She blames their divorce on a lack of communication and her husband's resistance to change. Statistics support the idea of a seven year itch. According to the most current figures available from the National Center for Health Statistics, the median duration of marriage was 7.2 years for couples who divorced in 1989 and 1990. It's difficult to say if the seven year itch applies to unmarried people in long-term relationships, because the research has not been done. But don't count on it.
People thrive on a commitment in relationships.
Focusing attention on the relationship is the obvious but often-overlooked key to marriage longevity, says Barbach. Couples with children may have to make special efforts, since Kurdek's study found that they showed steeper declines in marital satisfaction than childless couples. He speculates that unhappy couples either avoid divorce for the children's sake or expend more energy raising their kids than nurturing their marriage. But he also points out that some couples may find that having children makes them happier overall. The Exceptions Some married couples don't get itchy.