Adding a Baby to the Equation. Married and Cohabiting Women's Relationship Satisfaction in the Transition to Parenthood

Abstract

The trajectory of relationship satisfaction among married and cohabiting women in their transition to parenthood was compared in a potential sample of 71,504 women taking part in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Prospective longitudinal data were collected in 4 waves over a 2-year period starting 6 months prebirth. Results from latent curve models suggested that married and cohabiting women experience similar negative change in relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood. However, cohabiting women start off and stay less satisfied throughout the transition period, suggesting the presence of a negative cohabitation effect that prevailed after controlling for various covariates. Extending investigation on the cohabitation effect to the transition to parenthood, and replicating it in a Scandinavian context, is discussed in relation to the understanding of what causes the cohabitation effect, and its clinical implications.

Loneliness, Social Integration and Consumption of Sugar-Containing Beverages: Testing the Social Baseline Theory

“…In the current sample, the scale had a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.90. This scale has been used in previous studies [33], [34].…”

Does transition into parenthood lead to changes in mental health? Findings from three waves of a population based panel study

“…One reason for this is that much research has either focused on women only,4 men only6 26 or young adults 8 27 28. A second reason is that a number of studies have used small samples of (mainly married) couples examining the effect that the arrival of a child has on changes in marriage/relationship satisfaction or division of labour rather than focusing on health or well-being of the parent 2 7 29 30…”

Parental relationship satisfaction after the death of a child

“…Mortensen et al. reported higher relationship satisfaction among married than cohabiting couples. Parents' education and employment status also showed no association with relationship satisfaction, even though the research evidence suggests that increased working hours are related to lower relationship satisfaction .…”