The Role of Dyadic Coping for the Individual and Relational Well-Being of Couples During the Transition to Parenthood

Abstract

Becoming parents represents a potentially stressful transition, which may negatively affect the individual and relational well-being of both partners. Limited literature has investigated the role of dyadic coping during the transition to parenthood. This work explored partners’ differences in dyadic coping, anxiety, depression, and couple adjustment during pregnancy and 3 months postpartum. Furthermore, through Actor–Partner Interdependence Model analyses, the relationship between common dyadic coping and well-being was investigated. Women reported higher levels of depression at both times and men presented higher levels of anxiety in the postpartum. For women, higher scores on couple adjustment were predicted by their own and their partner’s common dyadic coping. For men, higher scores on anxiety were associated with elevated common dyadic coping. Results highlight gender-related predictors on postpartum well-being and support the need to assess individual and relational outcomes across the transition to parenthood to better understand the role of dyadic coping behaviors.

Effectiveness of Couples Coping Enhancement Training on Resilience and Marital Conflict During the Transition to Parenthood

“…The findings of this study align with prior studies (Alizade, 2022;Falconier et al, 2023;Hiefner, 2021;Isanejad & Alizade, 2020;Kärner et al, 2021;Markman et al, 2022;Molgora et al, 2022;Omidian et al, 2019;Rauer et al, 2020;Ştefǎnuţ et al, 2021).…”

“…Moreover, the Couples Coping Enhancement Program, through the skills it provides to couples, reduces their marital conflicts following childbirth. This program helps couples understand the new stressful and tense situation they face upon becoming parents, using criteria such as controllability, changeability, ambiguity, and certainty, enabling them to manage the conflict situation better through effective coping strategies and focusing on discussions about the conflict using clear, constructive, and non-coercive responses (Molgora et al, 2022). This ensures that instead of engaging in conflict, couples are on the right path and seeking solutions.…”

“…According to the theory of dyadic coping first proposed by Bodenmann (2005), during marital conflicts and the stress transfer process, one partner expresses their stress (verbally or non-verbally), and the other partner can respond in one of three ways: they may also be affected by the stress (stress contagion), completely ignore the signals (showing no reaction), or display either positive or negative dyadic coping (Molgora et al, 2022).…”

“…The stress of parenthood can reduce the time couples spend together, the opportunity to gain shared experiences, mutual emotional disclosure, kindness, and sexually satisfying relationships, thereby affecting the quality of couple relationships through a reduction in communication quality. In these situations, positive behaviors such as active listening, expressing affection, and empathy decrease in couples, while negative behaviors like criticism, derogation, and disrespect, hostility, and withdrawal significantly increase (Molgora et al, 2022). Based on this foundation, prevention programs aimed at mitigating the harms of destructive marital conflicts and divorce have received attention from experts and couples in recent decades, often focusing on helping couples improve their communications.…”

Daily dyadic coping: Associations with postpartum sexual desire and sexual and relationship satisfaction

“…Furthermore, a randomized controlled trial of 348 pregnant couples, showed that a brief, two-session intervention aimed to enhance dyadic coping and communication skills, nested within a broader health behaviour intervention, buffered against declines in relationship satisfaction during the postpartum period (Coop Gordon et al, 2018). Finally, a longitudinal study found that women who gave birth and partners’ common dyadic coping in the third trimester of pregnancy predicted women’s higher scores on couple adjustment 3-months postpartum (Molgora et al, 2021). Taken together, dyadic coping has been positively linked to relationship satisfaction in community couples, and to marital satisfaction and couple adjustment for couples in the transition to parenthood.…”