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Till Death Do Us Part: Contextsand Implications of Marriage,Divorce, and Remarriage AcrossAdulthoodKira S. Birditt a & Toni C. Antonucci aa University of MichiganPublished online: 23 May 2012.

To cite this article: Kira S. Birditt & Toni C. Antonucci (2012) Till Death Do Us Part:Contexts and Implications of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage Across Adulthood,Research in Human Development, 9:2, 103-105, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2012.680842

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2012.680842

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Research in Human Development, 9(2), 103–105, 2012Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1542-7609 print/1542-7617 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15427609.2012.680842

INTRODUCTION

Till Death Do Us Part: Contextsand Implications of Marriage, Divorce,

and Remarriage Across Adulthood

Kira S. Birditt and Toni C. AntonucciUniversity of Michigan

The marital tie is one of the most influential relationships in adulthood, with vastimplications for well-being. This special issue uses diverse samples, examines indi-viduals in different marital situations (engaged, married, divorced, and remarried),and considers martial situations with regard to several contexts (e.g., in-law relation-ships, marital happiness, support, caregiving, well-being) across the life span. Thisissue includes four articles examining several marital situations among different agegroups. Articles examine formation of marital ties in early adulthood and implica-tions for in-law relationships, the development of marital happiness over 16 years,the implications of marital quality for the divorce experience, and the caregivingexperience among remarried caregivers. Overall, these studies highlight the com-plexity and the diversity of experiences in marriage, divorce, and remarriage whichis especially critical given the increasingly complicated family structures individualsexperience across the life span.

The first author is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (K99/R00 AG029879).The second author was supported in part by grants from National Institute on Aging (AG030569) andthe Fetzer Institute.

Address correspondence to Dr. Kira S. Birditt, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for SocialResearch, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104. E-mail: kirasb@isr.umich.edu

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104 BIRDITT AND ANTONUCCI

The marital tie represents one of the most influential and prevalent relationshipsin adulthood, with enormous implications for well-being. Better quality mar-riages (e.g., higher marital happiness) are associated with fewer psychologicaland physical health problems (Choi & Marks, 2008; Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton,2001; Whisman, 2007). The life course of marriage and the context in whichit occurs, as well as variations such as divorce and remarriage, require system-atic study. Cross sectional studies have revealed that marital happiness follows aU-shaped curve (Glenn, 1990; Spanier & Lewis, 1980) in which happiness startsout high, declines in the middle years, and increases in later life. Surprisingly, wehave little long-term data with longitudinal studies often only examining the earlyyears of marriage (years 1 to 4). We know little about the transition from engagedto married or how marital quality changes longitudinally over time from youngadulthood to old age. In addition, we know little about what happens after mar-riages dissolve in terms of the contexts of divorce and remarriage. Further, muchof the work on marriage has focused predominately on White middle-class cou-ples. Finally, little work has considered the complicated relationships of in-lawsand stepfamilies. This special issue uses diverse samples, examines individuals indifferent marital situations (engaged, married, divorced, and remarried), and con-siders martial situations with regard to several contexts (e.g., in-law relationships,marital happiness, support, caregiving, well-being) across the life span.

This issue includes four articles examining several marital situations amongdifferent age groups. Fingerman, Gilligan, VanderDrift, and Pitzer focus on theformation of marital ties in early adulthood. Engaged couples and their mothers-in-law completed interviews before and after the wedding, providing informationabout the in-law ties that may influence the marriage. Couples who had morepositive in-law relationships and greater one-on-one contact with in-laws prior tomarriage had better ties after marriage. Birditt, Hope, Brown, and Orbuch exam-ined trajectories of marital happiness from the first year of marriage to the 16th

year. They found distinct trajectories of marital happiness, and those trajecto-ries were associated with divorce and varied by sociodemographic characteristics.Brown, Birditt, Huff, and Edwards examined links between divorce and depres-sive symptoms in midlife and whether those links varied by race and relationshipquality in the first year of marriage. Most importantly they found that relationshipquality moderated the effects of marital status on depressive symptoms differ-ently for Black and White women. Sherman assessed marriage later in life amongmiddle-age and older women who had remarried and were caregiving for a spousewith dementia. Qualitative findings revealed variations in support and nonsup-port by family, stepfamily, and others that contribute to caregivers’ experiencesof burden and well-being. Overall, these studies highlight the complexity and thediversity of experiences in marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

These articles used a variety of approaches including qualitative and quantita-tive methods, cross sectional and longitudinal designs, and included participants

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INTRODUCTION TO A SPECIAL ISSUE 105

ranging in age from young to older adulthood. These articles contribute to theliterature in several important ways. We know little about the early years of mar-riage and the transformation of in-law relationships. We also know little about thedevelopmental course of marriage beyond the early years or what marital char-acteristics predict better or worse divorce outcomes. Finally, this special issueseeks to provide insight about the remarried relationship, especially with regardto the stress of spousal caregiving. All of these issues are critical for many peoplewho are experiencing increasingly complicated family structures due to increasedlongevity, divorce, and remarriage. In addition, there is great diversity in themarriage experience by gender, family context, socioeconomic status, and race,which is progressively more essential to consider as the U.S. population becomesincreasingly diverse.

REFERENCES

Choi, H., & Marks, N. F. (2008). Marital conflict, depressive symptoms, and functional impairment.Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(2), 377–390.

Glenn, N. D. (1990). Quantitative research on marital happiness in the 1980s: A critical review. Journalof Marriage and the Family, 52, 818–831.

Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., & Newton, T. L. (2001). Marriage and health: His and hers. PsychologicalBulletin, 127(4), 472–503.

Spanier, G. B., & Lewis, R. A. (1980). Marital quality: A review of the seventies. Journal of Marriageand Family, 42, 825–839.

Whisman, M. A. (2007). Marital distress and DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in a population-basednational survey. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(3), 638–643.

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