title: Does working at your marriage help? Couple relationship self-regulation and satisfaction in the first 4 years of marriage.
abstract: Relationship self-regulation (SR) is how much partners work at their couple relationship, and it has been hypothesized to predict relationship satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, the authors assessed 191 newlywed couples on SR and relationship satisfaction annually for 5 years. They conducted a multilevel analysis predicting satisfaction with SR as a time-varying covariate. The intercept and slope of relationship satisfaction varied across participants, and the slope showed an average slight decline for both men and women. There was mixed support for the primary hypothesis. SR cross-sectionally and prospectively predicted the intercept, but it did not predict the slope, of relationship satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Health Research Centre, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. K.Halford@Griffith.edu.au
authors.forename: W Kim
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Halford
authors.forename: Alf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lizzio
authors.forename: Keithia L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Occhipinti
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011340:Problem Solving; D011793:Queensland; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires