INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL CORRELATES OF MARITAL CHANGE ACROSS THE TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD

To explore multiple prenatal antecedents and postnatal correlates of change in marital adjustment and satisfaction in men and women across the transition to parenthood, 102 couples from diverse sociocultural backgrounds were studied longitudinally from pregnancy to the 9th postpartum month. Guided by an ecological model, the pre- and postnatal assessments included questionnaires of marital adjustment, personality traits, attitudes toward parenthood, work role centrality, social support, as well as observations and ratings of infant behaviors, maternal and paternal behaviors, and marital communication. Fathers' caregiving behaviors and play and affiliative, behaviors were the most powerful, positive predictors for both spouses. Additional positive predictors for women were personality traits of impulse control and non-Western ethnicity, whereas negative predictors were work role centrality and personality trait of autonomy. Additional predictors for men were personality trait of affiliation and a low level of maternal involvement in caregiving.