Larc,
"Perhaps, things were less stressful many years ago, than they are more recently."
I agree with this, though having been out at about the limit of your range, i have only my readings here for comparison.
"Another possibility has to do with a faded memory of the past. There is a tendency to forget negative events from the past, and remember the good ones."
That's possible. It's like the old joke about the French Foreign Legion: "I came here to forget". "Well, why are you here?" "I forgot".
Question: does the introduction of the Baptism questions make any difference? I left slightly after that started. I certainly never was subjected to them. I suppose that was some measure of trying to screen the incoming and "improve quality". Would you be likely nto see a difference, based on that?
Mustang