Predictors of Change in Relationship Satisfaction during the Transition to Parenthood

Abstract

Couple-focused interventions have shown limited success at preventing relationship satisfaction decline in couples during transition to parenthood. More knowledge on what constitutes relationship risk may inform future practice. This study investigated the role of underexplored individual and contextual risk factors through interactive and additive models. Participating couples (N = 228) completed questionnaires during pregnancy and at 6 and 30 months postpartum. The authors used bootstrapped Bayesian information criterion analyses to select significant and reliable predictors of change in relationship satisfaction within three predefined sets of factors representing components of the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model. Anxiety and depression symptoms during pregnancy, shorter length of the relationship, and lower levels of constructive communication predicted declines in relationship satisfaction

The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach

“…Thus, a further improvement of this construct is neither expected nor necessary, as it would be in groups with initial low levels of father involvement. Concerning the marital adjustment measured with DAS, our data are consistent with a vast literature (Belsky et al, 1983; Terry et al, 1991; Favez et al, 2012; Kohn et al, 2012; Trillingsgaard et al, 2014) reporting a general decline in dyadic satisfaction over the transition to parenthood; specifically, this decline persists at least until 30 months after child’s birth. The present study contributes to extend the available results, attesting to the decrease of marital adjustment during the preschool age as well.…”

“…Only two studies examined changes in marital satisfaction over a longer period of time, at 24th (Kohn et al, 2012) and 30th month after birth (Trillingsgaard et al, 2014), confirming the decreasing trend; thus, there is a lack of empirical evidence investigating the trajectories of new parents’ marital satisfaction, assessed with DAS, up to the preschool age.…”

A Longitudinal Study of Parental Depressive Symptoms and Coparenting in the First 18 Months

“…On the other hand, considering the other direction of the causal path, the development of negative coparenting dynamics in the early postpartum period could have led mothers to develop depressive symptoms. The transition to parenthood is known to be a challenging period for the individuals and for the couple (Christopher, Umemura, Mann, Jacobvitz, & Hazen, ; Trillingsgaard, Baucom, & Heyman, ). The parents have to find a new homeostasis as a couple, redefining the relations and the space of each individual, including the newborn child—whether the child is the first one or not.…”

Parenting Stress, Mental Health, Dyadic Adjustment: A Structural Equation Model

“…Sometimes the couple is overwhelmed by the changes and feels unable to cope with all the demands that the new role implies (Abidin, 1995; Petch and Halford, 2008; Trillingsgaard et al, 2014). According to Abidin (1995), parenting stress is the discrepancy between the resources required for the parental role and the perception of being able to cope with them.…”