Empty Nest Helps Improve Marriage

December 8, 2008 8:10 a.m. EST

Berkeley, CA (AHN) - Having an empty nest may work wonders for marriages, a study by the University of California Berkeley's Institute of Personality & Social Research suggests.

The study was based on the marriage of 100 women and the different stages they went through such as early married life, child-rearing and separations. It had three landmark ages which researchers used to study the women's level of satisfaction when they were 43, 52 and 61.

At 41 most of them still have children at home, at 52 their children started to leave their residence and nine years later their nest was empty. The availability of their time for their spouse after the children left home helped improve the couples' marriage.

Sara Gorchoff, head of the study and a UC Berkeley psychology candidate for a Ph.D., explained, "The take-home message for couples with young children is, 'Hang in there.'"

The study's respondents were born in the late 1930s, and participated in the study in 1958 as seniors at Mills College. They were recruited to join the study by UC Berkeley adjunct professor emeritus Ravenna Helson. They were typical of their generation who married before 25, with 30 percent of them divorced by 45.

UC Berkeley psychology professor Oliver John, co-author of the report which was published in journal Psychological Science, advised couples not to wait for their children to leave home before they start including in their schedule quality time as a couple. Gorchoff clarified, "It was not that they spent more time with their partners but that they were better enjoying the time they spent with their partners."

The UC team will expand their study. This time it will focus on the marital satisfaction of males and females who come from different racial, educational and socio-economic backgrounds.