Sustaining relationships : couples and singles in a changing society

Abstract

Evidence clearly suggests that the quality of one’s relationships has a profound effect on the wellbeing of that person, the surrounding family and society as a whole. This research is the first one to study the Maltese setting on a large scale in an attempt to shed light on the life satisfaction of persons in diverse life situations, and on how the couple relationship is experienced and valued, in the context of whether such persons are single or in a long- or short-term relationship, married, cohabiting, separated, divorced and whether they have children or not. A representative population of just under 2500 individuals, sampled at random from a population register by the National Statistics Office (NSO), took part in the study. The response rate is considered to be highly satisfactory at 88.9%. The questionnaire was administered by trained NSO personnel using the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) technique, following a pilot study which served to validate the questionnaire and the methodology used. [Excerpt from Executive Summary]