The Timing of Cohabitation and Engagement: Impact on First and Second Marriages

Using a multistate sample of marriages that took place in the 1990s, this study examined associations between premarital cohabitation history and marital quality in first (N = 437) and second marriages (N = 200) and marital instability in first marriages (intact N = 521, divorced N = 124). For first...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marriage and family 2010-08, Vol.72 (4), p.906-918
Main Authors: Stanley, Scott M., Rhoades, Galena K., Amato, Paul R., Markman, Howard J., Johnson, Christine A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Cohabitation
commitment
Control variables
Datasets
demography
Divorce
Divorce and Family Structure
Engagement
family structure
Historical account
Impact analysis
Interpersonal Relationship
Marital Instability
Marital Satisfaction
Marriage
Personal relationships
Probability
Quality of life
Religiosity
remarriage
Risk
Risk factors
Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations
Smocks
Social stability
Sociology
Sociology of the family. Age groups
Spouses
Time
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Summary:Using a multistate sample of marriages that took place in the 1990s, this study examined associations between premarital cohabitation history and marital quality in first (N = 437) and second marriages (N = 200) and marital instability in first marriages (intact N = 521, divorced N = 124). For first marriages, cohabiting with the spouse without first being engaged or married was associated with more negative interaction, higher self-reported divorce proneness, and a greater probability of divorce compared to cohabiting after engagement or marriage (with patterns in the same direction for marital positivity). In contrast, there was a general risk associated with premarital cohabitation for second marriages on self-reported indices of marital quality, with or without engagement when cohabitation began.
ISSN:0022-2445
1741-3737
DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00738.x