The couple relationship before and during transition to parenthood

Increasingly, the importance of the couple relationship has been recognised in relation to the mental health and well-being of partners, children and wider family. The move to include the couple relationship as a key aspect of life is supported by a broad evidence base informing policy in the areas of health and education and influencing practice in these overlapping spheres (Reynolds, Houlston, & Coleman, 2014). This change in societal values and attitudes is evident in the area of research on this topic, with a wide range of studies aiming to explore and measure relationship quality and changes over time for individuals in order to gain a better theoretical understanding of the key factors at work, possible outcomes and those factors which may be amenable to intervention (Hanington, Heron, Stein, & Ramchandani, 2012; Simons, Reynolds, & Morrison, 2001; Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003).

Historically, in the context of pregnancy, parenting and early child development, the emphasis has largely been on role of the woman and mother, with fathers and couples having less of a profile. Studies of the psychology of reproduction and parenting have commonly focused on women for whom this was their first pregnancy and, following childbirth, on dyadic interactions of new mothers with their babies and children.

Relationship quality may be measured in different ways reflecting ‘satisfaction’, ‘happiness’ and the ways in which couples adjust to each other. However, the part played by couple relationships is complex and what men and women bring to relationships in the way of past history and experience, including mental health and their own parenting, are known to affect couple relationships and are taken into account in studies focusing on the antecedents and causal pathways. Relationships are also affected by recent and ongoing life events which either or both partners may experience, such as loss of employment, infertility, ill health and bereavement. Disadvantage and access to education, healthcare and financial resources also have a role that must be considered by psychologists, researchers and practitioners working in this area.

More recently, the large-scale cohort studies starting with pregnancy and the first year have included measures of relationship quality: for example, the Intimate Bonds Measure (IBM; Wilhelm & Parker, 1988) in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and the Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS; Rust, Bennun, Crowe, & Golombok, 1986) in the MCS (Millennium Cohort Study).

A decline in the quality of the couple relationship has been noted in relation to becoming a parent and the first year of parenthood has been marked as a time when there may be a mismatch between expectations and the realities of care, including a shortage of sleep and difficulties in finding time to be together (Mitnick, Heyman, & Smith Slep, 2009; Reynolds et al., 2014). In a recent prospective study of more than 600 couples (Hildingsson & Thomas, 2014), parents’ feelings and attitudes as measured during pregnancy were clearly related to outcomes a year after the birth. Role restriction, social isolation and the partner relationship were particular areas of stress for women and strongly correlated with earlier prenatal feelings.

This edition of the journal has a diverse range of papers, some of which touch on the partner relationships. ‘Preparation for parenthood’ by Spiteri and colleagues considers the constructs underpinning research in this area, and Pallant and colleagues’ evaluation and refinement of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory used with pregnant women may well lead on to similar work with partners. While some authors focused on childbirth and the impact primarily on women and their adjustment in relation to modesty, post-traumatic symptoms and decision-making, others consider expectations of childless women and infant temperament, both of which are likely to impact on partners and the couple relationships

Partnership status and the quality of the couple relationship are key explanatory and moderating variables in reproductive and developmental psychology that needs to be taken into account, both theoretically and practically in planning and designing studies. As researchers and practitioners we need to hold in mind this aspect of life prepregnancy, during pregnancy and afterwards in relation to infertility, pregnancy planning, over the course of pregnancy, childbirth and early and later parenthood. This will involve using, modifying and sharing measures and helping to develop the theoretical basis for what is observed and for interventions proposed. Examples of papers published in the journal over quite a long period of time in which the couple relationship has been considered range widely and include studies of the impact of infertility (Connolly, Edelmann, & Cooke, 1987); stress and well-being in the context of transition to parenthood (Möller, Hwang, & Wickberg, 2006) and differential responses to perinatal loss (Nazaré, Fonseca, & Canavarro, 2013). The more recent recognition of the importance of this topic should not only encourage research in this area using a variety of methods, including qualitative studies, but also the inclusion of variables relating to this aspect of reproductive psychology in quantitative, multivariate analyses.

Maggie Redshaw and Colin Martin