Parenthood and Marital Satisfaction: A Meta‐Analytic Review

Abstract

This meta‐analysis finds that parents report lower marital satisfaction compared with nonparents (d=−.19, r=−.10). There is also a significant negative correlation between marital satisfaction and number of children (d=−.13, r=−.06). The difference in marital satisfaction is most pronounced among mothers of infants (38% of mothers of infants have high marital satisfaction, compared with 62% of childless women). For men, the effect remains similar across ages of children. The effect of parenthood on marital satisfaction is more negative among high socioeconomic groups, younger birth cohorts, and in more recent years. The data suggest that marital satisfaction decreases after the birth of a child due to role conflicts and restriction of freedom.

Marital satisfaction and the impact of children in collectivist cultures: A meta-analysis

“…The effect size was small, suggesting that the negative relationship between marital satisfaction and children is rather weak, particularly when compared with the results of TWENGE, CAMPBELL and FOSTER (2003). Whereas the impact of children on marital satisfaction using primarily individualist cultures had a small effect size, our results revealed an even smaller effect.…”

“…After culling articles that did not meet the specified criteria, over twenty articles remained eligible for coding; however, fifteen (with 21 effect sizes) contained the information necessary for coding. Only one of the studies used in the present analysis overlapped with those used in the meta-analysis by TWENGE, CAMPBELL and FOSTER (2003); there were no other countries represented in their data that could be considered collectivist.…”

“…A criticism of this meta-analysis is that it contained very few studies from countries with collectivist cultures. It is possible the results obtained by TWENGE, CAMPBELL and FOSTER (2003) only capture the impact of children on marital satisfaction for couples from individualist cultures.…”

“…The goals of the present meta-analysis were to examine the overall impact of children on marital satisfaction, to examine the direction of the relationship between the number of children and marital satisfaction in collectivist culture, and to examine the impact of the presence of children on marital satisfaction in collectivist cultures. Because cultural differences were anticipated, the overall effect size was tested against the overall effect size presented by TWENGE, CAMPBELL and FOSTER (2003).…”

„…nem a kortárs családi lét múló aberrációja”

“…Egyik vagy másik szemlélet-mód idővel komolyabb bizonyítást nyerhet, mint a többi. Ismert tény például, hogy a gyermekek születésével egyidejűleg, a gyermeknevelés kihívásai és az új helyzethez való szükségszerű alkalmazkodás miatt megkezdődik a házasság vagy együttélés felhőtlenül boldog időszakának hanyatlása (Twenge Campbell Foster 2003). Ez utóbbi megállapítást nem olyan kedvező hallani.…”