The phrase "were often associated" is correct and can be used in written English.
It is typically used to describe a frequent or common occurrence or connection between two things or ideas. Here is an example: In ancient societies, the color red was often associated with power and royalty due to its rarity in nature and the difficulty of obtaining the dye used to create it.
Then, as now, wealth and power were often associated with self-satisfaction.
The true death of the suit (with which short skirts were often associated) as a professional costume?
The filid were often associated with monasteries, which were the centres of learning.
(In the colonial era, pilgrimages were often associated with cholera outbreaks).
The government had been plagued by the growing sophistication of counterfeiting rings that were often associated with narcotics traffickers and, more recently, terrorist groups.
Fraud baiters and law enforcement officials in several countries said that 419 con artists were often associated with broader, often violent criminal groups.
Unlike Harley-Davidsons, which were often associated with fez-wearing Shriners or Hell's Angels during the 1960's, British bikes more often struck a chord of coolness in the public's eye.
In several California cities, for example, injunctions have barred specific gang members, usually those with criminal histories, from activities like climbing trees, whistling, carrying bottles or making gang hand signals because these behaviors were often associated with a crime pattern.
The Johns Hopkins researcher said that extensive ring fractures were often associated with impacts.
The content of free sulphydryl groups, which were often associated with aggregation and gelation of proteins, also decreased.
Structural and functional indicators were often associated with different types of anthropogenic development suggesting additive rather than redundant assessment information.
