Does Premarital Cohabitation Predict Subsequent Marital Stability and Marital Quality? A Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 105 - 116
• Main Authors: Jose, Anita, Daniel O'Leary, K., Moyer, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2010; National Council on Family Relations; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley
• Subjects: Adolescent and Young Adult Intimate Relationships; Cohabitation; Cultural factors; Data collection; Divorce; Empirical research; Expectation; Family Stability; Forecasts; Interpersonal Relationship; Marital Instability; Marital Satisfaction; Marital stability; Marriage; Meta Analysis; Modeling; Prediction; Premarital Sex; Quality of Life; Ratios; relationship processes; relationship quality; Remarriage; Representative sampling; Research trends; Sensitivity analysis; Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Systematic review; U.S.A; Wellbeing; United States Of America; Marital relation; Cohabitation; Premarital Relation; Stability
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00686.x

Cohabitation with a romantic partner has become common in recent decades. This meta-analysis examined the link between premarital cohabitation and marital stability (k = 16) and marital quality (k = 12). Cohabitation had a significant negative association with both marital stability and marital quality. The negative predictive effect on marital stability, however, did not remain when only cohabitation with the eventual marital partner was analyzed, suggesting that these cohabitors may attach more long-term meaning to living together. Moderator analyses demonstrated that effects of cohabitation have remained consistent over time, despite the fact that cohabitation has become more normative.