Purpose Low maternal socioeconomic position (SEP) has been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes including preterm birth, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction, and infant mortality. A key biological mechanism that has been proposed to explain this association is hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity, yet the association between SEP and HPA activity in pregnancy has received little attention. In this study we aimed to examine the association between SEP and two forms of maternal cortisol regulation: diurnal slope and wakening response across pregnancy. Furthermore, we aimed to assess if this association differed by the sex of the fetus. Methods 217 pregnant women aged 18–40 with singleton pregnancies participated. Women were excluded from participating if they were < 18 or > 40 years old, and if they were at risk for maternal or obstetric complications. Women provided information on socioeconomic characteristics of adults contributing to the participants’ household to compute a Hollingshead score of SEP. Women provided salivary cortisol samples upon awakening, 30 minutes after wake-up, and at bedtime at three times over pregnancy and once 30 days postpartum to calculate the diurnal slope and cortisol awakening response (CAR). Using linear regression analyses, we examined the relations between maternal SEP and maternal diurnal slope and CAR. We explored the relations between maternal SEP and cortisol by fetal sex using linear regression analyses. We also explored links between maternal SEP, maternal cortisol, and infant birth outcomes. Findings Women of lower SEP displayed smaller awakening responses and less change over the day compared to women of higher SEP. SEP was significantly associated with attenuated diurnal slope only among women carrying female fetuses, while for CAR, the association between SEP and attenuated CAR was significant only for women carrying male fetuses. Lower SEP was associated with decreased birth weight, and this association was partially explained by maternal HPA activity in pregnancy. Implications Women of low SEP displayed attenuated HPA activity across the perinatal period, and patterns varied by fetal sex and cortisol metric. Findings are in need of replication. More research is needed to understand links between SEP, HPA activity, and neonatal health.

A large and diverse literature has shown that parent–child relationship quality shapes development to affect later romantic relationship functioning. Guided by the developmental psychopathology framework, the current systematic review aimed to characterize the links between two major subtypes of parent–child relationship quality (parent–child attachment security and interaction quality) and several romantic relationship outcomes (i.e., adjustment, attachment security, aggression, and observed interaction quality), as well as to identify mechanisms accounting for these associations. We focused on studies that included both members of a couple/partnership for dyadic assessment of romantic relationship functioning, to more accurately and fully capture both partners’ perspectives. A total of 40 articles met inclusion criteria, most of which sampled early/emerging adult couples between the ages of 18 and 26 years. Findings suggest that parent–child attachment security and interaction quality have similar associations with dyadic romantic relationship functioning, with the strongest evidence of effects on romantic relationship adjustment and observed interactions between romantic partners. Many studies found gender differences in effects, as well as cascading effects across development and over the course of a relationship. We argue that it is important for future studies to explore effects of one partner’s parent–child relationship quality history on the other partner’s romantic relationship adjustment and behavior, and to evaluate the extent to which parent–child attachment security mediates associations between parent–child interaction quality and romantic relationship functioning.

The federal government, through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), has funded community‐based relationship education programs for couples, individuals, and families, with a strong focus on serving economically disadvantaged and racially diverse families. This study evaluated the impact of a 36‐hour, workshop‐based couple relationship education program that was funded by ACF using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design and intent‐to‐treat (ITT) analyses. Participants were 1320 couples who were either expecting a baby or had a baby within the past 3 months, at the time of enrollment. Follow‐up surveys were administered 12 months later. Analyses evaluated program impacts on relationship stability, constructive communication, and destructive conflict compared to a no‐treatment control group. Analyses showed a statistically significant impact of the program on destructive conflict (d = 0.10) but not on constructive communication (d = 0.06) or stability (dCox = 0.10). Based on findings from previous evaluations, we also examined whether participants’ levels of sociodemographic disadvantage moderated these effects. There was significant moderation by sociodemographic disadvantage on constructive communication and destructive conflict, but not on stability. Effects were observed for those at higher levels of sociodemographic disadvantage.

The current study evaluates the effects of having a baby on relationship quality and stability, contrasting married and unmarried cohabiting parents (N = 179; 38% unmarried cohabiting). Participants provided several waves of data, including time points before, during, and after pregnancy. Results indicated that cohabiting parents broke up at a significantly higher rate after having a baby compared to married parents. In terms of relationship quality, interrupted time-series analyses indicated that negative communication significantly increased after baby regardless of marital status. In addition, married parents had significantly higher levels of relationship satisfaction and commitment before baby compared to cohabiting parents but experienced modest declines in relationship satisfaction after baby. Cohabiting parents did not show such declines but remained lower in satisfaction throughout the study. Gender moderated commitment trajectories, such that married and cohabiting women demonstrated decreased commitment after baby, but married and cohabiting men demonstrated no significant changes in commitment. This study adds to the literature by examining both relationship stability and relationship quality trajectories from before pregnancy to after the birth of a baby among married and cohabiting parents in the same sample. Implications of these findings for practice and future research are discussed.

Web-based relationship programs are effective in improving low-income couples’ relationship functioning. However, little is known about: (a) whether parenting couples presenting for relationship help also have difficulties in coparenting and parenting, (b) whether relationship-focused programs can improve these two domains, and (c) whether program effects differ across baseline levels of those domains. We examined these questions in a parenting subsample (N individuals = 934) and a coparenting subsample (N dyads = 342) of low-income couples participating in a randomized controlled trial of two web-based relationship education programs—the OurRelationship (OR) program and the ePREP program. Although the majority of participants were relationally distressed at baseline, most coparents (83%) reported parenting well together. Parents “often” engaged in nurturing behaviors and “hardly ever” or “sometimes” felt overwhelmed by their parenting responsibilities. Among parents who had engaged in the harsh verbal discipline (59%) and physical discipline (28%) in the past month, the average frequency was 4.08 and 5.50 times per month, respectively. Moreover, compared to waitlist control parents, parents in OR but not ePREP reported significantly greater improvements in parental nurturance and harsh verbal discipline during the program. There was no evidence of program effects on coparenting, physical discipline, or parenting stress for OR or ePREP, nor was there any evidence of baseline functioning moderating program effects. Findings suggested that most low-income parents seeking relationship help did not have severe problems in coparenting or parenting and that effective relationship programs without a focus on coparenting and/or parenting had somewhat limited effects on these domains.

Low‐income couples are at increased risk for relationship instability and divorce. In response, online relationship education programs such as ePREP and OurRelationship have been developed to more easily reach this population. A previous trial indicated that these programs promote relationship functioning (Doss et al., 2020) and individual well‐being (Roddy et al., 2020a). However, given that these effects were notably larger than previous studies of in‐person relationship education and approached effect sizes observed in couple therapy, it is possible that the magnitude of these effects was somewhat spurious; therefore, these findings need replication. The current manuscript seeks to replicate these programs’ previous effects on relationship functioning and determine whether these effects are stable. Using a sample of 671 low‐income couples seeking relationship help (N = 1337 individuals) and Bayesian estimation, the current study replicated previous findings that the OurRelationship and ePREP programs offered with four coaching calls produced reliable improvements in relationship functioning relative to a 6‐month waitlist control group. There were no statistically reliable differences between the two active interventions. Bayesian analyses indicated that the effects of the two online programs were larger than the average effects of in‐person relationship education for low‐income couples reported in previous studies, roughly equivalent to efficacy studies of in‐person relationship education reported in previous studies, smaller than those that resulted from the OurRelationship program delivered to distressed couples without an income requirement and smaller than couple therapy.

The novel coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has profoundly impacted people’s lives, resulting in economic turmoil, death and suffering, and drastic changes to everyday life. The adjustment and strain of such challenges can spill over into couples’ relationship processes, including how partners spend time together, talk to one another, and manage conflict. Drawing from our experiences conducting virtual couple therapy (VCT) in a university-based training clinic and community-based clinic, as well as themes from an informal survey of 29 couple therapy clinicians, the current paper discusses the unique challenges that couples face in therapy during COVID-19. Such challenges include renegotiating quality time together, navigating less personal space and time alone, experiencing individual anxiety and stress prompted by the pandemic, and increases in conflict. We discuss our clinical recommendations for addressing these challenges for couples and utilize clinical case examples to illustrate our points. Despite these challenges, we also comment on several positive aspects of COVID-19 on couple relationships. Guided by these considerations and recommendations, our observations suggest that clinicians can effectively support couples’ growth and progress using VCT during COVID-19.

The field of relationship science has called for more research on the impact of relationship education on child outcomes, yet studies in this area remain sparse, particularly regarding maternal and infant health at birth. Research on group prenatal care demonstrates that individual-oriented group interventions have a positive impact on infant birth outcomes, suggesting the need to consider the impacts of other forms of group programming for women. The current study examined the impact of MotherWise, an individual-oriented relationship education and brief case management/coaching program for minority and low-income pregnant women, on birth outcomes. The study sample included 136 women who enrolled in a larger randomized controlled trial of MotherWise during early pregnancy. Although statistical power was limited due to the sample size and the effects were not outright significant at p < 0.05, results indicated that the effects of MotherWise on birth outcomes were small to moderate in size (0.23 for birthweight, 0.46 for preterm birth) and suggest important avenues for future tests of relationship education programs and their impacts on maternal and infant health. The current study suggests that relationship education during pregnancy could directly impact women's and infant's health.