Although the early years of marriage are critical for marital stability (National Center for Health Statistics, 1991), little is known about the processes that maintain marital happiness in stable couples (Dindia & Canary, 1993). The lack of information in this area is unfortunate in light of evidence that even spouses in stable relationships can be dissatisfied with their marriages (Heaton & Albrecht, 1991) and that marital dissatisfaction is linked to physical and psychological problems (Bloom, Asher, & White, 1978).

The relative neglect of what maintains marital happiness may be due to the scarcity of longitudinal studies in the early years of marriage. There are longitudinal data (e.g., Belsky & Rovine, 1990; Cowan et al., 1985; Hackel & Ruble, 1992; MacDermid, Huston, & McHale, 1990; Markman & Hahlweg, 1993) consistent with the view that marital quality declines over the first few years of marriage as spouses negotiate issues regarding conflict, control, and power (Kovacs, 1983). However, most of this information comes from studies of spouses during the transition to first-time parenthood. Without a comparison group of spouses not experiencing this transition, normative changes in marital interactions are confounded with those resulting from parenthood (see Chapter 7 in this volume).

Consequently, longitudinal studies involving newlywed couples who do and do not become parents are needed to chart the developmental course of marital well-being.