Life satisfaction in divorced or separated people: a comparison between Spain and Chile / La satisfacción vital en personas divorciadas o separadas: una comparación entre España y Chile

This paper analyses life satisfaction after divorce, comparing Chilean and Spanish divorced or separated people. There were 468 divorced people included in the study, 240 Spanish and 228 Chilean. 71.5% of the Chilean and 100% of the Spanish people had children. An analysis of the variance identified that life satisfaction is higher in Chilean people than in Spanish people, although the size of the effect is moderate. Regression analysis of the data sets shows that the time since divorce and provenance explain life satisfaction for those divorced people who participated in this study. Separate analyses by country show that while for divorced Spanish people time since their divorce was the only predictor of life satisfaction, age and time since separation were the predictors of life satisfaction for Chilean divorced people.     

Longitudinal associations between relationship problems,divorce, and life satisfaction: Findings from a 15-year population-based study

Relationship problems are negatively associated with life satisfaction. Bottom-up theories assume that relationship quality affects life satisfaction while top-down theories assume that global personality dispositions affect evaluations of relationship quality. Only bottom-up theories imply that the negative association between relationship problems and life satisfaction will be removed when the relationship is ended and that divorce thus may be a positive event for persons from troubled relationships. In this study associations between relationship problems, divorce, and life satisfaction were examined among 369 heterosexual couples. Relationship problems predicted life satisfaction 15 years later in both men and women. This association was significantly stronger among not-divorced than among divorced couples. Among couples with severe relationship problems those who divorced had higher life satisfaction at 15-year follow-up than those who remained together while the reverse was true among less troubled couples. The findings thus support bottom-up theories of life satisfaction.     

Why do even satisfied newlyweds eventually go on to divorce?

Although divorce typically follows an extended period of unhappiness that begins early in marriage, some couples who are very happy throughout the first several years of marriage will also go on to divorce. This study aimed to identify risk factors early in marriage that distinguish initially satisfied couples who eventually divorce from those who remain married. We identified 136 couples reporting stably high levels of relationship satisfaction in the first 4 years of marriage. We compared the couples who went on to divorce by the 10-year follow-up with the couples who remained married on initial measures of commitment, observed communication, stress, and personality. Divorcing couples displayed more negative communication, emotion, and social support as newlyweds compared with couples who did not divorce. No significant differences were found in the other domains, in relationship satisfaction, or in positive behaviors. Overall, results indicate that even couples who are very successful at navigating the early years of marriage can be vulnerable to later dissolution if their interpersonal exchanges are poorly regulated. We speculate that, paradoxically, the many strengths possessed by these couples may mask their potent interpersonal liabilities, posing challenges for educational interventions designed to help these couples.     

Marital History and Current Marital Satisfaction in Chronic Depression

Marital functioning is an important consideration in the treatment of depression. Although there are several studies of the marriages of depressed individuals, there is little data on the marital lives of those with chronic depression. In this article, we compare the marital history and marital satisfaction in a sample of carefully diagnosed outpatients with chronic depression compared to those with nonchronic depression. The groups were similar in terms of a history of divorce and for the percentage who had ever been married. However, the chronic group had significantly lower levels of marital satisfaction. Increased attention to marital functioning in this group may be beneficial during treatment.     

Marriages and psychological distress among adult offspring of divorce: a Norwegian study

The study compares the likelihood of getting married and of getting divorced among the adult offspring of divorced parents versus the adult offspring of parents who remain married (total N = 37,230). It also compares levels of psychological distress in the two groups (total N= 22,898). Data derive from The Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and population registries from Norway. Individuals with divorced parents tended to delay marriage or not marry at all. However, among those who married, there were more divorces among the offspring of divorced parents than among offspring of parents who were still married. Offspring of divorce tended to marry other offspring of divorce. These marriages were at especially high risk of dissolution. Parental divorce was particularly influential as a risk factor during the first years of marriage. Both parental divorce and the individuals’ own divorce were risk factors for psychological distress.     

Changing from Fault to No-Fault Divorce: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

The removal of fault as a criterion for the distribution of justice in domestic relations represents a major innovation in jurisprudence. Such innovations provide opportunities to evaluate the effects of legal changes on behavior. This research investigated the effects of no-fault divorce on divorce behavior in Nebraska. An interrupted time series quasiexperimental design was employed to test the hypothesis that no-fault divorce leads to an increase in the number of divorces granted. Results showed that the new law had no reliable effect on the overall divorce rate. Separate analyses were performed for urban and rural counties, black and white couples, marriages of various lengths, and people of various ages. No effects of the law were found in most of these analyses. However, no-fault divorce did appear to have significantly increased the number of divorces among blacks, among people over 50 years old, and among couples married longer than 25 years, although in the latter two cases the effect seemed short-lived. The implications of this study for the current debate surrounding no-fault divorce are discussed.     

Adaptation and the Set-Point Model of Subjective Well-Being: Does Happiness Change After Major Life Events?

ABSTRACT— Hedonic adaptation refers to the process by which individuals return to baseline levels of happiness following a change in life circumstances. Dominant models of subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that people can adapt to almost any life event and that happiness levels fluctuate around a biologically determined set point that rarely changes. Recent evidence from large-scale panel studies challenges aspects of this conclusion. Although inborn factors certainly matter and some adaptation does occur, events such as divorce, death of a spouse, unemployment, and disability are associated with lasting changes in SWB. These recent studies also show that there are considerable individual differences in the extent to which people adapt. Thus, happiness levels do change, and adaptation is not inevitable.     

Relationship quality,divorce, and well-being: Findings from a three-year longitudinal study

Recent studies indicate that divorce sometimes is positive for subjective well-being, but we lack knowledge about the circumstances under which this is the case. Further, we lack knowledge about the possible different associations between divorce and life satisfaction (LS) vs. positive affect (PA). The current study is based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Change in LS and PA over a three-year period was examined in women who divorced and women who did not divorce (N > 37,000). Relationship quality and relationship status at follow-up were included in the models. The results indicated that divorce predicted higher LS and PA when initial relationship quality was poor. Furthermore, divorce predicted higher PA for women who, after divorce, reported being in a new romantic relationship. The associations between relationship quality and LS and PA were stronger among not-divorced than divorced women, indicating that relationship quality affects LS and PA.     

Personality and compatibility: a prospective analysis of marital stability and marital satisfaction

The antecedents of marital stability (divorce or remaining married) and marital satisfaction (within the group that remains married) were investigated with a panel of 300 couples who were followed from their engagements in the 1930s until 1980. Twenty-two of the couples broke their engagements; of the 278 couples who married, 50 got divorced at some time between 1935 and 1980. Personality characteristics (measured by acquaintance ratings made in the 1930s) were important predictors of both marital stability and marital satisfaction. The three aspects of personality most strongly related to marital outcome were the neuroticism of the husband, the neuroticism of the wife, and the impulse control of the husband. In combination, the 17 major antecedent variables were moderately predictive of a criterion variable composed of both marital stability and marital satisfaction (R = .49). The three major aspects of personality accounted for more than half of the predictable variance. The remaining variance was accounted for by attitudinal, social-environment, and sexual history variables.     

Differentiation of Self Predicts Life Satisfaction through Marital Adjustment

Abstract

Previous studies have documented the link between differentiation of self and life satisfaction. However, the underlying mechanisms explaining these associations are yet to be tested at the dyadic level. This study examined the mediating role of marital adjustment in the association between differentiation of self and life satisfaction among 113 Turkish heterosexual married couples (N?=?226). Analyses using the Common Fate Model demonstrated that differentiation of self was associated with higher levels of marital adjustment and life satisfaction, such that marital adjustment was positively associated with life satisfaction, and in turn, marital adjustment fully mediated this association. Implications are discussed for clinicians and cross-cultural researchers who seek to promote greater life satisfaction by targeting both differentiation and marital adjustment.     

配偶排斥对女性离婚意愿的影响：愤怒与婚姻满意度的链式中介作用

为了探讨配偶排斥对女性离婚意愿的影响,以及愤怒情绪和婚姻满意度在其中的中介作用,对543名已婚女性施测了社会排斥体验量表、特质愤怒问卷、婚姻满意度问卷以及离婚意愿问卷。中介效应检验结果表明,配偶排斥显著正向预测女性的离婚意愿,愤怒情绪和婚姻满意度分别在二者之间起中介作用,同时配偶排斥还顺序地先通过导致愤怒情绪增加,再使得婚姻满意度降低这一链式路径对女性的离婚意愿产生影响。未来可以通过减少配偶排斥以及减弱愤怒情绪和提升婚姻满意度的途径来增加婚姻稳定性。     

Unemployment alters the set point for life satisfaction

Abstract— According to set-point theories of subjective well-being, people react to events but then return to baseline levels of happiness and satisfaction over time. We tested this idea by examining reaction and adaptation to unemployment in a 15-year longitudinal study of more than 24,000 individuals living in Germany. In accordance with set-point theories, individuals reacted strongly to unemployment and then shifted back toward their baseline levels of life satisfaction. However, on average, individuals did not completely return to their former levels of satisfaction, even after they became reemployed. Furthermore, contrary to expectations from adaptation theories, people who had experienced unemployment in the past did not react any less negatively to a new bout of unemployment than did people who had not been previously unemployed. These results suggest that although life satisfaction is moderately stable over time, life events can have a strong influence on long-term levels of subjective well-being.     

Life Satisfaction Among Recent Immigrants in Canada: Comparisons to Source-Country and Host-Country Populations

Research examining how changes in life circumstances affect subjective well-being has been dominated by set-point theory. New evidence challenges the assumptions of this theory, indicating that major life events can result in lasting changes to individuals’ life satisfaction. This study examines whether changes in national-level conditions following migration affect the life satisfaction of immigrant groups from different source countries by comparing the average life satisfaction levels of immigrant groups to that of non-emigrants in their source countries. Life satisfaction differences between immigrant groups and the native-born population in Canada are also examined. Results show that migration to a country with improved national-level conditions increases immigrants’ life satisfaction. Most immigrant groups had higher life satisfaction than their source-country counterparts and life satisfaction scores were similar to those of the native-born population. These findings persist when the sample includes immigrants who have resided in Canada for up to 20 years.     

Treatment‐as‐Usual for Couples: Trajectories Before and After Beginning Couple Therapy

Couple therapy has been shown to be a meaningful way to improve couples’ relationships. However, less information is known about couples’ functioning prior to entering treatment in community settings, as well as how their relationship functioning changes from initiating therapy onward. This study examined 87 couples who began community‐based couple therapy during a longitudinal study of couples in the military. The couples were assessed six times over the course of 3 years, including time points before and after starting couple therapy. Using an interrupted‐time series design, we examined trajectories across the start of couple therapy in relationship satisfaction, divorce proneness, and negative communication. The results demonstrated that couples’ relationship satisfaction was declining and both divorce proneness and negative communication were increasing prior to entering couple therapy. After starting couple therapy, couples’ functioning on all three variables leveled off but did not show further change, but previous experience in relationship education moderated these effects. Specifically, those who were assigned to the relationship education program (vs. control) demonstrated greater reductions in divorce proneness and greater increases marital satisfaction after starting therapy; however, they also started more distressed.     

Perceptions of married life among single never‐married,single ever‐married,and married adults

With the increasing prevalence of single adults in the United States, perceptions of marriage as the relationship “gold standard” may be diminishing. In this study (N = 6,576), we explored perceptions of married life in three subgroups of participants: Those who have never married, ever married, and currently married. Across subgroups, most did not perceive married life more positively than single life in external/tangible domains (e.g., more friends), but did in emotional experiences and frame of mind (e.g., contentment). These findings suggest conceptualizations of marriage may be changing to be less positive or less discrepant from conceptualizations of single life. However, these findings also suggest that people continue to view marital relationships as a positive source of emotional experience and support.     

Childhood trauma and marital outcomes in adulthood

Although existing research suggests that certain childhood traumas such as childhood sexual abuse are associated with interpersonal (e.g., marital) difficulties in adulthood, there has been limited research on interpersonal sequelae of other types of traumas. In addition, the association between childhood traumas and interpersonal outcomes has often been limited to a particular outcome such as divorce, and existing studies have rarely controlled for the co‐occurrence of other traumas when evaluating interpersonal outcomes. The current study sought to evaluate the associations between 7 childhood traumas and 2 marital outcomes—marital disruption (i.e., divorce and separation) and marital satisfaction—in a large, national probability sample. Results from univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that (a) probability of marital disruption was higher among people who during childhood had experienced physical abuse, rape, or serious physical attack or assault; and (b) current marital satisfaction was lower among people who during childhood had experienced rape or sexual molestation. Results support the importance of childhood traumas in predicting 2 important marital outcomes.     

Father postdivorce well-being: an exploratory model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Father Postdivorce Well-Being: An Exploratory Model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Marital adaptation,divorce, and parent–infant development: A prospective study

In this prospective study of divorce in the first 4 years of life we have shown that previous marital patterns anticipate the occurrence of divorce and influence the response to that event. Most of the divorces occurred in marriages that were consistently low in satisfaction or decreased in satisfaction from birth on. The family response to the event differed. The continuing effort at conflict resolution and the fact that differing levels of adjustment are reached at different time points are suggested by these reactions. For couples with an unsatisfactory marriage from late pregnancy through the first 2 years (consistently low), the immediate and sustained impact of divorce was to enhance the parent's responsiveness to the needs of their infant and the infant's expectation of being cared for. This was not true for couples decreasing from high to lower satisfaction in their adaptation. However, by child age 4, when all families had been divorced for 1 year, divorce versus no divorce was associated with a differential positive effect on teacher Q-sort ratings of the children for both marital patterns. Children who were from families where the parents were in conflict but did not divorce were more likely to externalize control, were more often uncontrolled, and were more anti- as opposed to prosocial. The implication of these findings are discussed. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Communication,conflict, and commitment: insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey

The key relationship dynamics of communication, conflict, and commitment were investigated using data from a randomly sampled, nationwide phone survey of adults in married, engaged, and cohabiting relationships. Findings on communication and conflict generally replicated those of studies using more indepth or objective measurement strategies. Negative interaction between partners was negatively associated with numerous measures of relationship quality and positively correlated with divorce potential (thinking or talking about divorce). Withdrawal during conflict by either or both partners, though quite common, was associated with more negativity and less positive connection in relationships. The most frequently reported issue that couples argue about in first marriages was money, and in re-marriages it was conflict about children. Overall, how couples argue was more related to divorce potential than was what they argue about, although couples who argue most about money tended to have higher levels of negative communication and conflict than other couples. Further, while the male divorce potential was more strongly linked to levels of negative interaction, the female was more strongly linked to lower positive connection in the relationship. Consistent with the commitment literature, higher reported commitment was associated with less alternative monitoring, less feeling trapped in the relationship, and greater relationship satisfaction.