Can Pre Wedding Jitters Indicate Divorce?
Do pre wedding jitters really have something to do with the possibility of a future uncontested divorce? The Journal of Family Psychology released the findings from a group of UCLA researchers associating pre marriage anxiety with potential marital distress. Women turned out to have good intuition about their marriages. During the study females were found to have 2.5 higher probability of divorce if they experienced the pre wedding jitters.
Within the first four years of marriage nineteen percent of the women who reported having pre wedding jitters were divorced. Though men also reported having pre wedding jitters their percentage of divorce clocked in lower with fourteen percent of them being divorced.
Justin Lavner, lead author of the study, stated that it is not uncommon for individuals to have anxiety before tying the knot. He went on to state that though they may be common they are not benign, indicating that they should possibly be examined closer. Lavner cautioned against dismissing the pre marriage jitters and that the anxiety would not just dissipate because couples take the plunge.
After the four year study, pre wedding jitters was the main indicator of the possible factors covered for an eventual divorce. Some of the other factors taken into account include:
1. How challenging or happy was the engagement period;
2. How happy the couple felt to be marrying;
3. Had the couple already lived together; and
4. Did the couples come from divorced households.
In Los Angeles, Lavner headed up a four year study which studied over two hundred couples. The average age of women was twenty-five and the average age for men was twenty-seven. Couples were closely followed during their first few months of marriage. Then, the couples were interviewed every six months. Although more men seemed to have cold feet, when the women had cold feet their indicator was stronger for a future divorce.
Pre wedding jitters is not synonymous with uncontested divorce. Though the research does brings to light an opportunity for couples to work out issues or current challenges before tying the knot. Concerns and doubts can be significantly reduced with a series of conversations before saying "I do".
