Midlife can be a time of great change for individuals and a "make or break" period for marriages. Couples navigate a relationship landscape defined by such lifecourse landmarks as "the empty nest," changing roles at home and at work, aging bodies, and the need to care for family elders. Some partnerships are resilient through this period, adopting practices that help them cope, bounce back, and even thrive in the face of adversity. Others sputter, wither, and burn out. What makes a midlife marriage resilient? Drawing from hundreds of interviews with couples, The Middle Years of Marriage answers this question.

“Vince Waldron’s <> should be on the shelf of any serious scholar of marital and family relationships. It is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on relational and family communication and offers an in-depth, dyadic analysis of how couples respond to and overcome challenges during mid-life. It also provides qualitative scholars with detailed description of how to conduct a successful multi-year research project using undergraduate researchers. Finally, it is a valuable resource for couples of all ages to help them prepare for, understand, and reflect on how to create resilience in their relationships.” —Jess Alberts, Professor, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University

Vince Waldron (Ph.D., Ohio State) is Professor of Communication at Arizona State University. He is an author or editor of six books on personal and work relationships, including the award-winning Communicating Forgiveness. His work is currently funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging.