Life Transitions

This section shows how many couples of the sample experienced the life transitions described in the previous sections and whether and how they are related to relationship quality. First, it indicates how many couples experienced the transition to parenthood between Waves 1 and 3. A measurement was made of how many of the childless couples in Wave 1 indicated in Wave 3 to have at least one child. In Wave 1, 99 couples had no children. In Wave 3, 46% of them experienced the transition to parenthood (N=45). It should be noted that the case numbers are rather small. However, a test of association (Cramers' V) showed that there is a significant association between the transition to parenthood and the clusters of relationship quality. Table 17 displays differences in the cluster affiliation between couples who experienced the transition to parenthood and the couple who stayed childless over the observation period.

Table 17: Contingency Table of Conjugal Quality and Transition to Parenthood (%)

Transition to

One fifth of the couples who experienced the transition to parenthood are affiliated with the Resigned cluster, whereas this is true for only seven percent of the couples who did not make this transition. Furthermore, about one third of those couples are in the Harmonious cluster, while only a very small number of couples with this life transition are affiliated with this group.

Inclusion in the Decreasing quality cluster occurs also more often among couples who became parents. However, it should be noted that there are also a quarter of couples in the Increasing quality cluster who experienced the transition to parenthood. The same tendency was already shown in the previous chapter.

The transition to empty nest is analysed by differentiating between couples who were already in the empty nest stage in Wave 1, and who experienced this life stage between Waves 1 and 3,

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and couples who did not experienced this transition. One quarter of the couples have already been in the empty nest stage in Wave 1 and about one fifth of the couples made the transition during the observation period. More than half of the couples did not experience this life transition. The test of association (Cramers' V = 0.11) showed that there is no statistically significant association between this life transition and the clusters of conjugal quality. Hence, some single variables of relationship quality have been examined separately in order to detect associations with the transition to empty nest. The results are presented in Table 18.

Table 18: Contingency Table Transition to Empty Nest and Relationship Outcomes

No transition to empty nest Transition to empty nest Transition to empty nest W1 Cramers' V Chi²

N % N % N %

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The figures in Table 18 indicate that men and women who were already in the empty nest stage in Wave 1 were more often very satisfied with their relationship in both waves than couples who experienced this transition between Waves 1 and 3 and couples who did not. Couples who experienced this life transition were not very satisfied more often than couples who did not experience the transition. For thoughts of separation, the tendency for the couples who were already in the empty nest stage in Wave 1 is similar to the results for relationship satisfaction.

Those couples thought less often about separation than the others. However, there are only small differences between couples who made the transition between Waves 1 and 3 and those who did not. Even though there are differences between the groups, it cannot be shown that couples who experienced the transition to empty nest experienced any significant changes in their relationship satisfaction or in their thoughts of separation.

The transition to retirement is examined by referring to couples where neither partner was already in retirement in Wave 1. Furthermore, we differentiate between couples where one partner, both partners or no partner made the transition to retirement. About 60% of the couples are not yet retired. Among ca. 15% of the couples, either one or both partners retired between Waves 1 and 3. However, there is no significant association between the transition to retirement and the clusters of relationship quality (Cramers' V = 0.1). Therefore, the same analyses as for the transition to empty nest have been conducted, but only a portion of the results are significant, as shown in Table 19.

Table 19: Contingency Table Transition to Retirement and Relationship Outcomes

Both transition to retirement One transition to retirement No transition to retirement Cramers' V Chi² df

N % N % N %

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A strong significant association exists between thoughts of separation among men and the transition to retirement. It shows that increasing thoughts of separation occur more often among couples where no partner experienced the transition to parenthood and decreasing thoughts are more often observable among couples who made the transition. This provides some modicum of evidence that the transition to retirement has positive effects for the relationship, but only for men.

3.4 Summary

This chapter has provided an overview of critical life events and life transitions which are presumed to impact on the relationship quality. The classification of life events differentiates as to whether those events are considered normative or non-normative. Normative life events are life transitions that are usually desired and predictable, and everyone experiences certain life transitions during the life course. Non-normative events are undesired and their occurrence is usually not predictable. Adaptation processes have to start immediately without being prepared.

Both normative and non-normative events can impact negatively on the internal dynamic of the couple due to changes in role performance, household structure or other demands. However, the research literature describes these events only as a potential for disturbance (Boss, 1987;

Graham & Conoley, 2006; Lavee et al., 1987).

This thesis distinguishes between two types of non-normative events: socio-professional and health-related events. Only events which occur between Wave 1 and 3 have been considered for the analysis. The results showed that about the half of the couples of the sample faced health-related events. In the main, these involved severe illnesses, accidents or psychological problems and depression. The occurrence of these life events is not statistically associated with the age of the respondents or other socio-demographic characteristics. It could have been assumed that with increasing age, health-related life events increase as well. Furthermore, health-related life events are not statistically associated with relationship quality. This will be discussed in greater detail in chapter 5 and the final discussion.

By contrast, socio-professional events have been experienced by about one fifth of the couples in the sample. The results also showed that there is a link between socio-professional events and relationship quality, indicating that couples who experienced these life events are more related to the Decreasing quality, the Low quality and the Conflicting cluster. The experience of these

98 Chapter 3. Critical Life Events and Transitions

events has a direct impact on the relationship. The stress crossover and spillover theory explains how stress due to external events is transmitted into the relationship and also transferred to both partners (Lavee & Ben-Ari, 2007). The mechanism and reasons will be explained in detail in chapter 5 and in the concluding discussion.

Three life transitions as normative life events have been analysed in greater detail: the transition to parenthood, the transition to empty nest and the transition to retirement. Interestingly, only the transition to parenthood is significantly associated with the typology of relationship quality.

This life transition is by far the most investigated one and is thought to be one of the most challenging life transitions a couple goes through, and is linked to a decrease in relationship quality (Claxton & Perry-Jenkins, 2008; Keizer & Schenk, 2012; Kluwer, 2010; Le Goff et al., 2009). The other life transitions have been less studied and the results vary more in different directions (Bouchard, 2014; Davey & Szinovacz, 2004; Klein & Rapp, 2010; Moen et al., 2001;

White & Edwards, 1990). The findings showed that more couples who became parents are in the Resigned and Decreasing quality cluster in comparison to couples who stayed childless.

Moreover, there are very few couples who made the transition to parenthood in the Harmonious cluster. However, one quarter of the couples who experienced the transition to parenthood are in the Increasing quality cluster. The results should be interpreted carefully due to the very low case numbers of couples who experienced the transition to parenthood. In general, the results confirmed that the transition to parenthood is linked to a decrease in relationship quality, which has also been found in several research studies (Claxton & Perry-Jenkins, 2008; Keizer &

Schenk, 2012; Kluwer & Johnson, 2007). The transition to parenthood goes together with a restructuring of the household structure and partners have to adapt to their new role as a parent.

This results in role strain or role stress which in turn has negative consequences for the relationship. However, the results show that the transition to parenthood is also linked to an increase in relationship quality. This is very interesting and does not conform with findings in the research literature to date. Apparently, there are some couples who adapt better to this life transition, or the decline in relationship quality can be seen as a short time consequences of the transition to parenthood. After adaptation, the relationship quality can increase again (Kluwer &

Johnson, 2007). Indeed, the process of adaptation, as well as personal and situational characteristics, are important factors for the evaluation of the impact of life event (ibid).

The transition to empty nest and retirement are not statistically associated with the clusters of relationship quality. Analyses of some single dimension revealed differences between couples

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who experienced the life transitions and those who did not. However, for the transition to empty nest it could not be shown that there are significant changes in relationship satisfaction or thoughts of separation between Waves 1 and 3. For the transition to retirement, it was only possible to show that men in couples where both partners experienced the transition more often have decreasing thoughts of separation. However, the strength of association is rather low and could not be demonstrated for other dimensions. In conclusion, we have no precise results for this sample in regard to the two life transitions.

Research studies examining the impact of critical life events often consider events from different life domains together, or focus only on one specific domain of events. The results of this thesis show that it is useful to analyse life events in greater detail and differentiated by their origin and their normative character. This allows investigating their impacts in a more detailed and differentiated way. Since the origins of life events differ, they impact in different ways on the conjugal relationship. Some events, like those which are related to health, have no direct impact on the relationship quality of couples, while other events, such as those related to professional life, impact directly on conjugal relationships. However, the results of the studies in this chapter stressed that the impact of life events, either normative or non-normative, depends on the support provided by the other partner and interaction between them (Broman et al., 1996; Graham & Conoley, 2006; Lavee et al., 1987). The next chapter will present a typology of conjugal interactions in order to examine how the impact of critical life events can be buffered by conjugal interaction styles.

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