Transition to parenthood: marital and emotional adjustment

Abstract

Transition to parenthood is a period of the vital family cycle characterized by important changes in the life style and relationships of those who go through it. The present paper investigated marital and emotional adjustment in this period. Participants were 62 women who lived with their partners. They were tested before and after their babies were born. The instruments used were the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Neuroticism Scale. Results showed a significant decrease of the means of marital adjustment after the birth of the baby, which is in agreement with the results reported by the literature. Regression analysis showed that the decrease in marital adjustment could be explained by dispositional factors of the participants, such as depression and psycho-social maladjustment. It is pointed out that, for the women in this sample, the birth of the first baby may have caused problems and hardships that affected the couple’s relationship.