Stability and Change in Marriage across the Transition to Parenthood

TLDR

The study examined how the birth of a first‑ or later‑born infant affects marital relationships by following 72 couples from late pregnancy to nine months postpartum. Data were collected through joint couple interviews, individual spousal questionnaires, and naturalistic in‑home behavioral observations. Analyses showed modest but reliable declines in marital adjustment, functioning, and interaction, with high‑scoring couples remaining high, indicating that while the addition of a child can negatively affect some aspects of marriage, individual differences buffer the overall impact.

Abstract

In order to assess marital change in response to the birth of a first-born or later-born infant, 72 volunteer couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the ninth postpartum month. Joint couple interviews; individual spousal questionnaires; and naturalistic, in-home, behavioral observations were used. Analyses of mean scores revealed modest yet highly reliable changes in marital adjustment (as assessed by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale), marital functioning (joint leisure activities, perception of relationship as a romance, friendship, and partnership), and observed marital interaction. Cross-time correlational analyses revealed that, despite these changes in central tendencies, spouses and couples that initially scored high on various measures tended to do so across the period studied. Considered together, a dual developmentalfocus upon both individual and group change indicates that in some respects the addition of a first-born or later-born infant has a negative impact on the marital relationship, whereas in other respects (i.e., individual differences) it exerts relatively little impact.