Relationship Satisfaction Trajectories Across the Transition to Parenthood Among Low‐Risk Parents

Numerous studies have established that new parents, on average, experience declines in relationship satisfaction, yet many sources suggest not all parents experience the transition to parenthood in the same way. The authors argue that new parents experience changes in relationship satisfaction in heterogeneous patterns, with only subgroups demonstrating steep declines. Furthermore, on the basis of the Vulnerability‐Stress‐Adaptation model, they examined actor and partner prenatal risk factors for experiencing different patterns of change. Among a sample of 206 new parents, they found the majority of mothers (79.4%) and about half of fathers (51.0%) experienced only moderate amounts of change, whereas smaller subgroups demonstrated steep declines. Results from analyses of the predictors of subgroup membership supported interdependence theory, because it was almost exclusively partner risk factors that predicted subgroup membership. Specifically, paternal positive support and anxiety predicted maternal subgroup membership and paternal positive support, maternal self‐esteem, and maternal daily stress predicted paternal subgroup membership.     

Conflict Frequency and Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

Longitudinal data from 293 Dutch couples were used to examine the association between conflict frequency and relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, which is known as one of the most challenging events in the early stages of marriage. More frequent conflict during pregnancy was related to lower levels of relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, and lower levels of relationship quality during pregnancy were associated with more frequent conflict across the transition to parenthood. A comparison of two models showed that frequent conflict is more likely to be a determinant than a consequence of lower relationship quality. The results suggest a complicated but identifiable association between conflict frequency and relationship quality that may inform the development and modification of primary interventions targeting new parents.     

Parenthood and Well-Being: A Decade in Review

Understanding social aspects of parental well-being is vital because parents' welfare has implications not only for the parents themselves but also for child development, fertility, and the overall health of a society. This article provides a critical review of scholarship on parenthood and well-being in advanced economies published from 2010 to 2019. It focuses on the role of social, economic, cultural, and institutional contexts of parenting in influencing adult well-being. The authors identify major themes, achievements, and challenges and organize the review around the demands-rewards perspective and two other theoretical frameworks: the stress process model and the life course perspective. The analysis shows that rising economic insecurities and inequalities and a diffusion of intensive parenting ideology were major social contexts of parenting in the 2010s. Scholarship linking parenting contexts and parental well-being illuminated how stressors related to providing and caring for children could unjustly burden some parents, especially mothers, those with fewer socioeconomic resources, and those with marginalized statuses. In that vein, researchers continued to emphasize how stressors diverged by parents' socioeconomic status, gender, and partnership status, with new attention to strains experienced by racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, and sexual minority parents. Scholars' comparisons of parents' positions in various countries expanded, enhancing knowledge regarding specific policy supports that allow parents to thrive. Articulating future research within a stress process model framework, the authors show vibrant theoretical pathways, including conceptualizing potential parental social supports at multiple levels, attending to the intersection of multiple social locations of parents, and renewing attention to local contextual factors and parenting life stages.     

No Fun Anymore: Leisure and Marital Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

This study examines changes in leisure patterns across the transition to parenthood for dual‐earner, working‐class couples, as well as the relationship between leisure and marital quality. To this end, 147 heterosexual couples were interviewed across the transition to parenthood. Findings indicate that during the transition to parenthood, husbands and wives experience an initial decline in leisure, followed by a gradual incline after the wife’s return to work. Overall, wives who reported more shared leisure prenatally also reported more marital love and less conflict 1 year later. Husbands with more independent leisure prenatally reported less love and more conflict 1 year later. Conclusions suggest leisure time is integral to well‐functioning marriages, with effects lasting throughout the first year of parenthood.     

Marital Quality Ten Years After the Transition to Parenthood: Implications of the Timing of Parenthood and the Division of Housework

Using a sample of 180 dual‐earner, nondivorced couples, this study explored how the timing of parenthood and the division of housework are related to husbands' and wives' marital quality during the childrearing years. Hypothesized to be “at risk” for negative marital evaluations were early first‐birth couples who divided tasks in a less‐traditional manner and delayed first‐birth couples who divided tasks in a traditional manner. Analyses revealed that husbands and wives in the “risk” groups evaluated their marriages more negatively, suggesting that congruence between behaviors, background, and attitudes is important for marital quality. In addition, early first‐birth couples evaluated their marriages more poorly than did the “on time” or “delayed” couples. Wives' gender‐typed attitudes emerged as a significant covariate in the analyses but did not account for the effects of the timing of parenthood and the timing of parenthood × the division of housework interactions.     

Imagining Men: Lesbian Mothers’ Perceptions of Male Involvement During the Transition to Parenthood

Much popular and professional literature has focused on the effects of father absence, particularly in lesbian parent households; yet, little attention has been paid to lesbian parents’ preferences and intentions surrounding male involvement. This qualitative study of 60 lesbian women who were transitioning to parenthood explores this issue. Most women desired some level of male involvement, even before their children were born. Far from describing a desire for “father figures,” however, they conceptualized male involvement in novel, diverse, and sometimes ambivalent ways. Having a boy enhanced some women’s motivations to actively pursue male role models for their children. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding of the kinship structure of lesbian‐parent families and families in general.     

Lesbian Couples’ Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

The transition to parenthood is a time of stress for many couples. Most research on the transition to parenthood has been conducted with middle‐class, heterosexual couples. The current study uses multilevel modeling to examine predictors of change in relationship quality (love and conflict) during the transition to parenthood in 29 lesbian couples. Predictors included personality variables, work context variables, social context variables, and couple characteristics. Results suggest that personality and couple characteristics were important predictors of change in love, whereas personality and expected social support were salient predictors of change in conflict. The importance of research on this key life transition for lesbian couples is discussed.     

Perceived Admiration and Transition to Parenthood for Black and White Married Couples

Perceived admiration was examined in this study as a mediator of marital quality and transition to parenthood among Black American and White American couples. Positive and negative dimensions of marital quality were assessed for husbands (n = 148) and wives (n = 155) during their 1st and 3rd years of marriage in a large-scale survey. Findings revealed that transitioning Black American husbands reported lower marital tension than transitioning White American husbands. Perceived admiration mediated the link between transition to parenthood and marital well-being for wives, and between transition to parenthood and marital tension for husbands. Results suggest that perceived admiration plays a critical role in understanding the transition to parenthood, regardless of race. Insights are offered for practitioners who provide relationship or parental counseling and education to couples during the transition to parenthood.     

The Division of Labor Across the Transition to Parenthood: A Justice Perspective

In a three‐wave longitudinal survey among 293 couples, we studied the determinants of husbands' and wives' fairness judgments regarding the division of labor across the transition to parenthood. We tested predictions derived from the distributive justice framework that perceptions of fairness regarding the division of labor are affected by (a) wants and values, (b) social comparisons, and (c) procedural justice. The model was supported for wives at all waves. For husbands, wants and values and social comparisons were the main predictors of fairness perceptions. In general, the model was consistently supported across the transition to parenthood. Support was also found for the long‐term influence of the variables in the model on husbands' and wives' perceptions of fairness across the transition to parenthood.     

The Transition to Parenthood for Lesbian Couples

Abstract

While there is a slowly growing literature on lesbians with older children, the literature on the transition to parenthood for lesbian couples is scant. The current study examines aspects of the transition to parenthood experience for 29 lesbian couples. Specifically, this study explores aspects of couples' decision-making regarding alternative insemination (e.g., who would carry and bear the child, donor type), perceptions of social support across the transition to parenthood, and availability and use of legal safeguards (such as wills, powers of attorney, and coparent adoptions by nonbiological mothers). Future studies should explore how single lesbians manage the transition to parenthood. Research on lesbians and gay men who are pursuing parenthood through adoption is also needed.     

Maternal Affective Attachment Bond Facilitators: A Systematized Review of the Literature

Abstract

The maternal perspective of the attachment relationship has been the focus of considerably less research in comparison to the volumes of studies conducted on infant attachment to mothers. A systematized review of the literature was conducted to gather and synthesize all the research published between 1990 and 2017 that has identified correlates and predictors of maternal affective attachment. The review found 37 articles relevant to the research question. Measure information, participant information, study methods, and main findings from the existing literature were presented and organized in tabular format. Limitations of the current literature and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Supporting Post-Adoption Contact for Children Adopted From Care: A Study of Social Workers' Attitudes

New legislation in England and Wales requires adoption agencies to specify the contact adopted children will have with their birth families and obliges agencies to offer all parties support to maintain such contact. This study, based on responses from 112 adoption social workers in England and Wales, used a case vignette methodology to explore workers' attitudes towards supporting post-adoption contact. The findings suggest that social workers think primarily about the child's needs and about providing services to or on behalf of the child. In contrast, adults' needs, especially the relationship between birth parents and adoptive parents, were less often considered. Workers were least orientated toward supporting birth parents. Workers from different agencies had very different attitudes towards the case vignette. This study suggests that supporting post-adoption contact is a complex professional task likely to be influenced by workers' own attitudes. Implications for training, support and supervision are discussed.     

Transition to parenthood: it does not get easier the next time. Exploring ways to support well-being among parents with newborns

Investing in parents is important because their well-being is positively related to the development and well-being of their children. This study investigated which factors predict two types of parents’ well-being: individual well-being and parenting-related well-being. Participants were 416 parents (90 fathers, 326 mothers) of a baby (younger than age 1 year old), both first-time parents and not-first-time parents. Relationship quality, life skills, parenting skills, and social support were taken into account. Results show that both types of well-being have different main predictors. Self-esteem, self-management, and interpersonal relationship skills contribute to both types of well-being, suggesting that interventions aimed at improving these skills could be very beneficial for parents in their transition to parenthood. Fathers and mothers differ significantly on several predictors—for example, self-esteem, self-management, parenting behavior, and empathy—suggesting they might have different needs for support in the transition to parenthood. Finally, results show that, though parents get better at providing basic care for their children, regarding well-being and relationship quality, not-first-time parents are not better off then first-time parents. Therefore, interventions aimed at easing the transition to parenthood should not only be aimed at first time parents, they might be more effective for parents who already have children.     

When Adoption Is Not an Option: Counseling Implications Related to Surrogacy

Through the author's personal story, this article details a case in which traditional conception and adoption were not options available for starting a family. It gives the author's rational for choosing surrogacy and describes his experience with surrogacy. This article provides an overview of the surrogacy process and concludes with implications counselors may consider and apply to their clinical practice.     

Depression and Anger Trajectories During the Transition to Adulthood

The current study examined within‐person (transitions in living situation and parent status) and between‐persons (age, gender, parent education) predictors of trajectories of depressive and angry symptoms in 577 university graduates (ages 20 to 29) tracked for 7 years. Multilevel models determined that depressive and angry symptoms declined on average. Depressive symptoms were associated with leaving home when younger and living with parents when older. Becoming a parent was associated with increased anger, especially in mothers. These results were obtained after controlling for the effects of marriage and unemployment. Leaving home and parenthood may be turning points that are associated with shifts in trajectories of well‐being, depending on stable characteristics such as age and gender.     

Shift Work,Role Overload,and the Transition to Parenthood

This article examines how the work hours, work schedules, and role overload of working‐class couples are related to depressive symptoms and relationship conflict across the transition to parenthood. Data are from 132 dual‐earner couples interviewed 5 times across the transition. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that working evening or night shifts, as opposed to day shifts, was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms. For mothers only, working rotating shifts predicted relationship conflict. Increases in role overload were positively related to both depression and conflict; working a nonday shift explained variance in depression and conflict above and beyond role overload. Results suggest that for new parents, working nonday shifts may be a risk factor for depressive symptoms and relationship conflict.     

Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Material Resources and Teenage Parenthood

Past research has largely ignored the influence of material resources on teenage parents' life outcomes. A lack of resources such as housing, child care, and financial support is hypothesized to explain the negative effect of teenage parenthood on educational attainment. Regression analyses use nationally representative data from the 1988 - 2000 National Education Longitudinal Study (N = 8,432, n = 356 teenage parents). Results support the hypothesis completely for the teenage fathers in the sample and partially for mothers: Resources substantially diminish the educational penalty teenage parents paid by age 26. Gender influences which types of resources are protective, providing policy implications. Help with child care is critical for teenage mothers, whereas housing and financial resources may be important for men.     

Becoming a Parent and Relationship Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Dyadic Perspective

This study investigated the extent to which women's and men's relationship satisfaction within couples is similarly or differently affected by becoming a parent and the extent to which changes in work hours and hours spent on household labor affect a person's own and his or her spouse's relationship satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. The authors conducted longitudinal dyadic analyses, based on 12 waves of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). They selected 689 couples who remained together during the period of observation and who were employed, childless, and living with their partner (of which 28% married) at the first moment of observation. The results revealed that relationship satisfaction of both members in a couple changed in tandem. Although work hours and household labor had some effect on people's own and their spouse's relationship satisfaction, these factors did not account for the U‐shaped relationship satisfaction pattern associated with the transition to parenthood.