Using a newspaper questionnaire, a door-to-door survey, and 3 laboratory experiments, the authors examined a proposed effect of shared participation in novel and arousing activities on experienced relationship quality. The questionnaire and survey studies found predicted correlations of reported shared "exciting" activities and relationship satisfaction plus their predicted mediation by relationship boredom. In all 3 experiments, the authors found predicted greater increases in experienced relationship quality from before to after participating together in a 7-min novel and arousing (vs. a more mundane) task. Comparison with a no-activity control showed the effect was due to the novel-arousing task. The same effect was found on ratings of videotaped discussions before and after the experimental task. Finally, all results remained after controlling for relationship social desirability. Results bear on general issues of boredom and excitement in relationships and the role of such processes in understanding the typical early decline of relationship quality after the honeymoon period.

The purpose of this review is to provide a balanced examination of the published research involving the observation of couples, with special attention toward the use of observation for clinical assessment. All published articles that (a) used an observational coding system and (b) relate to the validity of the coding system are summarized in a table. The psychometric properties of observational systems and the use of observation in clinical practice are discussed. Although advances have been made in understanding couple conflict through the use of observation, the review concludes with an appeal to the field to develop constructs in a psychometrically and theoretically sound manner.For couples observation research, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of gained wisdom, it was the age of media foolishness, it was results deserving of belief, it was results deserving of incredulity, it was the Light of theory, it was the Darkness of data mining, it was the spring of hope for science, it was the winter of despair for science, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Stockholm for the Nobel, we were all going direct the other way-in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. 1Considering the paradoxes inherent in following the developments of couples observation research, making sense of nearly 200 studies and what they purportedly show is an incredibly daunting task. Charles Dickens wrote [most] of the first paragraph in 1859, over 100 years before the first couples observation study, and thus it speaks more to humans' perceptions of their endeavors in general than to this field's paradoxes in particular. In our period of family stress and divorce, there is intense media and public interest in understanding, treating, and preventing marital discord. Unfortunately, in our period of soundbites and factoids, the ability of the "noisiest authorities [to] insist on [their work] being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only" (Dickens, 1859, p. 1) only serves to convince both the public and many professionals that we know far more than we do, that our theories have received more support than they have, and that our methodology is more robust than it is. One cannot read the nearly 200 studies and not be impressed at the advances of the field, nor can one turn on the television and not be dismayed at the distorted presentations of some of the very same studies.The purpose of this review is to provide a balanced examination of the published research involving the observation of couples, with special attention toward the use of observation for clinical assessment. 2 By reviewing research that has high research and clinical utility, this

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The U.S. government has recently spent several hundred million dollars to promote healthy relationships in new parents. The influx of money implies that relationships of new parents are at elevated risk for declining satisfaction and dissolution. This meta-analysis aggregates data from 37 studies that track couples from pregnancy to after the birth of the first child and 4 studies that track childless newlywed couples over time and compare couples who do and do not become parents. Results indicate significant, small declines in relationship satisfaction for both men and women from pregnancy to 11-months post-birth; five studies that followed couples for 12-14 months found moderate-sized declines. Seven variables moderated the decrease in relationship satisfaction from pregnancy to early parenthood. However, the decrease in satisfaction may not indicate anything unique about the transition to parenthood; the four studies following newlyweds indicated that those who do not become parents experience a similar decrease in relationship satisfaction as parents do across a comparable span of time. Implications for prevention and future directions are discussed. KeywordsTransition to Parenthood; Relationship Satisfaction; Meta-Analysis; Couples; longitudinal The transition to parenthood (TtP) has received increasing attention over the last decade, with the U.S. government spending several hundred million dollars for interventions for new parents aimed at promoting healthy relationships (e.g., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). The influx of money implies that parents with newborns are at elevated risk for relationship distress and dissolution. Although numerous studies have reported that relationship satisfaction significantly declines after the birth of the first child (e.g., Van Egeren, 2004), other studies have found no change or even an increase in relationship satisfaction (e.g., Wallace & Gotlib, 1990). This meta-analysis of the change in relationship satisfaction across the TtP will derive a composite estimate of the direction and magnitude of the effect. We hypothesized that there will be a decrease in relationship satisfaction from pregnancy to early parenthood.