The relationship between family-of-origin and marital satisfaction

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationship between family of origin factors and marital satisfaction of adult children. Specifically, adult children's perceptions of the interparental relationship, perceptions of the parent-child relationship and family atmosphere, identification with their mothers, and identification with their fathers were related to their own marital satisfaction. These relationships were uncovered by examining a data set that was collected as part of a broader study on the relationship between sexual experience in marriage and marital solidarity. Data were analyzed for 133 married couples between the ages of 24 and 67. The average length of marriage was 14 years with a range of 2 to 38 years. The four family of origin factors were entered into multiple regression analyses to see how they related to the adult children's marital satisfaction. The results revealed that there were two significant predictors of marital satisfaction for males (parent-child relationship and family atmosphere, and identification with mother). No significant predictors were found for the female respondents. In addition, three-way ANOVAs were utilized to see whether the adult children's perceptions of the happiness in their parents' marriages (low, medium, high), the father identification measure (low, medium, high), and the mother identification measure (low, medium, high) combined in such a way as to have a unique effect on the dependent variable of marital satisfaction. The results revealed that for the male respondents, the interaction between identification with father and the interparental relationship was significant. For the female respondents, the interaction between identification with mother and the interparental relationship was significant. These findings are discussed and interpreted. The limitations of the study are articulated and recommendations for future research are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)