Childhood Socio-Emotional Characteristics as Antecedents of Marital Stability and Quality

The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development in which the same persons have been followed from age 8 through to age 36. The present sample was restricted to those men ( n = 131) and women ( n = 132) who were either living, or had lived, in a cohabiting or marital relationship. Data on socio-emotional characteristics were collected at ages 8 and 14 using teacher ratings, and on personality traits at age 27 using personality inventories. Marital data were collected at age 36 using an interview and questionnaires. The results showed, first, that divorced individuals differed from those in intact marriages in the aggressiveness versus compliance dimension in childhood and adolescence; the divorced individuals having been more aggressive and less compliant. Second, marriage at a young age in women, and unstable careers and childlessness in men added to the explanation of divorce. Third, poor-quality marriages were linked to anxiety and passivity in childhood for women, and to anxiety, emotional lability, and aggression for men. Neuroticism in early adulthood explained dissatisfaction with the current relationship for men and hostility in the relationship for women. The results suggest that low emotional regulation plays a significant role as an antecedent of subsequent partner relationships.