The current study examined whether pre-birth risk factors mediate the relation between family of origin risk factors and couples’ relationship functioning after birth. Participants in the present study were 132 heterosexual couples who had their first child during the course of a larger, longitudinal study (Laurenceau et al., 2004). Results showed several significant mediation effects for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, for fathers, family-of-origin factors did not appear to directly influence their transition to parenthood, but were related to functioning before birth. For mothers, family-of-origin risk factors appeared to both directly and indirectly influence their relationship functioning after the birth of a child. Information on how pre-birth functioning risk factors mediate family of origin risk factors to the transition to parenthood is useful to psychologists who wish to intervene and assist at risk couples through the transition. This study contributes to the literature by illustrating a more complete picture of which individuals may be at risk during the transition to parenthood, which will allow psychologists to tailor their interventions to those it will help most.

As all couples experience stressful life events, understanding how couples adapt to stress is imperative for understanding marital development. Drawing from theories of stress inoculation, which suggest that the successful adaptation to mild stressors may help individuals develop a resilience to future stress, this project examined whether couples who have more experience effectively coping with minor stressors early in the marriage would be most resilient to declines in marital satisfaction when faced with future, larger stressors. Study 1 examined whether couples who enter marriage with good relationship skills and some experience coping with minor stressors exhibit the most stress resilience during the first two years of marriage. Study 2 examined whether couples who enter marriage with good skills and some experience with stress exhibit a greater resilience to the declines in marital satisfaction that often follow the transition to parenthood. Both studies revealed that spouses who have both good relationship skills and early stress experience exhibit better marital outcomes than spouses who have good skills, but little or no experience with stress. Thus, simply possessing good relationship skills may not be sufficient to shield marital satisfaction from stress. Rather, couples also may need practice applying those skills to minor stressors. / text

The transition to parenthood brings a host of changes to new parents; two key areas of change are decreases in relationship functioning and a worsening of women's eating, weight, and shape (EWS) concerns. Past research has suggested that a connection may exist between women's EWS concerns and relationship functioning during this transition. This study explored the impact of women's EWS concerns on both partners' relationship functioning in a sample of 74 couples (148 individuals) having their first baby. The study was part of a larger project exploring interventions during the transition to parenthood; thus, all couples had at least one risk factor for future relationship problems. Participants completed questionnaires approximately seven months into pregnancy and at one and three months postpartum. Results revealed that relationship functioning and women's EWS concerns worsened from pregnancy to three months postpartum, which is consistent with previous literature. Changes in women's EWS concerns from before and during pregnancy to three months postpartum were not generally related to changes in either partner's relationship functioning during the same period. However, the EWS concerns that predicted poorer relationship outcomes, including women's drive for thinness and bulimia symptoms, suggest the possible role of third factors such as negative affect or neuroticism. Also, increases in women's Body Mass Index from pre-pregnancy to three months postpartum predicted increases in relationship functioning, indicating the possibility of a larger construct such as general acceptance of the post-birth process, both in terms of weight changes and relationship changes. Thus, preventive efforts could include an emphasis on helping partners to accept the changes they will experience during this transition. Finally, the significant relations between women's EWS concerns and relationship functioning were often mediated by men's reported frequency of sexual activity, suggesting the importance of sex as a mediator. Although findings were limited, the results should be interpreted in light of previous research and the current study's limitations. Overall, this study indicates the need for future research exploring the relations between women's EWS concerns and the couple relationship during the transition to parenthood.

This longitudinal study examined factors that contribute to change in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance over the transition to parenthood. Participants were a community sample of 98 heterosexual couples expecting their first child who were recruited through maternity resources in the Victoria, B.C. area. Specifically, this study considered whether prenatal perceived stress levels predicted change in adult attachment security. For men, higher stress levels predicted more change in attachment security. We also examined whether increases in stress levels from the prenatal to the postnatal period predicted changes in attachment security and found that increases in stress from the prenatal to postnatal period were associated with more change in attachment for men; results were marginally significant for women. In addition to examining the impact of stress on the absolute value of change in attachment, this study considered perceived support and perceived anger as moderators of the relationship between stress and directional change in attachment. Measures of general support and perceived anger did not moderate this relationship. Observational ratings of partner’s positive and negative support behaviours during support-seeking interactions were examined as potential moderators. The interaction between stress and positive emotional support predicted decreasing avoidance for women. Interactions between stress and negative affect marginally predicted increasing anxiety for men and women. Dyadic analyses were also used to clarify how changes in participants’ attachment security over time were influenced by their partners’ prenatal attachment security. For women, partner levels of attachment avoidance at the prenatal period predicted increasing attachment anxiety. These findings emphasize that adult attachment exists in the context of interpersonal relationships, and demonstrate the importance of using dyadic and longitudinal data to study attachment. Implications for attachment theory and intervention are discussed. / Graduate / 0451 / 0621 / 0622 / taracg@uvic.ca

Physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) are deleterious to the physical and mental health of romantic partners and their children, yet both forms of aggression continue to be prevalent even when couples become pregnant with their first child. This study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to IPV in couples experiencing the transition to parenthood. A community sample of 98 heterosexual couples undergoing the transition to parenthood was recruited from Victoria, BC. Couples self-reported levels of depressive symptomatology, attachment anxiety and avoidance, relationship satisfaction, and frequency of physical and psychological IPV perpetration and victimization. Men with greater attachment anxiety perpetrated both forms of IPV at a higher rate than men with lower levels of anxiety. Women with greater depressive symptoms were more psychologically aggressive towards their partners. Women who were more depressed, or more anxiously or avoidantly attached were less satisfied with their relationships, and decreased satisfaction was in turn related to greater perpetration of physical and psychological aggression. Women’s relationship satisfaction mediated the effects of their depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety and avoidance on their perpetration of psychological IPV, and the effects of their attachment insecurity on their perpetration of physical IPV. Relationship satisfaction did not mediate these associations for men. Men’s avoidance did not moderate the association between women’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration; a model with genders reversed testing the moderating effect of women’s avoidance on the association between men’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration was also not significant. Men’s anxiety also predicted women’s psychological IPV perpetration, controlling for their own anxiety and psychological victimization. The results illuminate the ways in which men and women may be affected differently by the factors contributing to risk for violence during the transition to parenthood. Implications for prenatal interventions targeting depression, attachment insecurity, and relationship satisfaction in order to reduce the risk of IPV are discussed. / Graduate / 0622 / 0451 / lisagou@uvic.ca

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

My dissertation examines couples’ transition to first-time parenthood, and how this experience varies by social class. More specifically, the design of this project is a qualitative comparison of two data collection points, which examines how couples of two different social class groups divide and manage housework before the birth of their first child, and how they manage the same housework (as well as the additional work of childrearing) six to nine months post-birth. With these concerns in mind, the primary question driving this research project is: do marriages become more gendered after the birth of a couple's first child, and if so, how does this experience differ by social class? The specific aims of the research are to identify if and how marriages become gendered after the birth of a couple’s first child. This study also seeks to identify and understand the disjuncture between what participants say versus what they do with regard to the completing of housework and parenting approaches. Research findings demonstrate how some couples’ marriages became more or less gendered, and how some marriages remained more gender-neutral, largely depended on the intersection of their gender repertoires and their social class position. Specifically, every household’s configuration of their access to social resources, availability of social support, their occupational (in)flexibility, and the pre-existing, gendered dynamics between husbands and wives directly and indirectly influenced their transitions to parenthood. Many middle and upper-middle class participants had the material and social resources which interacted with their gender repertoires and assisted them in achieving their desired post-birth outcomes. For most of these households, their new lives as parents involved a more gender-neutral distribution of housework and childrearing, and nearly all middle and upper-middle class mothers returned to paid employment after maternity leave. For most lower-middle class participants, however, the limitations in their educational attainment levels, annual household incomes, and social networks interacted with their gender repertoires in ways that posed constraints to their transition to parenthood, and their ability to achieve their desired post-birth, work-family balance. Financial restrictions and the unaffordability of childcare affected some lower-middle-class mothers’ abilities to return to paid employment, despite their initial intention of doing so. For some lower-middle class fathers, their occupational inflexibility constrained their abilities to spend more time with their families. The variation in gender repertoires between lower-middle, middle, and upper-middle class participants, resulted in differentials in how couples were able to respond to the changes and challenges of becoming parents. / Sociology