Stress in Childhood and Adulthood: Effects on Marital Quality Over Time

2005/11/21 by Debra Umberson, Kristi Williams, Daniel A. Powers +3 · 68 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Developmental psychology #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving #Life course approach #Medicine #Psychology #Quality (philosophy) #Stress (linguistics) #Toll #Young adult

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00220.x

published in Journal of Marriage and the Family 67(5), 1332-1347 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2005/11/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24

Abstract

We work from a stress and life course perspective to consider how stress affects trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Specifically, we ask whether stress is more likely to undermine the quality of marital experiences at different points in the life course. In addition, we ask whether the effects of adult stress on marital quality depend on childhood family stress experiences. Growth curve analysis of data from a national longitudinal survey (Americans' Changing Lives, N = 1,059 married individuals) reveals no evidence of age differences in the effects of adult stress on subsequent trajectories of change in marital experiences. Our results, however, suggest that the effects of adult stress on marital quality may depend on childhood stress exposure. Stress in adulthood appears to take a cumulative toll on marriage over time-but this toll is paid primarily by individuals who report a more stressful childhood. This toll does not depend on the timing of stress in the adult life course.

Citations

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