Gravningen Kirsten, Mitchell Kirstin R, Wellings Kaye, Johnson Anne M, Geary Rebecca, Jones Kyle G, Clifton Soazig, Erens Bob, Lu Michelle, Chayachinda Chenchit, Field Nigel, Sonnenberg Pam, Mercer Catherine H
Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Research Department of Infection & Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2017 Mar 23;12(3):e0174129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174129. eCollection 2017.
Breakdown of marriage and cohabitation is common in Western countries and is costly for individuals and society. Most research on reasons for breakdown has focused on marriages ending in divorce and/or have used data unrepresentative of the population. We present prevalence estimates of, and differences in, reported reasons for recent breakdown of marriages and cohabitations in Britain.
Descriptive analyses of data from Britain's third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), a probability sample survey (15,162 people aged 16-74 years) undertaken 2010-2012, using computer-assisted personal interviewing. We examined participants' reported reasons for live-in partnership breakdown in the past 5 years and how these varied by gender and partnership type (married vs. cohabitation).
Overall, 10.9% (95% CI: 9.9-11.9%) of men and 14.1% (13.2-15.0%) of women reported live-in partnership breakdown in the past 5 years. Mean duration of men's marriages was 14.2 years (95% CI: 12.8-15.7) vs. cohabitations; 3.5 years (3.0-4.0), and for women: 14.6 years (13.5-15.8) vs. 4.2 years (3.7-4.8). Among 706 men and 1254 women reporting experience of recent breakdown, the reasons 'grew apart' (men 39%, women 36%), 'arguments' (27%, 30%), 'unfaithfulness/adultery' (18%, 24%, p<0.05), and 'lack of respect/appreciation' (17%, 25%, p<0.05) were the most common, irrespective of partnership type. A total of 16% of women vs. 4% of men cited domestic violence. After adjusting for age at interview and duration of partnership, there were no significant differences in reasons given for breakup by partnership type, except that men more commonly cited 'moving due to changing circumstances' as a reason for a cohabitation ending than for a marriage (AOR = 3.78, 95% CI: 1.08-13.21); and among women, 'not sharing housework' (0.54, 0.35-0.83) and 'sexual difficulties' (0.45, 0.25-0.84) were less commonly cited as reasons for cohabitation ending than marriage.
These representative data on recently ended marriages and cohabitations among men and women in Britain show that there were more similarities than differences in the reasons reported for breakdown across partnership type. For both marriages and cohabitations, cited reasons relating to communication and relationship quality issues were most common, followed by unfaithfulness/adultery. Our findings support a focus on relationship quality, including communication and conflict resolution, in preventive and therapeutic interventions addressing breakdown of live-in partnerships.
婚姻和同居关系破裂在西方国家很常见，对个人和社会而言成本高昂。大多数关于破裂原因的研究都集中在以离婚告终的婚姻上，并且/或者使用了不具有人口代表性的数据。我们给出了英国近期婚姻和同居关系破裂的报告原因的患病率估计以及差异情况。
对英国第三次全国性态度和生活方式调查（Natsal-3）的数据进行描述性分析，这是一项在2010 - 2012年进行的概率抽样调查（15162名年龄在16 - 74岁之间的人），采用计算机辅助个人访谈。我们研究了参与者报告的过去5年中同居关系破裂的原因，以及这些原因如何因性别和伴侣关系类型（已婚与同居）而有所不同。
总体而言，在过去5年中，10.9%（95%置信区间：9.9 - 11.9%）的男性和14.1%（13.2 - 15.0%）的女性报告同居关系破裂。男性婚姻的平均持续时间为14.2年（95%置信区间：12.8 - 15.7），同居关系为3.5年（3.0 - 4.0）；女性婚姻平均持续时间为14.6年（13.5 - 15.8），同居关系为4.2年（3.7 - 4.8）。在706名报告近期有破裂经历的男性和1254名女性中，“感情疏远”（男性占39%，女性占36%）、“争吵”（27%，30%）、“不忠/通奸”（18%，24%，p<0.05）以及“缺乏尊重/欣赏”（17%，25%，p<0.05）是最常见的原因，与伴侣关系类型无关。共有16%的女性和4%的男性提到家庭暴力。在调整了访谈时的年龄和伴侣关系持续时间后，除了男性更常将“因情况变化而搬家（AOR = 3.78，95%置信区间：1.08 - 13.21）”作为同居关系结束的原因而非婚姻结束的原因外，按伴侣关系类型划分的分手原因没有显著差异；在女性中，“不分担家务（0.54，0.35 - 0.83）”和“性方面的困难（0.45，0.25 - 0.84）”作为同居关系结束原因的情况比婚姻结束原因更少被提及。
这些关于英国近期结束的婚姻和同居关系中男性和女性的代表性数据表明，不同伴侣关系类型报告的破裂原因中相似之处多于差异。对于婚姻和同居关系而言，与沟通和关系质量问题相关的报告原因最为常见，其次是不忠/通奸。我们的研究结果支持在针对同居关系破裂的预防和治疗干预中关注关系质量，包括沟通和冲突解决。
