Early Years of Marriage Project: Longitudinal Survey of 373 Newlywed Couples, 1986-1989

373 newlywed couples—199 Black and 174 White—participated in this longitudinal study of marriage from 1986 to 1989. The Early Years of Marriage Project, led by Joseph Veroff at the University of Michigan, tracked marital development through in-home and telephone interviews. Respondents were queried on topics including marital satisfaction, arguments, family planning, household roles, mental and physical health, and job satisfaction.

Use Cases

• Predicting marital stability based on reported satisfaction, arguments, and conflict resolution patterns.
• Analyzing the relationship between job satisfaction, job security, and family life as described in the interviews.
• Studying differences in family planning and childcare expectations between Black and White couples.
• Modeling the impact of in-laws and spouse's friends on marital satisfaction over time.
• Investigating links between physical/mental health of spouses and reported marital quality.

Strengths

• Longitudinal design with four years of data collection (1986-1989) from the same 373 couples.
• High retention rate, with very few respondents refusing to participate in subsequent phases.
• Interview methodology included separate and joint sessions, conducted by interviewers matched to respondent race.
• Covers a wide variety of topics including demographics, marital perceptions, family life, health, and employment.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a specific time period (mid-to-late 1980s) and may not reflect contemporary social norms.
• The sample consists solely of intra-racial, first-marriage couples, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

University of Michigan, Joseph Veroff

Collection Method

Longitudinal survey combining in-home interviews (Years 1 and 3) and telephone interviews (Years 2 and 4).

Time Range

1986-1989