The Non-Linear Relationship between Marital Satisfaction and Stages of the Family Life Cycle: An Artifact of Type I Errors?

This paper suggests that most, if not all, prior research findings concerning a nonlinear relationship between marital satisfaction and stages of the family life cycle may be based on statistical artifacts arising from inadequate protection against Type I errors. It then provides guidelines for avoiding such errors and demonstrates how these affect interpretations of data in a recent study. Because of the very weak relationships that are typically found in such studies, it is suggested that the family life-cycle model is not a viable conceptual tool for the explanation of a large number of quality of life indicators.