Subjective well-being across partnerships

Drawing on data gathered from 554 focal participants in the German Family Panel (pairfam) study surveyed at 4 time points spanning 2 intimate unions, this brief report investigated changes in 3 indicators of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem) across partnerships. Latent change score-modeling results showed no mean-level changes in life satisfaction or self-esteem from Time 1 in Partnership 1 to Time 2 of Partnership 2 and a slight increase in depressive symptoms across partnerships. This overall stability in subjective well-being was evident despite a series of changes in the interim period: Subjective well-being worsened as the end of Partnership 1 approached, improved after the initiation of Partnership 2, and leveled off as Partnership 2 progressed. Being female predicted worse initial subjective well-being at the outset of the study, a greater decrease in well-being as participants approached the end of Partnership 1, and an overall reduction in self-esteem and increase in depression symptoms across partnerships. Being older, married in Partnership 1, and having a longer duration first partnership predicted worse initial well-being, a steeper decrease in life satisfaction as Partnership 1 drew to a close, and older participants had lower life satisfaction across unions. These findings add to a growing literature documenting the remarkable stability of individual and relational functioning across time while also highlighting those most at risk of reduced subjective well-being across partnerships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).