Patterns of marital conflict among middle‐aged couples and their effects on family satisfaction: A latent class analysis

Abstract

ObjectiveThrough this study, we aimed to categorize marital conflict in middle adulthood and examine its effect on family satisfaction.BackgroundMarital conflict is detrimental to family satisfaction in the middle age. Despite the increasing dissolution of marriage and the intensification of marital conflict among middle‐aged couples, little research has examined this issue.MethodThis study used data from the 2018 Korean Retirement and Income Study (KreIS). A total of 1,581 married people aged between 40 and 65 years were analyzed. We conducted latent class analysis (LCA) to categorize the sample and performed multiple regression analysis to verify the effect of various marital conflict types on family satisfaction.ResultsThree latent classes of marital conflict were identified using the LCA: the lifestyle conflict (LC), the infrequent conflict (IC), and the financial conflict (FC) group. Examining family satisfaction by group revealed that there was no significant difference between IC and FC, whereas LC experienced significantly lower family satisfaction.ConclusionsThis study suggested the need for a new approach to resolving marital conflict for middle‐aged couples, especially according to the conflict aspect.