Cohabitation, Relationship Stability, Relationship Adjustment, and Children’s Mental Health Over 10 Years

Abstract

Understanding risk factors for relationship dissolution and poor relationship adjustment among couples has been an active area of research in relationship science. One risk factor, non-marital cohabitation, has shown to predict higher rates of relationship dissolution and relationship instability in some samples, but the associations among German parents with children over time are less clear. In this study, we examined the links between non-marital cohabitation and 10-year outcomes (relationship dissolution, relationship adjustment over time, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms) in 220 German families with preschool-aged children at the initial assessment followed into adolescence. Families were assessed 7 times over the 10 years and retention at the 10-year follow-up was over 92%. After accounting for multiple testing, only mother’s report of better initial interparental communication predicted whether parents were likely to stay together over the course of the 10 years. Adolescents of parents who cohabited were at higher risk for externalizing symptoms 10 years later compared to children of married parents. In addition, although there were no differences between cohabiting couples and married couples at the initial assessment in relationship adjustment, cohabiting mothers who stayed with their partner over the 10 years showed significantly greater declines in relationship adjustment over the 10 years compared to married mothers. Findings indicate the need for further research that explores family structure and dynamics over time to inform refinement of prevention programs targeting relationships and children’s mental health.

Social norms and fertility intentions: Evidence from China

“…Several young individuals are opting for cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, resulting in the continuous postponement of individuals’ ages at first marriage ( Yu and Xie, 2017 ; Yang, 2021 ). However, unlike in Western countries, the high cohabitation rate has not resulted in increased extramarital births ( Foran et al, 2022 ). Marriage is still necessary for fertility, as out-of-wedlock births are still not socially and family-accepted due to the influence of traditional concepts in China ( Yu and Xie, 2019 ).…”

Modeling determinants of time-to-premarital cohabitation among Ethiopian women using parametric shared frailty models

“…In addition, marriage after premarital cohabitation can detriment the mental health of the couple [17]. Besides its effect on the couple's life, premarital cohabitation can cause various psychological, social, and economic traumas for their future children [15,18].…”

Suporte social percebido em crianças e jovens portugueses em diferentes tipologias familiares e acolhimento residencial

“…Ferreira e Marturano (2002) verificaram que crianças com comportamentos problemáticos apresentam maiores dificuldades nas relações parentais. Essas relações são muitas vezes marcadas por estilos parentais reativos, caracterizados por interações negativas, menor preocupação com a segurança e necessidades dos filhos e pelo uso de Quanto à importância da família, vários estudos mostraram que as novas tipologias familiares podem ter um impacto significativo no desenvolvimento psicossocial das crianças/jovens (Almeida, 2014;Bastos, 2022;Bester & Malan-Van Rooyen, 2015;Foran et al, 2022). De acordo com Almeida (2014), existem para além das famílias nucleares intactas novas tipologias que incluem as monoparentais, reconstituídas e alargadas.…”

“…As novas formas de família exigem a reorganização das relações e dinâmicas familiares e impõem aos pais a redefinição da sua parentalidade e a avaliação da sua conjugalidade. Essas novas formas de família também têm sido vistas como potencialmente mais problemáticas quanto ao seu funcionamento e capacidade adaptativa (Almeida, 2014), afetando o modo como as crianças/jovens percecionam seu lugar na família, se autoavaliam em termos de autoestima e autoconceito e se relacionam com os outros (Bastos, 2022;Bester & Malan-Van Rooyen, 2015;Foran et al, 2022).…”