Here's the Anniversary That Could Mark a Real 'Danger Point' in Your Marriage

A new study seems to be calling the "seven-year itch" into question, finding that, rather than declining around the seven-year mark, problems for marriage generally emerge between 10 and 15 years after a couple walks down the aisle.

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Dr. Spencer James of Brigham Young University surveyed more than 2,600 women who were born between 1957 and 1964 and who generally married in their 20s, finding that communication and happiness were on the decline from the minute their marriages began, the Daily Mail reported.

Published in the Social Science Research Journal, the study, "Variation in Trajectories of Women’s Marital Quality," essentially examines "variation in trajectories of women’s marital quality across the life course."

The "real danger point," according to the Daily Mail, emerged around the 10-year mark of marriages, with arguments and tension reaching highs during the 10-15-year mark.

"Conflict increases over the first decade of marriage, perhaps due to unresolved, and potentially unresolvable, issues," James said, according to the Express. "The same issues recur frequently before the couple either resolve them or decide to abandon them. This pattern requires time before hurt feelings are fully discharged."

But not all hope is lost.

While 85 percent of women said they laughed and spoke less with spouses and 65 percent said they were less happy as marriage progressed, by the 35-year mark the study found that the situation was on the upswing, according to the Daily Mail.

The study shows how "fundamental socioeconomic and demographic characteristics contribute to subsequent marital outcomes via their influence on trajectories of marital quality."

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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