Cohort differentiation has been posited to crystallize around periods of social crises and to be most impactful on the young adults of a given socio-historical period. The two most prominent socio-historical events in the pasts of today's older married persons were the Great Depression of the 1930's and World War II. Older married couples were studied to examine the relative influences of cohort differences and changes associated with number of years married. Instruments measuring love expression and marital problems were completed by 40 couples with 84% retest data obtained two years later. Data were arranged into six cohort groups according to year of marriage. Data analyses indicated cohort effects in areas of unexpressed feelings, money management problems, and consensus of spouses in identifying marital problems. Self-disclosure, tolerance, and problems focused on children and home labor declined across cohorts. The Depression cohort had the fewest money management problems and the highest degree of problem consensus. Both the Depression and the World War II cohorts had relatively higher levels of unexpressed feelings than other cohorts. The findings suggest that both generational and aging influences are important for understanding the nature of marital relationships in the later years. (Author/NRB)