Residents of Columbus, Ohio, worried about the health of their marriages should heed one piece of advice from counselors: They should limit the nagging if they want to avoid ending up in divorce court.

A story in the Wall Street Journal quotes several psychologists and other counselors who say that nagging in a marriage is far more common than adultery, but can lead to the same place, divorce.

Yet, as the story points out, many married people can't seem to stop themselves from nagging their partners, whether it's over small items like forgetting to pick up a jug of milk on the way home from work or whether the nagging concerns major decisions such as one spouse's refusal to seek a promotion at work.

Marriage experts say that nagging, unfortunately, is the exact kind of communication that can eventually cause a marriage to fall out.

One psychologist quoted in the Wall Street Journal says it's fairly obvious why people nag: They don't feel that they'll get what they want without doing so. And the nagging partner isn't always to blame for a relationship's struggles. According to experts, the partner being nagged often refuses to give a clear answer. This might be because the partner doesn't know an answer or because this person knows that the answer will cause unrest.

But not providing a straight answer will only lead to more nagging and, often, to serious marriage woes.

The lesson from this Wall Street Journal story is a clear one: Good, honest communication remains important to any marriage. Nagging sounds like it's merely a nuisance. But over several years, a consistent pattern of nagging can breed resentments that can eventually scuttle a marriage.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, "Meet the Marriage Killer," Elizabeth Bernstein, Jan. 25, 2012