HOW LONG DOES THE HONEYMOON PERIOD LAST?

Source: https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/womens-health/sex-relationships/

For some people, it may be shorter than you think.

After the thank you notes have been sent and you're settled into life as husband and wife, you're probably still basking in the glow of wedded bliss.

But does that feel-good vibe have an expiration date? According to a new study in the journal Prevention Science, the honeymoon phase is definitely real—but not for everyone.

Researchers followed nearly 400 couples throughout the first two and a half years of their marriages to see if their satisfaction dipped over time. The couples completed questionnaires about their marital satisfaction during their engagement and then six, 18, and 30 months after their wedding date. They also filled out questionnaires about any depressive symptoms, alcoholism, or violence in the relationship.

After 30 months, 14 percent of men and 10 percent of women seemed to experience the honeymoon phase—followed by a steep dip in marital happiness after that. For these people, marital satisfaction spiked right around their wedding, then rapidly declined until the 30-month mark, when many of them reported feeling "extremely unhappy" in their marriages. So it looks like the phenomenon is real, but luckily, it doesn't affect every bond.

Interestingly, the researchers found predictive factors for this effect: For women, the decrease in satisfaction was predicted by slightly lower-than-average feelings of satisfaction during their engagement. So, the women were already feeling less-than-stoked about getting married, and then their satisfaction plummeted after the honeymoon.

Among men, those who reported symptoms of depression, alcoholism, or intimate partner violence at the beginning of their relationship were more likely to experience dissatisfaction over time. So it may be possible to identify the risk factors by recognizing a toxic relationship from the get-go.

"These findings can help us identify couples that might be at risk for becoming dissatisfied as early as possible, and provide some sort of assistance," says study co-author Ann C. Eckardt Erlanger, Psy.D. That might include couples counseling or individual therapy to figure out why you might have a change of heart after the wedding. "It is often easier to address these issues before they become huge problems."

But here's the good news: Over three quarters of the couples had initially high levels of marriage satisfaction that didn’t decrease throughout the two and a half year study.