Poster #15 - The transition to parenthood: Effects of perinatal risk factors on parents‘ emotional well-being and their couple relationship

• In Event: 2-001 - Poster Session 1 during Breakfast

Abstract

The transition to parenthood involves substantial challenges which are likely to affect parents’ well-being (e.g., Reichle, 2002). In particular, perinatal risk factors such as premature delivery, cesarean section, low birth weight, and maternal or child-related complications at birth have been shown to complicate the adaptation to parenthood as evidenced in the intensity and duration of parents’ strain across time (Doss et al., 2009). Research on family stress and coping points out that support in the interparental relationship may serve as a key factor for protecting parent’s well-being in stressful situations. However, it is not yet clear whether the partnership quality affects parents’ well being by shaping how they experience the birth situation or whether parents’ partnership quality is affected by parents’ well-being in the context of a difficult birth situation. Based on pairfam data, this study examines (1) how birth-related risk factors affect parents’ emotional well-being and their partner relationship after birth, (2) how relationship quality and well-being are mutually linked before and after birth.
Longitudinal data come from 399 parents who had their first child after starting to participate in the German Family Panel “pairfam”. The data of annual assessments were restructured, starting with T0 in the year prior to birth up to four years after birth (T1–T4). Information on relationship quality was provided by both partners. To model the couples’ relationship quality a bi-factor model was used, capturing the shared and the person-specific variance in separate (latent) factors. We first specified a latent (autoregressive) state-model of parents’ well-being across time as predicted by an index of perinatal risks. Second, a simple cross-lagged model was used to disentangle the association between couples’ shared relationship quality and parents’ well-being. Finally, the index of perinatal risks was added, predicting parents’ well-being and couples’ relationship (T1 – T4).
Our findings point to a slight decline in parents’ well-being across time starting in the year before birth (T0). Perinatal risks predicted parents’ lower well-being up to three years (T1-T4) after birth, whereas parents’ well-being before birth (T0) was not linked to perinatal problems (risk index at T1). Inspecting the interrelation between parents’ well-being and couples’ shared relationship quality, well-being predicted the relationship quality, but not vice versa. Finally, perinatal risks directly affected parents’ well-being and only indirectly couples’ relationship quality.The advantage of dyadic longitudinal information will be discussed.

Authors

• Sabine Walper, German Youth Institute Munich
  Presenting Author

• Gabriela Gniewosz, German Youth Institute Munich

• Barbara Wilhelm, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich