a b s t r a c tThe aim of this study is to analyze the impact of anxiety and psychological well-being of couples in the transition to parenthood. A sample of 256 participants was divided into five groups: 54 "not seeking pregnancy", two groups seeking pregnancy, 50 "infertile that did not get pregnant" and 50 "infertile that achieves pregnancy", 50 "natural pregnancy", and 52 "fertile with children". State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Psychological Well-being in Couple Scale (EBP in Spanish) were used. The "infertile group that achieves pregnancy" gets the highest state-anxiety levels, even though regarding the anxiety-trait the group that is "not seeking pregnancy" shows the highest levels. Regarding psychological wellbeing in couples, the "natural pregnancy" group shows the lowest scores. These results demonstrate the possible functional role that anxiety-state in non-clinical levels can play in getting pregnant and confirm that psychological well-being in couple's relationship decreases only during pregnancy. © 2016 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Ansiedad y bienestar psicológico de la pareja en la transición a la paternidadPalabras clave: Transición a la paternidad Ansiedad Relación de pareja Sexo r e s u m e n El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el impacto de la ansiedad y el bienestar psicológico de la pareja en la transición a la paternidad. Una muestra de 256 participantes se dividió en cinco grupos: 54 "no buscan embarazo", dos grupos que buscan el embarazo, 50 "infértil que no consiguen embarazo" y 50 "infértil que logra el embarazo", 50 "embarazo natural" y 52 "fértil con niños". Se utilizó el Inventario de Ansiedad Estado-Rasgo (STAI) y la Escala de Bienestar Psicológico de la pareja (EBP). El "grupo infértil que logra el embarazo" es el que tiene más altos niveles de ansiedad estado, aunque, en relación con la ansiedad rasgo, es el grupo que "no busca embarazo" el que muestra los niveles más altos. En cuanto al bienestar psicológico en la pareja, el grupo "embarazo natural" es el que muestra las puntuaciones más bajas. Estos resultados demuestran el posible papel funcional que la ansiedad estado en los niveles no clínicos puede jugar en el embarazo y confirma que el bienestar psicológico en la relación de pareja disminuye sólo durante el embarazo.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate symptoms of depression and anxiety and psychological well-being in men and women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and to compare them with two control groups of men and nonpregnant women, both with children and without children. Background: Perinatal research has largely focused on maternal depression, anxiety and the state of the marital relationship, but few studies exist including partners and comparisons with control groups of men and women both with and without children. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey. The total sample was 156 participants. Approximately equal numbers of participants in each group were recruited through a local community health centre in Zaragoza (Spain) and completed questionnaires in the presence of a psychologist. Anxiety, depression and the couple's self-ratings of their well-being were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Psychological Well-being in the couple Scale, respectively. Results: The results show higher levels of depression symptoms in the 'pregnancy group'; specifically, pregnant women reported higher levels of depression than their male partners. Also, the 'pregnancy group' (men and women) show lower scores on psychological well-being in the couple compared with the control groups. No significant differences in anxiety-state between the groups and sex were obtained. Conclusion: These findings are important for both researchers and clinicians in practice, in order to improve the identification of women with antenatal depressive symptoms and offer more psychological support for women and their partners during and after pregnancy.