Demographic correlates of marital conflict among married individuals in Ibadan Metropolis

Abstract

Marital conflict has been an everyday experience in our societies, with its accompanying detrimental effects staring in our faces. However, the actual trend of the occurrence of marital conflict among couples in Nigeria is not well known due to poor documentation, and a profile of couples at the risk of marital conflict not given attention. This study examined the relationship of marital conflict with couples’ age, marriage duration, courtship duration and age-at-marriage. Using a cross-sectional survey method, 538 married individuals were accidentally sampled from three randomly selected local governments in Ibadan. A self-administered questionnaire made up of demographic variables and marital conflict inventory (α=0.88) was administered to the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, person product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis at .05 level of significance. Results reveal a significant inverse relationship of marital conflict with age (r²=-.110) and marriage duration (r²=-107). Marital conflict had no significant relationship with courtship duration, age at marriage [(r = -.081, p > .05) & (r = -.012, p > .05) respectively]. Age, marriage duration, courtship duration and age-at-marriage significantly jointly predicted marital conflict (R² = .012; F = 2.606; p < .05). It was concluded that age and time spent in marriage is a necessary factor in the occurrence of marital conflict. However, these factors when alone might not be strong enough to predict marital conflict.