After “I Do”: The Newlywed Transition

Abstract

Marital satisfaction, marital adjustment, and problem areas experienced during the early months of marriage were examined using a sample of 1,010 newlywed husbands and wives. Results revealed that between 8% and 14% percent of newlyweds already scored in the distressed range on measures of marital satisfaction and adjustment, respectively. For both husbands and wives, the most problematic areas in the early months of marriage were balancing employment and marriage and debt brought into marriage. However, protective factors in the marriage, including respect, appreciation, commitment, mutual affection, and trust, were the strongest predictors of marital satisfaction and adjustment. Implications for future research and family life education are proposed.

Couples, Money, and Expectations: Negotiating Financial Management Roles to Increase Relationship Satisfaction

“…In other words, respect of the other's views and goals about money is important for a couple's relationship with each other and for their own financial satisfaction. This finding is similar to Schramm, Marshall, Harris, and Lee's (2005) results where they found that respect was a key predictor of marital satisfaction.…”

Cognitive Coping Strategies of Newlyweds Adjusting to Marriage

“…The transition to marriage seems somewhat paradoxical in that despite the reputation for newlywed bliss (Huston et al, 2001b), it can be a challenging life stage full of disillusionment with reality and adjustments to multiple relationship changes (Huston et al, 2001a;Schramm, Marshall, Harris, & Lee, 2005). Consistent with cognitive dissonance theory and prior research on cognitive relationship strategies (e.g., Davey et al, 2001;Murray et al, 1996), newlywed spouses would be expected to focus their thinking through a variety of coping strategies that function to maintain some marital bliss in the face of early marital challenges.…”

Strengthening Family Connections with Letters of Gratitude in the Family Science Classroom

“…Findings indicate that expressing gratitude has positive effects in long-and short-term romantic relationships (Lambert & Fincham, 2011). According to several studies, expressions of gratitude have positive effects on marital relationships (Lambert & Fincham, 2011;Schramm, Marshall, & Harris, 2005;Sharlin, 1996). Sharlin (1996) showed that verbal gratitude expression between married partners over time leads to satisfying marriages.…”

“…There are also immediate effects of expressing gratitude. Newly married couples benefit from expressing gratitude toward one another and enjoy higher rates of marital satisfaction and better adjustment (Schramm et al, 2005).…”