Development of relationship satisfaction across the life span: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Previous research has not led to any agreement as to the normative trajectory of relationship satisfaction. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we summarize the available evidence on development of relationship satisfaction, as a function of age and relationship duration. Data came from 165 independent samples including 165,039 participants. In the analyses, we examined cross-sectional information on mean level, that is, the percent-of-maximum-possible (POMP) score at the first assessment, and longitudinal information on mean change (i.e., change in POMP scores per year). The mean age associated with effect sizes ranged from 20 to 76 years and the mean relationship duration from 3 months to 46 years. Results on mean levels indicated that relationship satisfaction decreased from age 20 to 40, reached a low point at age 40, then increased until age 65, and plateaued in late adulthood. As regards the metric of relationship duration, relationship satisfaction decreased during the first 10 years of the relationship, reached a low point at 10 years, increased until 20 years, and then decreased again. Results on mean change indicated that relationship satisfaction decreased within a given relationship, with the largest declines in young adulthood and in the first years of a relationship. Moderator analyses suggested that presence of children and measure of relationship satisfaction explained variance in the mean level. Except for these two moderators, the pattern of findings held across characteristics such as birth cohort, sample type, country, ethnicity, gender, household shared with partner, marital status, relationship transitions, and dyadic data. Public Significance StatementThis systematic review and meta-analysis provides a robust picture of normative development of relationship satisfaction across the life span, focusing on the role of age and relationship duration in describing this pattern. On average, results indicated both decreases and increases in relationship satisfaction across the life span, but trajectories differed systematically between the time metrics. Specifically, the findings showed a U-shaped trend for age and a more complex, dynamic pattern for relationship duration.

Social change and relationship quality among sexual minority individuals: Does minority stress still matter?

“…In other words, the younger cohort's relationships seemed to be resistant to the negative impact of most proximal forms of minority stressor. Members of the younger cohort were also more satisfied with their relationships in general than were members of the older cohorts; a finding which parallels research on age and relationship satisfaction in the general population (Bühler et al, 2021).…”

“…An investigation into the ways in which minority stress impacts the quality of relationships of different cohorts of sexual minority individuals requires contextualization within other developmental and life course influences on romantic relationships. Theory and research (for a review and meta-analysis, see Bühler et al, 2021) have identified age and length of relationship as two important factors influencing relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction) that require consideration in our focus on cohort differences in the association between minority stress and relationship quality. Meta-analyses of the role of age indicated that mean levels of relationship satisfaction tend to be highest in early adulthood and decrease sharply from age 20 to 30, while findings on relationship duration indicate satisfaction is at its highest level at the start of relationships followed by a steep decline in satisfaction over the first 10 years (Bühler et al, 2021).…”

“…Theory and research (for a review and meta-analysis, see Bühler et al, 2021) have identified age and length of relationship as two important factors influencing relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction) that require consideration in our focus on cohort differences in the association between minority stress and relationship quality. Meta-analyses of the role of age indicated that mean levels of relationship satisfaction tend to be highest in early adulthood and decrease sharply from age 20 to 30, while findings on relationship duration indicate satisfaction is at its highest level at the start of relationships followed by a steep decline in satisfaction over the first 10 years (Bühler et al, 2021). Furthermore, due to the confounded nature of age and relationship length, emerging adults are more likely to be in shorter term relationships than older adults.…”

Intimate Pride: A Tri-Nation Study on Associations between Positive Minority Identity Aspects and Relationship Quality in Sexual Minorities From German-Speaking Countries

“…Studies focusing on positive relationship functioning in people with diverse sexual orientations yield mixed results, with evidence for negative (Sommantico et al, 2019(Sommantico et al, , 2020, positive (Vale & Bisconti, 2021), no (Pepping et al, 2019) or differential (Totenhagen et al, 2018) associations with age and no (Rice et al, 2020;Vale & Bisconti, 2021) or differential (Totenhagen et al, 2018) associations with relationship length. This is not surprising, as a recent meta-analysis with studies from the general (i.e., presumably mostly heterosexual) population found evidence for non-linear relations between relationship satisfaction and age and relationship length respectively (Bühler et al, 2021). Thus, our cross-sectional design does not allow for a more nuanced understanding of the longitudinal associations between these variables.…”

“…First, we predicted that the German-version of the LGB-PIM would show acceptable model fit (Hypothesis 1). Second, we predicted positive associations between the five positive minority identity aspects (i.e., self-awareness, authenticity, community, intimacy, social justice) in people with diverse sexual orientations and their self-reported relationship quality, after controlling for relevant confounds, namely age (Baiocco et al, 2020;Bühler et al, 2021), gender identity (Marshall et al, 2020;Sommantico et al, 2019Sommantico et al, , 2020Song et al, 2021), sexual orientation (or couple gender in a sensitivity analysis; Baiocco et al, 2020;Morandini et al, 2018), relationship length (Bühler et al, 2021), and psychological distress (Braithwaite & Holt-Lunstad, 2017;Riggle et al, 2014;Hypothesis 2).…”