011: https://www.census.gov. [Last cited on
15 Oct 2012].
31. Lawrence E, Rothman AD, Cobb RJ, Rothman MT, Bradbury TN.
Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. J Fam
Psychol 2008;22:41‑50.
32. Helms‑Erikson H. Marital quality ten years after the transition to
parenthood: Implications of the timing of parenthood and the
division of housework. J Marriage Fam 2001;63:1099‑110.
33. Umberson D, Williams K, Powers DA, Chen MD, Campbell AM. As
good as it gets? A life course perspective on marital quality. Soc
Forces 2005;84:493‑511.
34. Oyserman D, Coon HM, Kemmelmeier M. Rethinking individualism
and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and
meta‑analyses. Psychol Bull 2002;128:3‑72.
35. Lee GR, Shehan CL. Retirement and marital satisfaction. J Gerontol
1989;44:S226‑30.
36. Myers SM, Booth A. Men’s retirement and marital quality. J Fam
Issues 1996;17:336‑57.
37. Moen P, Kim JE, Hofmeister H. Couples’ work/retirement transitions,
gender, and marital quality. Soc Psychol Q 2001;64:55‑71.
38. Lu L. Daily hassles and mental health: A longitudinal study. Br J
Psychol 1991;82:441‑7.
39. Kohn PM, Lafreniere K, Gurevich M. Hassles, health, and personality.
J Pers Soc Psychol 1991;61:478‑82.
40. Byers ES. Relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction:
A longitudinal study of individuals in long‑term relationships. J Sex
Res 2005;42:113‑8.
41. Henderson‑KingDH, Veroff J. Sexual satisfaction and marital well‑being
in the first years of marriage. J Soc Pers Relat 1994;11:509‑34.
42. Milardo R, Lewis R. Social networks, families, and mate selection:
A transactional analysis. The Handbook of Family Psychology and
Therapy, edit by L. L’Abate. Vol. 1.Home‑wood, Dorsey press; 1985.
p. 258‑83.
43. Oggins J. Topics of marital disagreement among African‑American
and Euro‑American newlyweds. Psychol Rep 2003;92:419‑25.
44. Dew J, Dakin J. Financial disagreements and marital conflict tactics.
J Financ Ther 2011;2:23‑42 Article 7.
)