Having
a warm and supportive home during one's teenage years may make for more
satisfying marriages later on, new research suggests.
"The
overall family climate seems to matter," said study author Robert
Ackerman, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Dallas. "A
positive family climate is related to individuals being more positively
engaged with their spouses."
The findings were published in the January issue of the journal Psychological Science.
Secret to happy marriages?
Past studies have shown that people who have happy marriages are more generous
than those who don't, and that people who as teens witnessed divorce or aggression tend to have less happy marriages. [6 Scientific Tips for a Successful Marriage]
than those who don't, and that people who as teens witnessed divorce or aggression tend to have less happy marriages. [6 Scientific Tips for a Successful Marriage]
But not much research has looked at how supportive family environments during the tumultuous teenage years affect marriage later on, Ackerman told LiveScience.
affect marriage later on, Ackerman told LiveScience.
To
find out, Ackerman and his colleagues looked at data taken between 1989
and 1991 from 288 seventh-graders. Researchers had visited the
students' families and then recorded different family members as they
discussed a common source of conflict (such
as doing chores). The researchers then rated how well people were able
communicate clearly and assertively while still being warm and
supportive toward the other person.
(such
as doing chores). The researchers then rated how well people were able
communicate clearly and assertively while still being warm and
supportive toward the other person.
Long-term pattern
Ackerman's
team then went back to those youngsters and watched them interact with
their spouses about 20 years later. They surveyed the couples about
their marriages and watched a 25-minute interaction between them,
looking for signs of the same effective communication.
Children
who came from homes with warm and supportive communication tended to be
more satisfied with their marriages years later, Ackerman found. They
also tended to interact more positively in their marriage, displaying
more effective communication and warmth.
The
findings can't prove that warm family upbringings actually cause people
to be more supportive in their marriages. But when the researchers
controlled for the fact that some people simply tend to be supportive of
everybody, a warm family environment predicted more positive
interactions in marriage decades later, Ackerman said.
