title: Contribution of marital conflict to marital quality in short and long-term marriages: An actor-partner interdependence model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the field of family research, previous studies have made great strides toward understanding the relationship between marital conflict and quality. However, they have only studied couples in short-term marriages. Therefore, much remains to be unraveled with regard to long-term marriages. We aimed investigate the comparative contribution of aspects of marital conflict to marital quality in short-and long-term marriages in Iranian families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using random clustered sampling, 400 dyads in intact first marriages were surveyed across eight provinces of Iran. Complete surveys for both husbands and wives were returned for 162 households (couple's response rate: 40.5%). Survey measures included demographics questionnaire, Barati and Sanai's Marital Conflict Questionnaire and Blum and Mehrabian's Comprehensive Marital Satisfaction Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the actor-partner interdependence model of marital conflict-marital quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Generalized additive models were incorporated to define what constitutes short-and long-term marriages. Based on the models regressed, duration ≤ 10 years was defined as short-term, whereas duration ≥ 25 years was labeled long-term. In short-term marriages (n = 44), decreased sexual relations, increased daily hassles and sidedness in relations with parents were negatively associated with marital quality in both actor and actor-to-partner paths. In long-term married couples (n = 46), only increased daily hassles (P < 0.001) and disagreement over financial affairs (P = 0.005) contributed to actor paths and only sidedness in relationships with parents showed significant negative association to marital quality in actor-to-partner paths.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different themes of conflict contribute to the diminished level of marital quality in early and late stages of the marriage. Conflicts over sex, relationship with extended family and daily hassles are emphasized in the early years of marriage, while in later years; dispute over money and daily hassles dominate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling Psychology, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Khodabakhsh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: AIDS Prevention and Control Committee, State Welfare Organization, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rezazade
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling Psychology, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saadat
authors.affiliation: Department of Education Sciences, School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kimiaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Paraclinical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nima Hoseyn
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Zade
keywords: Actor-partner interdependence model; long-term marriage; marital conflict; marital quality