How representations of the parental marriage predict marital emotional attunement during the transition to parenthood.

Emotional attunement (i.e., couples' dyadic emotional connectedness and responsiveness) was examined in 86 couples across the transition to parenthood. After controlling for prenatal emotional attunement and verbal ability, the authors found that prenatal assessments of husbands' and wives' representations of their parents' marriage (i.e., content and insightfulness) predicted emotional attunement between partners 24 months postpartum. There was a trend for husbands and a statistically significant relationship for wives who insightfully recalled disharmonious content to show greater residualized postnatal emotional attunement compared with other husbands and wives, suggesting that anticipating marital problems following the transition to parenthood may increase attention to maintaining the marriage. In contrast, wives who recalled disharmonious content with low insight showed the lowest residualized postnatal scores for emotional attunement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prenatal expectations and marital satisfaction over the transition to parenthood.

Associations among prenatal expectations, the extent to which expectations were confirmed or disconfirmed, and trajectories of marital satisfaction over the transition to parenthood were assessed 7-11 times in a sample of newlywed couples. Piecewise growth curve analyses were conducted to examine levels of marital satisfaction at the beginning of marriage and rates of change over 2 periods: from the beginning of marriage through the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy through 18 months postpartum. Postpartum marital decline was greater than decline from marriage through pregnancy. Spouses who were more satisfied at the beginning of marriage reported higher expectations. There was marked variability in the extent to which prenatal expectations were confirmed; some expectations were unfulfilled, others were met, and still others were surpassed. Associations between the extent to which expectations were confirmed and rates of change in marital decline differed as a function of the specific type of expectation. Implications for understanding vulnerability and resiliency in couples negotiating the transition to parenthood are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult Attachment and Marital Interaction as Predictors of Whole Family Interactions During the Transition to Parenthood.

This study examined the role of parental adult attachment and couples' prenatal and postnatal marital interactions in predicting the quality of family interactions 24 months after the birth of the couple's first child. Father's prenatal marital withdrawal and mother's postnatal marital withdrawal were associated with less adaptive family interactions at 24 months. Families with fathers who had an insecure attachment, as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview, showed less positive and more negative interactions at 24 months, but only when there were higher levels of negative escalation in the couple's marriage prenatally. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of exploring the transition to parenthood at the broader family level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment and the transition to parenthood.

This study examined how a major life stressor—the transition to parenthood—affects marital satisfaction and functioning among persons with different attachment orientations. As hypothesized, the interaction between women's degree of attachment ambivalence and their perceptions of spousal support (assessed 6 weeks prior to childbirth) predicted systematic changes in men's and women's marital satisfaction and related factors over time (6 months postpartum). Specifically, if highly ambivalent (preoccupied) women entered parenthood perceiving lower levels of support from their husbands, they experienced declines in marital satisfaction. Women's ambivalence also predicted their own as well as their husbands' marital satisfaction and functioning concurrently. The degree of attachment avoidance did not significantly predict marital changes, although women's avoidance did correlate with some of the concurrent marital measures. These findings are discussed in terms of attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting healthy beginnings: A randomized controlled trial of a preventive intervention to preserve marital quality during the transition to parenthood.

Couples expecting their first child were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 28) and comparison groups (n = 38) to assess the efficacy of a couples intervention and examine marital satisfaction trajectories across the transition to parenthood. The primarily European American sample (M age = 30 years) completed assessments of marital satisfaction at 5 points from the final trimester of pregnancy to 66 months postpartum. Growth curve analyses indicated a normative linear decline in marital satisfaction. Intervention participants experienced significantly less decline than comparison participants, providing support for the efficacy of the intervention. Comparable childless couples (n = 13) did not show a decline in marital satisfaction. The results suggest that early family transitions that strain couple relationships provide critical opportunities for preventive interventions to strengthen marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress resilience in early marriage: Can practice make perfect?

As all couples experience stressful life events, addressing how couples adapt to stress is imperative for understanding marital development. Drawing from theories of stress inoculation, which suggest that the successful adaptation to moderately stressful events may help individuals develop a resilience to future stress, the current studies examined whether experiences with manageable stressors early in the marriage may serve to make the relationship more resilient to future stress. In Study 1, 61 newlywed couples provided data regarding their stressful life events, relationship resources (i.e., observed problem-solving behaviors), and marital satisfaction at multiple points over 2? years. Results revealed that among spouses displaying more effective problem-solving behaviors, those who experienced moderate stress during the early months of marriage exhibited fewer future stress spillover effects and reported greater increases in felt efficacy than did spouses who had less experience with early stress. Study 2 examined stress resilience following the transition to parenthood in a new sample of 50 newlywed couples. Again, spouses who experienced moderate stress during the early months of marriage and had good initial relationship resources (i.e., observed support behaviors) reported greater marital adjustment following the transition to parenthood than did spouses who had good initial resources but less prior experience coping with stress. Together, results indicate that entering marriage with better relationship resources may not be sufficient to shield marital satisfaction from the detrimental effects of stress; rather, couples may also need practice in using those resources to navigate manageable stressful events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex typing and division of labor as determinants of marital change across the transition to parenthood.

Examined the proposition that wives who describe their personality in ways that deviate from sex stereotypes will become less positive and more negative about their marriage from before to after they become mothers, particularly when the transition to parenthood is accompanied by an increase in the traditionalism of marital roles. 61 couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the 3rd postpartum month. The wives (mean age 26.5 yrs) completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire and several questionnaires assessing the marital relationship at both times of measurement. Results reveal that the more division of labor changed toward traditionalism, the greater the decline in wives' evaluations of the positive aspects of marriage. Changes in wives' evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of marriage were significantly predicted by the interaction of the wives' expressivity and changes toward increased traditionalism in division of labor. Additional analyses showed that wives who did not ascribe female sex-typed attributes to themselves (relative to those who see themselves in sex-stereotyped ways) were more apt to evaluate their marriage less favorably from before to after parenthood when roles shifted toward greater traditionalism. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pregnancy problems, postpartum depression, and early mother–infant interactions.

24 women (mean age 24 yrs) who had received ultrasound examinations and psychological interviews during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy were subsequently divided into a group of 12 Ss who had reported pregnancy problems (marital difficulties and ambivalence about the child) and another group of 12 Ss who had not. Ss were then observed at 3–5 mo postpartum in interactions with their infants and were given the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Nowicki-Strickland Internal–External Control Scale for Adults, measures of mothers' and infants' temperament, and a maternal developmental expectations and childrearing attitudes scale. The mothers who had experienced pregnancy problems were more depressed, anxious, and externalizing postpartum and expressed more punitive childrearing attitudes. These depressed mothers and their infants showed less optimal interaction behaviors. Results suggest that postpartum depression can be predicted from a simple set of questions regarding the mother's negative feelings about her marriage and her expectant child during the prenatal period. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological changes accompanying pregnancy and motherhood

This study was an attempt to investigate some of the psychological changes that occur during first pregnancy and the early postpartum months. The major theoretical assumption was that pregnancy and early motherhood may be viewed as a series of developmental tasks, and that the way in which these are coped with will be predictive of adaptation to the maternal role. The aims of the study were (a) to identify the affective changes that occur in women during first pregnancy and to assess the extent to which pregnancy and motherhood are experienced as a period of psychological crisis; (b) to trace the development of maternal feeling; and (c) to assess the extent to which characteristics measured early in pregnancy are predictive of attitudes and adjustment to later stages of pregnancy and the degree to which these factors are themselves predictive of adaptation to parenthood. The sample consisted of 19 white, middle class primigravidas, with an age range of 22-33 years. Only women who had no previous gynecological or psychiatric difficulties and who were currently living with their husbands were accepted as Ss. Each woman was interviewed at each trimester of pregnancy, on the third postpartum day, and at 2 months postpartum. A follow up questionnaire was mailed at 7 months postpartum, The data obtained were derived from ratings of extensive interview schedules and a number of personality measures. Results indicated that although emotional upheaval and rapid change were characteristic of pregnancy, for some women a growing sense of adulthood, of fulfillment, and integration of a new maturational stage clearly co-existed with the emotional disequilibrium. Analysis of the interrelationship among characteristics shown in early pregnancy, adjustment to the pregnancy overall, and adaptation to parenthood indicated that the degree of personality integration achieved by early pregnancy was predictive of the extent to which psychological growth was experienced throughout pregnancy and early parenthood.     

Attachment insecurity and perceptions of housework: Associations with marital well-being.

This exploratory study examines the interactive effects of attachment insecurity and perceptions of housework on 2 dimensions of marital well-being--satisfaction and perceptions of fairness. Participants were 148 married couples obtained from an area probability sample as part of a larger study. Multilevel modeling analyses with the couple as the unit of analysis showed that women who scored high and men who scored low on the dimension of attachment anxiety and reported that their spouses performed more routine housework (i.e., prepares meals) also reported being over-benefited. Women who scored high and men who scored low on the dimension of attachment avoidance and reported that their spouses performed more intermittent housework (i.e., yard work) reported greater marital satisfaction. These results highlight the role of attachment orientations in explaining why perceptions of housework may have more or less prominent effects on marital well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital status, pregnancy planning, and role overload: A mediated-moderation model of parenting satisfaction.

This longitudinal study investigated the presence of a moderating effect of pregnancy planning on the relationship between marital status and parenting satisfaction of couples experiencing the transition to parenthood and verified whether this moderating effect is mediated by role overload. Data were collected from 150 Canadian couples during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and at 9 months postpartum. Findings reveal that when the pregnancy is planned, the poorer parenting satisfaction reported by cohabiting fathers in comparison with their married counterparts can be explained by cohabiting men’s higher levels of role overload. Women’s levels of parenting satisfaction are also influenced by their own and their partner’s experiences of role overload. Results are discussed in terms of the respective values and lifestyles of cohabiting and married couples and specifically in terms of their different attitudes toward egalitarianism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood.

The purpose of the present study was to discriminate between the 2 dominant perspectives governing research on the nature of marital change over the transition to parenthood. Progress can be made in understanding this transition by recognizing the role of uncontrolled sources of variability in research designs, defining and using control groups, and timing of data collection around the child's arrival, and the authors conducted a study incorporating these methodological refinements. Growth curve analyses were conducted on marital satisfaction data collected twice before and twice after the birth of the 1st child and at corresponding points for voluntarily childless couples (N = 156 couples). Spouses who were more satisfied prior to pregnancy had children relatively early in marriage, and parents experienced greater declines in marital satisfaction compared to nonparents. Couples with planned pregnancies had higher prepregnancy satisfaction scores, and planning slowed husbands' (but not wives') postpartum declines. In sum, parenthood hastens marital decline--even among relatively satisfied couples who select themselves into this transition--but planning status and prepregnancy marital satisfaction generally protect marriages from these declines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Before children: Preparenthood cognitions of distressed and husband-to-wife aggressive couples.

Positive and negative cognitions about parenthood were assessed in a sample of recently married childless spouses who were in nondistressed, distressed, and husband-to-wife (H-to-W) aggressive marriages (328 husbands and 331 wives). As predicted, maritally distressed spouses held more negative cognitions about parenthood than did nondistressed spouses. Results indicated that spouses in H-to-W aggressive marriages expected parenthood to be a more unpredictable and difficult job than spouses in marriages not involving H-to-W aggression. Wives also reported more fears that having a child would result in a loss of freedom than did husbands. No distress, H-to-W aggression level, or gender differences were obtained for positive preparenthood cognitions. Finally, wives' but not husbands' positive and negative preparenthood cognitions at 6 months of marriage were able to predict parenthood status at 30 months of marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal associations of marital quality and marital dissolution with the incidence of DSM-III-R disorders.

This study examined whether getting divorced was related to the subsequent incidence of DSM-III-R disorders across a 2-year period, controlling for the perceived quality of the marriage prior to the divorce. Data were used from 4,796 adults aged 18 to 64, who had participated in 3 waves (i.e., 1996, 1997, and 1999) of a large-scale epidemiological study conducted in The Netherlands. Results showed that getting divorced was prospectively linked to both the total and new case incidence of alcohol abuse and dysthymia, as well as to the new case incidence of social phobia. Adults who had divorced, however, were not more likely to develop a mental disorder if they had reported low levels of marital quality prior to the divorce. Thus, the marital discord underlying a divorce rather than divorce itself appeared to determine the onset of clinically relevant mental health problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preadoptive factors predicting lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples' relationship quality across the transition to adoptive parenthood.

The authors examined preadoptive factors as predictors of relationship quality (love, ambivalence, and conflict) among 125 couples (44 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 51 heterosexual couples) across the 1st year of adoptive parenthood. On average, all new parents experienced declines in their relationship quality across the 1st year of parenthood regardless of sexual orientation, with women experiencing steeper declines in love. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of avoidant coping, lower levels of relationship maintenance behaviors, and less satisfaction with their adoption agencies reported lower relationship quality at the time of the adoption. The effect of avoidant coping on relationship quality varied by gender. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of confrontative coping, and higher levels of relationship maintenance behaviors reported greater declines in relationship quality. These findings have implications for professionals who work with adoptive parents both pre- and postadoption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment insecurity and the distinction between unhappy spouses who do and do not divorce.

The hypothesis that attachment insecurity would be associated with remaining in an unhappy marriage was tested. One hundred seventy-two newly married couples participated in a 4-year longitudinal study with multiple assessment points. Hierarchical linear models revealed that compared with spouses in happy marriages and divorced spouses, spouses who were in stable but unhappy marriages showed the highest levels of insecurity initially and over time. Spouses in stable, unhappy marriages also had lower levels of marital satisfaction than divorced spouses and showed relatively high levels of depressive symptoms initially and over time. Results suggest that spouses at risk for stable, unhappy marriages can be identified early and may benefit from interventions that increase the security of spouses' attachment to each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality change during the transition to parenthood: The role of perceived infant temperament.

Examined the effects of 70 parents' (mean age 28.69 yrs) perceptions of infant temperament on their own personality during the transition to parenthood. Two assessments were made about 16 wks apart for 22 primiparous couples (mean time prebirth 6.5 wks and mean time postpartum 10.5 wks) and for 13 childless couples. Ss were administered both global/trait and situation-specific/state measures, including the Eight-State Questionnaire and the Perception of Baby Temperament Instrument, in order to assess efficacy expectations, personal control, anxiety, and depression. New parents rated their infant's temperament along 4 dimensions: activity, rhythmicity, adaptability, and positive mood. The parent group showed greater change than the nonparent group on a number of measures. New parents who perceived their infant as having an easier temperament experienced more positive change, whereas new parents who perceived their infant as more difficult experienced more negative change, especially in personal control. Differential results were found for the 4 temperament dimensions, with adaptability and positive mood most frequently related to personality changes. The findings also indicate that fathers showed personality change in relation to their infant's temperament more often than mothers. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A seven-year investigation of marital expectations and marriage among urban, low-income, African American adolescent mothers.

Welfare reform has targeted marriage promotion among low-income women. This study explores patterns of marital expectations and marriage among 181 urban, low-income, African American adolescent mothers and their mothers. Using PROC TRAJ to analyze developmental trajectories of adolescent mother–grandmother relationship quality over 24 months, we categorized relationships as either high or low support. We examined the effects of intergenerational marriage models and adolescent mother–grandmother relationship quality on marital expectations and marriage over the first 7 years postpartum. At 24 months, half (52%) of adolescent mothers expected to marry, but marital expectations did not predict marriage. Marital expectations were associated with concurrent involvement in a romantic relationship, not intergenerational marriage models or a supportive adolescent mother–grandmother relationship. After 7 years, 14% of adolescent mothers were married. Married mothers lived in families characterized by the joint effects of intergenerational marriage models and supportive adolescent mother–grandmother relationships. They were older and had more children than did single mothers, suggesting that they were in a family formation phase of life. Policies that promote the education and employment opportunities necessary to support a family are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding gender differences in adolescent sexuality

More than 1,800 junior high school students were surveyed regarding sexual activity. It was found that females were less likely to have "ever had sex" but among nonvirgins there was little gender difference in frequency or recency. Items measuring sexual values indicated greater commitment to abstinence and less permissive sexual attitudes among females. Females also saw sexual activity as more detrimental to future goal attainment. They viewed parents as less approving, but were more likely to discuss sex and dating practices with them. They reported parents as having more rules and were more likely to believe that they were unfair, and that they had gone against the parents' rules. Females perceived less peer pressure for sex and more support for waiting. However, more males anticipated partner pressure for sex and believed they might "have sex" before marriage. Males and females reported no difference in the importance of parenthood, but more females saw teen parenthood as a problem. No gender differences were found for smoking or drinking. Significantly more males had experienced petting behavior. Females were more likely to believe that sexual urges can be controlled. It was concluded that understanding these differences can help in the design of sex education and social programs to address problems associated with adolescent sexuality.     

A three year follow-up of attachment and indiscriminate friendliness in children adopted from Romanian orphanages

Attachment and indiscriminately friendly behavior were assessed in children who had spent at least 8 months in a Romanian orphanage (RO) and two comparison groups of children: a Canadian-born, nonadopted, never institutionalized comparison group (CB) and an early adopted comparison group adopted from Romania before the age of 4 months (EA). Attachment was assessed using 2 measures: an attachment security questionnaire based on parent report, and a Separation Reunion procedure that was coded using the Preschool Assessment of Attachment. Indiscriminately friendly behavior was examined using parents' responses to 5 questions about their children's behavior with new adults. Although RO children did not score differently from either CB or EA children on the attachment security measure based on parent report, they did display significantly more insecure attachment patterns than did children in the other 2 groups. In addition, RO children displayed significantly more indiscriminately friendly behavior than both CB and EA children, who did not differ in terms of indiscriminate friendliness. RO children's insecure attachment patterns were not associated with any aspect of their institutional environment, but were related to particular child and family characteristics. Specifically, insecure RO children had more behavior problems, scored lower on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, and had parents who reported significantly more parenting stress than RO children classified as secure.