Pre-marriage

I find it strange that according to Choan’s findings in “Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Communication”,  “spouses who cohabited before marriage demonstrated more negative and less positive problem solving and support behaviors compared to spouses who did not cohabit.” I would have absolutely thought the opposite; couples who do things as if they are married, before they are actually married, always seem to be the more content ones to me because they’ve had a test run before committing fully to each other.

For example, my parents became pregnant with me a year before they got married. They are still in love and happy. I don’t actually remember if they lived together in their own place before getting married, but they definitely dated for a few years. Of course I understand Choan’s findings are general and don’t apply to every case but I still found it unexpected. I wonder if it has anything to do with that 2 year lust effect wearing off.