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Journal of Family Psychology Copyright 2000 by the American Psychological Association Inc.2000 Vol. 14 No. 1 59-70 0893-3200/00155.00 DOI : 10.1037//0893-3200.14.1.59

T he B ab y and the Marr iage:Iden t ify ing Fac to r s Tha t Buffe r A ga ins t D ec l ine in

M ari ta l Sat isfact ion A fter the First B ab y Ar r ivesA l y s o n F e a r n l e y S h a p i r o , J o h n M . G o t t m a n , a n d S y b i l C a r r ~ r e

U n i v e r s i t y o f Wa s h i n g t o n

This longitudinal study identified factors o f co up les ' marital friendship in thebeginning m onths o f marriage that predicted stability versus decline in maritalsatisfaction o ver the transition to parenthood. Ne wly we d couples (N = 130 ) we refollow ed longitudinally f or 6 years. Forty-three couples beca me parents, and 39childless couples served as a control group. Couples w ere interviewed abo ut thehistory and philosophy o f their relationship as newlywed s. W hat predicted the stableor increasing marital satisfaction of mothers were the husband's expression offondness toward her, the husband's high awareness for her and their relationship,and her aw areness for her husband and their relationship. In contrast, w hat predictedthe decline in marital satisfaction of mothers w ere the husba nd's negativity towardhis wife, the husband's disappointment in the marriage, or the husband or wifehav ing described their lives as chaotic.

I t i s w e l l - k n o w n t h a t h a l f o f a l l d i v o r c e s o c c u rwi th in the f i r s t 7 yea r s o f mar r i age (Cher l in ,1981) , wi th one th i rd o f a l l d ivorces occur ingwi th in the f i r s t 5 yea r s o f mar r i a ge (Na t iona lCe n te r fo r He a l th S ta t is t i cs , 1991) . For m anyc o u p l e s , t he c a s c a d e t o w a r d d i v o r c e b e g i n s w i t hthe f i r st dec l ine in the w i fe ' s m ar i t a l sa t i s fac t ionaf t e r the a r r iva l o f the f i r s t baby (Be l sky &Pensky, 1988 ; C . P. Cowan & Cowan , 1992 ;Raush , Bar ry, Her te l , & Swain , 1974) . As ea r lyas 1957 , Lemas te r s iden t i f i ed the t r ans i t ion top a r e n t h o o d a s o n e o f th e f a m i l y ' s m o s t d i f fi c u lta d j u s t m e n t s . T h e m a j o r i t y o f r e s e a r c h o n t h e

Alyson Fearnley Shapiro, John M. Gottman, andSybil Carr&e, Department of Psychology, Universityof W ashington.

This research was supported by Grants MH42484and MH47083 from the National Institute of MentalHealth.

We thank the undergraduate research assistantswh o coded the interviews we analyzed in the presentstudy, and we gratefully acknow ledge the cooperationof the study participants.

Correspondence concerning this article should beaddressed to Alyson Fearnley Shapiro, Department ofPsychology, University of Washington, Bo x 351525,Seattle, Washington 98115-1525. Electronic mallm ay b e sent to alysonfs @u.washington.edu.

t r ans i t ion to pa ren thood has found tha t a sc o u p l e s b e c o m e p a r e n t s , t h e r e i s a d r a m a t i cdec rease in pos i t ive mar i t a l in t e rchanges , ad ramat ic inc rease in mar i t a l conf l i c t , and aprec ip i tous dec l ine in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion (Be l -sky & Kel ly, 1994 ; Be l sky & Pensky, 1988 ;Be l sky, Span ie r, & Rovine , 1983) . Thesef in d i ng s w e r e p a r t i cu l a r ly p r o n o u n c e d f o r w i v e sa n d i n s o m e c a s e s w e r e f o u n d o n l y f o r t h ew i v e s ; h o w e v e r, t h e w i f e ' s d e c l i n i n g m a r i t a lsa t i s fac t ion i s a l ead ind ica to r o f the husband ' sl a t e r dec l in ing m ar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion (Be l sky e t a l .,1983 ; W aldron & Ro uth , 1981).

Des p i t e the overa l l dec l ine in ma r i t a l sa t i s fac -

t i o n e x p e r i e n c e d b y c o u p l e s a s t h e y b e c o m eparen t s , no t a l l coup les become l e s s sa t i s f i edwi th the i r mar r i ages dur ing the t r ans i t ion toparen thood (Wr igh t , Hengge le r, & Cra ig , 1986 ;C . P. Co w an & Co wa n , 1988). I s it poss ib le int h e v e r y b e g i n n i n g o f m a r r i a g e t o i d e n t i f yb u f f e r s to t h i s c a s c a d e t o w a r d d i v o r c e ? T h e g o a lo f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y w a s t o d i s c o v e r t h e s eb u f f e r s , m e a s u r a b l e i n t h e f i r s t f e w m o n t h s o fmar r i age , tha t p red ic t l a t e r s t ab i l i ty ve r susdec l ine in m ar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion ov er the t r ans it ion

to pa ren thood .I n a s t u d y d o n e b y F e l d m a n ( 1 9 71 ) , a l t h o u g h

m a r i t a l s a t is f a c ti o n d e c r e a s e d i n 4 3 o f c o u p l e s

59


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60 SHAPIRO, GO TrM AN , AND CARRI~RE

who were new paren t s , mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ionrema ined s tab le in 39 of couples and mar i t a lsa t i sfac t ion inc reased in 18 of couples as theybeca m e paren t s. C . P. Cow an and Cow an (1995)reported f inding that mari ta l sa t isfact ion de-c r e a s e d i n 4 5 o f m e n a n d 5 8 o f w o m e n , w i t hincreas ing mar i t a l sa t i sfac t ion in 18 of couplesno t pa r t i c ipa t ing in one o f the i r in te rven t iongroups.

I t i s a l so impor tan t to no te tha t remain ingchi ldless does not ensure mari ta l s tabi l i ty. C. P.C o w a n a n d C o w a n ( 1 9 9 2 ) r e p o r t e d a d i v o r c er a te o f 5 0 f o r c o u p l e s w h o r e m a i n e d c hi ld l es sb u t a d iv o r c e r a t e o f 2 5 f o r c o u p l e s w h obecam e paren t s . Th is i s a cur ious f ind ing in l igh tof the overwhelming research ind ica t ing tha t as ign i f i can t por t ion o f couples exper ience adec l ine in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion as they becomeparents . I t i s possib le that a por t ion of the mos td i s t ressed couples do no t s t ay toge ther longenough to s ta r t p lann ing a fami ly o r tha t thet rans it ion to paren thood se rves as a buffe r f romdivorce fo r some couples and t r iggers thecascade tow ard d ivorce in o thers. Wh atever theansw er i s , th i s i s an in te res t ing f ind ing in nee d o ffur ther examina t ion wi th the cons te l l a t ion o fchanges tha t t ake p lace as couples becomeparents .

Few s tud ies on the t rans i t ion to paren thoodh a v e i n c l u d e d a c o n t ro l g r o u p o f c o u p l e s w h oare ch i ld less (Be lsky & Pensky, 1988) . Theinc lus ion of a ch i ld less co n t ro l g roup i s essen tia lin d i sc rimina t ing changes due to the passage o ft ime f rom changes charac te r i s t i c o f the t rans i -t ion to paren thood .

U nfortunately , s tudies that exam ine the t ransi-t io n t o p a r e n t h o o d h a v e p r i m a r i ly f o c u s e d o n t h eper iod f rom the th i rd t r imes te r o f the wi fe ' sp regnancy to severa l months a f te r the baby i sborn (Assor & Assor, 1985; Belsky et a l . , 1983;C. P. Co wa n & C owan , 1988). Only a handfu l o fs tud ies have examined the t rans i t ion to paren t -hood f rom a perspec t ive tha t inc ludes a t imep e r i o d b e f o r e th e w i f e 's p r e g n a n c y ( C r a w f o r d &Hus ton , 1993; McHale & Hus ton , 1985; Raushet a l. , 1974) . Th is is highly u nfor tun ate becaus eRaush e t a l. dem ons t ra ted tha t the na ture o f them arr iage has a lready changed dram at ica lly oncethe wi fe i s p regnan t . Raush e t a l . found tha thusbands we re more con c i l i a to ry dur ing the i rw i v e s ' p r e g n a n c i e s t h a n e i t h e r b e f o r e p r e g n a n c yor a f te r the b i r th o f the ch i ld . For empi r ica lresearch on the p reven t ion of the dec l ine in

mari ta l qual i ty af ter the baby arr ives , i t i s f i rs tnecessa ry to iden t i fy any po ten t ia l buffe r sb e f o r e t h e c o u p l e b e c o m e s p r e g na n t. T h e g o a l o fthe p resen t s tudy was to beg in examin ingcouples no t on ly a t a t ime po in t be fore p reg-nancy bu t a l so f rom the very beg inn ing of the i rmar r iage as new lywed s . I s the re any th ing in thee a r l y m o n t h s o f n e w l y w e d m a r r i a g e s t h a t c a npred ic t whe ther a couple ' s mar r iage wi l l be a tr i sk fo r dec l ine once the f i rs t baby a r r ives?

Addi t iona l ly, f ew s tud ies fo l lowing coupleslong i tud ina l ly as they become paren t s inc ludet ime po in t s severa l years a f te r the b i r th o f thef i rs t chi ld (B elsky & Ro vine, 1990; P. A. C ow an,Cow an, & K er ig , 1993). Because o f m any se r-ious ar t i facts in the data analyses of change,Rogosa (1995) s t rong ly u rged long i tud ina l in -ves t iga to rs to use mul t ip le t ime po in t s ( ra therthan jus t two ) and ana lyze the pa t te rn o f changeover t ime . He urged the use o f repea tedm e a s u r e m e n t t o e x a m i n e t h e p a tt e rn o f c h a n g eo v e r t i m e t h r o u g h g r o w t h c u r v e m o d e l i n g .

Th ese considerat ions imply that s tudies shouldinc lude a t im e po in t be fore p regnanc y and thenfo l low couples fo r severa l years to accura te lye x a m i n e t h e i m p a c t o f t h e p r e g n a n c y a n d t h eb i r th o f the f i rs t ch i ld on the cou ples ' changingsa t i s fac t ion wi th the i r mar r iage . The presen tinves t iga t ion was d es igned w i th these cons ider-at ions in mind.

On e s tudy tha t d id inc lude a t ime po in t be forep r e g n a n c y f o l l o w e d a s a m p l e o f n e w l y w e d sover the t rans i t ion to paren thood (MacDermid ,H u s t o n , & M c H a l e , 1 9 9 0 ; M c H a l e & H u s t o n ,1985). S ix ty -n ine couples m ar r ied fo r the samel e n gt h o f t i m e w e r e f o l l o w e d o v e r t h e s a m e2-year per iod of t ime . The 43 couples who

remained ch i ld less p rov ided an accura te com par i -s o n g r o u p f o r t h e 2 3 c o u p l e s w h o b e c a m eparen t s . MacDermid e t a l . found no s ign i f i can td i ffe rences in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion be tween thecont ro l g roup and the paren t g roup . Theyconcluded that mari ta l sa t isfact ion decl inese q u a l ly f o r c o u p l es w h o b e c o m e p a re n t s a n d f o rthose who remain ch i ld less . These resu l t scon t rad ic t the f ind ings in the m ajor i ty o f o thert rans i t ion to paren thood research , which ind i -cate there is a decl ine in wif e mari ta l sa t isfact ionover the t rans i t ion to paren thood . The c r i t i ca ld i f fe r e n c e s m a y b e a l a c k o f p o w e r t o d e t e c tr e s u l t s w i t h o n l y 2 3 c o u p l e s w h o b e c o m eparen t s o r the re la t ive ly shor t t ime span fo rwhich the couples were fo l lowed . A long i tud ina l


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s t u d y o f c o u p l e s o v e r o n l y t h e f i r s t 2 y e a r s o fm a r r i a g e w o u l d n o t b e a b l e t o d e t ec t t re n d s t h a tind ica te dec l ine severa l yea r s a f t e r the b i r th o fthe f i r s t ch i ld . The p resen t inves t iga t ion wasd e s i g n e d w i t h t h e s e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a l s o t a k e nin to accoun t .

We e x a m i n e d t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t t h e w a yc o u p l e s c o n c e p t u a l i z e t h e i r m a r r i a g e m a y p r e -d i c t h o w m a r i t a l s a t is f a c ti o n c h a n g e s o v e r t i m eaf te r the a r r iva l o f the baby. In our l abora to ry,K r o k o f f (1 9 8 4 ) h a d d e v e l o p e d t h e O r a l H i s t o r yI n t e r v i e w ( O H I ) , w h i c h q u e r i es c o u p l e s a b o u tthe beg inn in gs o f the i r re l a t ionsh ip , the i r ph i -l o s o p h y o f m a r r i a g e , a n d h o w t h e i r re l a t io n s h i ph a s c h a n g e d o v e r t im e . We s u b s e q u e n t l y f o u n dtha t behav io ra l cod ing o f th i s in te rv iew pre -d ic ted s t ab i l i ty ve r sus d ivorc e in mar r i ages w i th9 4 a c c u r a c y ( B u e h l m a n , G o t t m a n , & K a t z ,1 9 92 ) a n d w i t h 8 8 a c c u r a c y i n t h e s a m p l e o fnewlyweds used in the p resen t s tudy (Car r~re ,B u e h l m a n , C o a n , G o t t m a n , & R u c k s t u h l , 2 0 00 ) .T h e O H I p r e d i c to r s o f m a r i t a l s ta b i li t y w e r e t h ef o n d n e s s a n d a d m i r a t i o n e x p r e s s e d b y e a c hspouse fo r h i s o r he r pa r tne r, the amount o fe x p a n s i v e n e s s a n d a w a r e n e s s o f t h e i r p a r t n e r ' sw o r l d , a n d t h e a m o u n t o f u n i t y e x p r e s s e d b ye a c h s p o u s e t h r o u g h h i s o r h e r u s e o f t h e w o r d sw e a n d u s. O H Ip r e d i c to r s o f d i v o r c e w e r e t h ea m o u n t o f c r i t i c i s m o r n e g a t i v i t y e a c h s p o u s eexpressed toward the i r pa r tne r, the ex ten t tow h i c h t h e y w e r e d i s i l l u s i o n e d o r d i s a p p o i n t e da b o u t t h e m a r r i a g e , a n d t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h t h e yfe l t tha t d i ff i cu l t i e s in the i r l ives were ou t o fthe i r con t ro l o r were chao t i c .

We v i e w t h e s e O H I p r e d i c t o r s a s i n d i c e s o ft h e q u a l i t y o f t h e e a r l y m a r i t a l f r ie n d s h ip .S e v e r a l o f o u r O H I v a r i a b l e s a r e s i m i l a r t oc o n c e p t s t h a t h a v e b e e n e x a m i n e d o v e r t h et rans i t ion to pa ren thood by o the r r e sea rchers ,T h e u n i t y i n th e m a r r i ag e , o rw e - n e s s , m e a s u r e di n t h e O H I , f o r e x a m p l e , i s s i m i l a r t o a c o n c e p tB e l s k y a n d K e l l y ( 1 9 9 4 ) r e f e r r e d t o a s t h eab i l i ty o f coup les to in teg ra te themse lves in to

u s . T h e e x p a n s i v e n e s s o r a w a r e n e s s t h a t e a c hs p o u s e h a s f o r h i s o r h e r p a r t n e r a n d t h e i rre l a t ionsh ip , t apped by ou r OH I , is s imi la r to thei n t i m a t e k n o w l e d g e b a s e o f o n e ' s s p o u s e t h a tB e l s k y d e s c r i b e d a s b e i n g i m p o r t a n t f o r m a i n -m i n i ng g o o d c o m m u n i c a t i o n a s c o u p l es b e c o m eparen t s (B e l sky & K el ly, 1994) .

T h e O H I i s c o d e d o n t h e b a s i s o f h o w t h ecoup le desc r ibes the i r r e l a t ionsh ip and thec o d i n g e m p h a s i z e s a t ti tu d e o v e r c o n te n t i n w h a t

t h e c o u p l e s s a y ( B u e h l m a n & G o t t m a n , 1 9 9 6 ) .T h e O H I i s d i f f e r e n t f r o m i n t e r v i e w s u s e d i no the r t r ans i t ion- to -pa ren thood s tud ies in tha t i tse rves a s obse rva t iona l da ta r a the r than as as e l f -r e p o r t m e a s u r e . T h e m e a s u r e h a s h i g h e x -t e rna l cons t ruc t va l id i ty, i l l u s t r a t ed th rough thes ign i f i can t r e l a t ionsh ip o f the cod ing d imen-s i o ns w i t h o b s e r v a t i o n s o f t h e c o u p l e s ' p r o b l e m -so lv ing behav io r, a ffec t , and phys io logy dur ingmar i t a l in t e rac t ions (Bu eh lm an e t a l ., 1992).

Th e p resen t s tud y i s un ique in tha t it sough t topred ic t changes in a coup le ' s mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ionand to iden t i fy buffe r s dur ing the t r ans i t ion top a r e n t h o o d o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e c o u p l e ' s r e l a ti o n -s h i p a s n e w l y w e d s . We t e s t e d t h e h y p o t h e s i stha t the w ay cou p les desc r ibe the i r pas t p red ic t ss t ab i li ty ve r sus dec l ine in m ar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion ascoup les be com e pa ren t s . Spec i fi ca lly, we hypo th -e s i z e d t h a t th e w a y a c o u p l e c o n c e p t u a l i z e s t h eb e g i n n i n g s o f t h e ir r e l a ti o n s h i p w o u l d r e v e a ls t r eng ths and vu lne rab i l i t i e s in the mar r i age .O u r h o p e w a s t h a t t h e s e s t r e n g t h s w o u l d t u r nou t to be buffe r s tha t p red ic t r e s i l i ence th roughth i s m a jo r d eve lop m enta l l i f e t r ans it ion .

M e t h o d

P a r t i c i p a n t s

Between 198 9 and 1992 , we used a two-stagesampling procedure to draw a representative sampleof newlywed couples from the Puget Sound area inWashington. Couples were initially recruited usingnewspaper advertisements. Couples w ere eligible fo rthe study if they w ere childless and had been m arriedfor the first tim e within 9 m onths of first participatingin the study . Couples were contacted by phone andadministered the telephone version o f the MaritalAdjustment T est (MA T; Krokoff, 1984 ; Locke &Wallace, 19 59 ) and surveyed to determine theireligibility.

New lywed couples (N = 130) who represented aneven distribution of marital satisfaction were invitedto participate in a longitudinal study of their ma rriageand were followed for the nex t 4 to 6 years. Th e racialand ethnic distribution in this sample matched theCity of Seattle, Office of Long-Range Planning(1990) com mis sion report. Demographic characteris-tics fo r these newly married couples w ere as follows:mean wife age = 25.4 years( S D = 3.5), averagehusband age = 26.5 years( S D = 4.2), average wife

marital satisfaction = 120.4( S D = 19.7), and meanhusband marital satisfaction = 115.9( S D = 18.4).The average wife marital satisfaction was signifi-

cantly higher than the av erage husband maritalsatisfaction, t(128) = 2.63, p = .01. A review of the


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62 SHAPIRO, GOTTMAN, AND CARRI~RE

literature revealed no statistics on mean maritalsatisfaction differences expected or not expectedwhen couples are newlyweds. A report examiningdata from the National Survey of Families andHouseholds noted that marital satisfaction is usually

lower for wives than for husbands (Schumm, Webb,Bollman, 1998). Schumm et al., however, exam-

ined a cross-section of married couples and most weremarried several years and had gone through thetransit ion to parenthood. Thus, thei r results couldactually be consistent with ours if wives' martialsatisfaction begins on average at a higher level thantheir husbands' and drops to a level lower than theirhusbands ' across the transit ion to parenthood. Furtherresearch is needed to confirm whether this sample istypical or unique with regard to this difference inini tia l mari tal satisfaction.

Forty-three of these couples became parents duringthe years they were followed. The control group(n = 39) was composed of couples from the samecohort of newlyweds who remained childless andmarried during this same time period. Instances forwhich results are reported with smaller numbers areinstances in which coding on a specific d imension ora specific marital satisfaction questionnaire wasmissing for some couples.

The 49 couples in our original sample of 130 whowere not included in either the sample of couples thatbecame parents or the sample of couples thatremained childless were excluded for a variety ofreasons. Six couples from the original sample ofnewlyweds were excluded because they were expect-ing their first baby during the time of data analysesand were considered to be in the midst of theirtransition. Additionally, if couples completed fewerthan three marital satisfaction questionnaires over thetime they were followed or if there were no postbirthdata for couples who became parents, they wereexcluded from the regression analysis. Thus, 15couples who divorced within the first 3 years of theirmarriage were excluded. There were 17 divorcesduring the time couples were followed, all in thegroup who remained childless. Three of thesedivorced families were included in the control group.Two couples were excluded because they dropped outof the study with in the first 3 years, 1 couple wasexcluded because of the death o f the husband, and 25couples were excluded because of missing question-naire data. Couples that were excluded because ofmissing questionnaire data were not significantlydifferent from the other couples in our sample on thedemographic variab les of age, socioeconomic status(SES), level of education, and initial husband andwife marital satisfaction level.

There were no significant demographic differencesbetween newlyweds who became parents and newly-weds who became part of the control group on age,SES, level of education, or in itial husband maritalsatisfaction. Average init ial marital satisfaction was

significantly higher for wives who became mothers(M = 126.88) than for wives who remained childless(M = 119.87), t(79) = 2.07, p = .04. Couples whobecame parents had their first child on average 3.07years after the beginni ng of their marriage

SD = 1.08). Consistent with the overall newlywedsample, marital satisfaction was significantly higherfor wives who became mothers (M = 126.26) thanfor husbands who became fathers (M= 119.88),t(41) = 2.30, p = .03, and marital satisfaction wassignificantly higher for wives who remained childless( M= 119.87) than for husbands who remainedchildless (M = 113.95), t(38) = 2.38,p = .02.

Procedure

Couples were g iven the OHI, which is a semistruc-tured interview with open-ended questions askingcouples to tell the story of their relat ionship 's history,and their philosophy of marriage (Krokoff, 1984) .The OHI was conducted with newlywed couplesduring their 1st year of marriage in one of twosettings. A subset of 50 couples was selected to bestudied in more detail and spent 24 hr in a studioapartment laboratory. For logistic and financialreasons, we did not include all 130 couples in thisprocedure. Couples were interviewed after dinner inthe living room area of the apartment laboratory.These interv iews were videotaped. Couples who did

not come in for this component of the study wereinterviewed in their homes, and these interviews wereaudiotaped. Thirty-four of the couples interviewed inthe apartment laboratory and 34 of the couplesinterviewed at home were included in the 82 couplesselected for the present study. A multivariate analysisof variance (MANOVA) was used to examinedifferences in OHI coding between these two groups.Using Wilks' s lambda as a criterion, we did not findany significant differences, F ( l l , 60) = 1.27, ns. Thesetting in which the OHI was conducted did notappear to have an impact on interview content or

scoring of the interview.

Longitudinal Fol low- Ups

Couples were contacted by both phone and maileach year following their initial visit. They wereinterviewed about their marital status, and anticipatedor actual births in their famil ies and asked to completea questionnaire on marital satisfaction (the MAT;Locke Wallace, 1959) that was mailed to theirhomes. Administrat ion of the MAT questionnaireswere timed such that couples who became parents

were administered additional marital satisfactionquestionnaires when the wife in each couple was 6months pregnant and when their first baby was 3months old. Thus, couples recruited in 1989 com-pleted up to eight MAT questionnaires if they became


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THE BABY AND THE MARRIAGE 63

parents and up to six questionnaires if they remainedchildless. Couples recruited in 1991 completed up tosix MAT questionnaires if they became parents andup to four questionnaires if they remained childless.

M e a s u r e s a n d M a t e r i a lsOHI. The OHI is conducted with both the

husband and wife present, and both spouses areencouraged to give their perspective on all aspects oftheir relationship history. The interview takes about 1hr. Questions about the couples relationship historyfocus on the couple's courtship, their decision tomarry, their wedding, and the highlights and difficulttimes in their relationship. When the couple discussestheir philosophy of marriage, they are asked to thinkof a good marriage and a bad marriage and to discuss

the differences between these kinds of marriages(Buehlman et al., 1992). The questions that composethe interview can be found in Buehlman and Gottman(1996).

OHI coding. The Oral History Coding System(Buehlman & Gottman, 1996) was used to code theOHI across six dimensions with 11 subscalesdesigned to capture the couples' global perceptionsabout the marriage and about each other. Five of thesix dimensions are rated on an individual basis andthe final dimension is rated for the couple as a whole.Each subscale is made up of five to n ine items. Eachitem is scored using a 5-point Likert-like scaleranging from 1 strongly agre e)to 5 stronglydisagree).Items are identical for the husband and thewife in the dimensions that are scored individually.Correlations between subscales ranged from .55 to.92. Subscales were positively correlated withinpositive and negative categories, and positive andnegative suhscales were negatively correlated (seeTable 1).

Three of the dimensions are positive in nature: (a)Fondness/Affection, (b) We-ness, and (c) Expansive-

ness. Fondness/Affection (husband and wife each getrated separately, but items are identical for bothhusband and wife) rates each spouse's expression ofpride, fondness, and affection for his or her partner.This subscale includes items such as Husband

compliments wife during the interview (husband'ssubscale) and Wife is proud of her husband orspecific qualifies about her husband (wife 's subs-cale). We-hess (husband and wife each get ratedseparately, but items are identical for both husbandand wife) reflects the degree to which each spouseuses terms during the interview that indicate unifica-tion in the marriage. Examples of items from thissubscale include Wife emphasizes we as opposed tohe or I (wife's subscale) and Husband emphasizesthe same beliefs, values, and goals as his wife(husband's subscale). Expansiveness (husband andwife are each rated separately, but items are identicalfor both husband and wife) measures how expressiveand expansive each spouse is in the interview.Through this elaboration, each spouse illustrates howaware he or she is about the details of theirrelationship history and about their spouse's world.We think this awareness may reflect the amount ofcognit ive room each spouse has for his or her partner.This dimension ndexes not only how expressive eachspouse is but also how the spouse responds to andexpands on what his or her partner is saying. This is incontrast to spouses who respond to questions with jus ta few short sentences, seem withdrawn, and do notadd to what their partner says. Some examples ofitems for this dimension include Wife recalls easilytheir first date, proposal, wedding, etc. (wife 'ssubscale) and Husband expands on what his wife isdescribing or saying (husband's subscale).

Two of the coding dimensions are negative innature: (a) Negativity (husband and wife are eachrated separately, but items are identical for bothhusband and wife) and (b) Disappointment andDisillusionment (husband and wife are each rated

Table 1Corre la tions Between Ora l His tory In te rv iew Coding Subsca les

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Husband Fondness2. Husband Expansiveness .80 - -3 Husband We-ness .74 .704. Husband Negativity -. 71 -. 59 - .6 55. Husb~md Disappointment -. 79 -. 75 -. 81 .74 - -6. Wife Fondness .84 .74 .67 - . 60 -. 757. Wife Expansiveness .74 .85 .68 -. 56 -. 708. Wife We-hess .72 .64 .92 - . 62 - . 799. Wife Negativity -. 65 -. 57 -. 63 .80 .73

10. Wife Disappointment -. 77 -. 76 -.8 1 .67 .9111. Chaos -. 68 -. 62 -. 73 .74 .82

.82 m

.73 .68- .68 - .55 - .65 - --.76 -.78 -.79 .67-.67 -.63 -.71 .74 .82

Note . All correlations are significant at p < .001, two-tailed.


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6 4 S H A P I R O , G O T Y M A N , A N D C A R R E R E

separa te ly, bu t i t ems are ident ica l for bo th husbandand w ife). Nega t iv i ty indexes the ex ten tt o whicheach indiv idual of the couple i s c r i t ica l of the i rpar tner, vague about what a t t rac ted them to the i rspouse , and d isp lays negat ive a ffec t toward the i r

ma te . Som e exam ple s o f t he i t ems used t o code t h issubsca le i nc lude Husban d does no t know wha ta t t rac ted h im to h is wi fe (husband ' s subsca le) and

W ife d i s ag ree s w i th husband du r ing t he i n t e rv i ew(wife ' s subsca le) . Disappoin tment and Dis i l lus ion-men t a s se s se s t he deg ree t o wh ich each member o fthe couple has g iven up on the i r marr iage byexpress ing depress ion about the re la t ionship or notbe ing ab le to a r t icu la te what makes the marr iagework . Some example s o f i t ems u sed t o i ndex t h i ssubsca le i nc lude Husba nd i s dep re s sed when t a lk ingabou t h i s mar r i age (husband ' s subsca le ) and W i fe

ment ions h ow di ff icu lt the i r marr iage i s or ma rr iage ingenera l i s (wife ' s subsca le) .Informat ion about how the couple repor ts handl ing

mar i ta l conf l ic t was eva lua ted us ing the f ina ld imens ion , Chaos (one score per couple) . Chaos ra testhe degree to which the couple fee ls ou t of cont ro l ofthe i r l ives and buffe ted about by e lements outs ide ofthe i r cont ro l . Examples of i t ems used to assess th i ssubsca le inc lude Th e couple has a lo t o f unexpectedor out of cont ro l mar i ta l conf l ic t and The couplebe l i eve unexpec t ed p rob l ems have weakened t he i rre la t ionship .

Rel iab i l i ty for the ora l h i s tory coding was indexedby in t rac lass cor re la t ions . In te rcoder re l iab i l i ty wasca lcu la ted us ing in t rac lass coeff ic ien ts . Overa l l re l i -abi l i ty of the OH /co din g subscales w as .75. The intra-c lass cor re la tions for the subsca les in the OH /w ere asfo l lows : Husb and ' s Fondnes s , .76; W i fe ' s Fondnes s ,.76 ; Hu sban d ' s We-N ess , .71 ; W ife ' s We-Ness , .76;Hu sban d ' s Expans iveness , .47; W ife ' s Expans ive-ness , .66; H usban d ' s N egat iv i ty, .81 ; W ife ' s Negat iv-i ty, .71 ; Husband ' s Disappoin tment and Dis i l lus ion-ment , .79 ; W ife ' s Disappoin tment and D is i llus ionment ,.72; and Chaos, .68.

MAT The MAT (Locke & Wal lace , 1959) i s ah ighly re l iab le and va l id me asure used to indexmar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion . Higher scores on the MATrepresent grea ter m ar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion . A te lephonein t e rv i ew ve r s ion o f t he M AT wi th s imi l a r p sychome t -r ic proper t ies to the ques t ionnai re was f i rs t adminis -te red to the w ives dur ing the par t ic ipant recru i tmentphase of the s tudy (Krokoff , 1984) . A ques t ionnai refo rm o f t he MAT was u sed t o i ndex mar i t a lsa t i s fac t ion each y ear of the co uples ' marr iages .

Me asures o f change in mar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion overt ime and intercept M ar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion scores f romthe M AT were r eg re s sed ove r t ime sepa ra te ly fo r t he

'husband and wife wi th in each couple . The resu l t ings lopes f rom these regress ions , o r bas ic growth curves ,re f lec ted the ra te of change over t ime for eachhusband and wife . These s lopes became our var iab lefor ra te and d i rec t ion of change in m ar i ta l sa ti s fac t ion .

Each regress ion over t ime a lso y ie lded a y- in te rcept ,where the mar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion s lope c rossed they-axis . The y - in te rcepts were used in ou r ana lys is as ameasure of expec ted mar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion when eachcouple f i r s t became marr ied . F igure 1 i llus t ra tes th is

procedure for 1 of the par t ic ipants in th i s s tudy.

R e s u l t s

T h e r e w e r e 1 7 d i v o r c e s i n t h e g r o u p o fc o u p l e s w h o r e m a i n e d c h i l dl e s s a n d n o d i v o r c e si n th e g r o u p o f c o u p l e s w h o b e c a m e p a r e n t s .Wi v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h e r s h a d s i g n i f i c a n t l ys h a r p e r r a t e s o f d e c l i n i n g m a r i t a l s a t i s f a c t i o no v e r t i m e ( M - - - 1 0 . 6 3 p o i n ts p e r y e a r ) t h an

d i d w i v e s w h o r e m a i n e d c h il d l e ss ( M = - 1 . 1 2p o i n t s p e r y e a r ) , t ( 8 0 ) = 2 . 1 5, p = .0 4 , t w o -t a il e d . A d d i t i o n a l ly , w i v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h -e r s , o n a v e r a g e , h a d s i g n i f i c a n t ly h i g h e r m a r i t a ls a t i s f a c t io n sc o r e s as n e w l y w e d s ( M = 1 2 6 .8 8 )t h a n d i d w i v e s w h o r e m a i n e d c h i l d l e s s( M = 11 9 . 8 7) , t ( 7 9 ) = 2 . 0 7 , p = . 0 4. T h e r e w a sa t r e n d t o w a r d s t e e p e r d e c l i n e in m a r i t a ls a t i s f a c t io n f o r h u s b a n d s w h o b e c a m e f a t h e rst h a t w a s n o t s i g n i f i c a n t . T h u s , w e r e s t r i c t e df u r t h e r a n a l y s e s t o t h e g r o u p o f w i v e s . S e e Ta b l e

2 f o r s l o p e a n d m a r i t a l s a t i s f a c t i o n fi g u r e s .Wi t h i n t h e c o u p l es w h o e x p e r i e n c e d th et r a n s i ti o n t o p a r e n t h o o d , m a r i t a l s a t i s f a c t i o n d e -c l i n e d f o r 6 7 % o f th e w i v e s a n d r e m a i n e d s t a b l eo r i n c r e a s e d f o r 3 3 % o f t h e w i v e s . I n c o n t r a s t,o n l y 4 9 % o f th e w i v e s w h o r e m a i n e d c h i l d l e ssh a d a d e c l i n i n g t r e n d i n m a r i t a l s a t is f a c t io n , a n d5 1 % o f th e w i v e s h a d s t a b l e o r i n c r e a s i n gm a r i t a l s a t i s f a c t i o n .

lOO

80

l im e in Ye g s

Figure 1 Rate o f change of wife mar i ta l sa t i s fac t ionover t ime.


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Table 2Independent Sample t-Test Results Comparing Average R ate o f Change inMa rital Satisfaction O ver Time (Slopes) and Initial Marital S atisfactionScores in Couples W ho Beca me Parents and W ho Rema ined Childless

Group meanMeasure Parent Ch il dl es s t df

SlopeWife -10.63 -1 .12 2.15 80Husband -5 .28 -3 .00 0.49 78

Initial marital satisfactionWife 126.88 119.87 2.07* 79Husband 119.77 113.95 - 1.51 76

Note. All analyses were two-tailed.*p -- .05, two-tailed.

A decline in marital satisfaction for wiveswho became mothers was not always evident inour first postbirth measure 3 months after thebirth of the first child. Indeed, 13 out of the 27mothers who had a declining trend in maritalsatisfaction did not report this decline until 1year after the birth of their first child, and 4 ofthese mothers did not show a decline until 2years after the birth of their first child. Nosignificant difference was found between the

mean prebirth wife marital satisfaction (M =124.65) and marital satisfaction for thesemothers 3 months after the birth of their firstchild (M = 122.64), t(32) = -0 .78 , p = .44.The first significant decline in marital satisfac-tion for the mothers who showed a decliningtrend was evident about 1 year after the birth ofthe first child, t(24) = -3. 36 , p = .002.

Pred ic t ing C hange in Wife M ar i t a lSa t i s fac t ion Over Time

Wives who became mothers had relativelystable or increasing marital satisfaction duringthe transition to parenthood if in the OHI thehusband expressed fondness and affection to-ward his wife, the husband expressed highawareness for his wife and their relationshipthrough expansiveness, or the wife expressedhigh awareness for her husband and theirrelationship (see Table 3). In contrast, there wasa steeper decline in marital satisfaction forwives who became mothers if, in the OHI, thehusband expressed negativity toward the wife,the husband expressed disappointment in themarriage, or both the husband and the wife felttheir lives were chaotic.

There were several OHI variables that ap-proached significance in predicting stabilityversus decline in marital satisfaction. Unity, orwe-ness, expressed by either the husband or thewife approached significance in predictingstable or increasing marital satisfaction forwives who became mothers. Wife disappoint-ment approached significance in predictingdecline in marital satisfaction for wives whobecame mothers (see Table 3). No significant

relationships were found between the OHIvariables and rate of change in marital satisfac-tion over time for wives who remained childless(see Table 3).

Table 3Pearson s Correlation Coefficients of OralHistory Interview (OHI) Dimensions With theRate o f Change in W ife MaritalSatisfaction Over Time

Mothers Childless wivesOHI subscale (n = 40) (n = 34)

Husband Fondness .33* - .32tWife Fondness .13 - . 14Husband Expansiveness .33* .16Wife Expansiveness .31 -. 005Husband We-ness .26# - .04Wife We-ness .27t .10Husband Negativity -.40 * .29Wife Negativity - .22 .28Husband Disappointment - .35 .10Wife Disappointment -. 28# .12Chaos in the Relationship - .33 * .10

Note. All analyses were two-tailed.tp --< .10, two-tailed (marginally significan0..05, two-tailed. **p


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66 SHAPIRO, GOTTM AN, AND CARRI~RE

G r o w t h C u r v e A n a l y s i s :A c c o u n t i n g f o r Va r i at io n i n Wi fe S l o p ea n d I n t e r c e p t W ~ th in G r o u p s

For the g roup who remained ch i ld less , the rewas no s ign i f i can t dec l ine in wi fe mar i t a lsa t is fac tion . Hence , w i th in th i s g roup we soughtto account fo r va r ia t ion in the in te rcep t o f thew i fe ' s mar i t a l sa t is fac tion , con t ro l l ing fo r va r ia -t ion in the w i fe ' s s lope . F ir s t, we exam ined thehusband mode l . In a regress ion ana lys i s , thehusban d ' s pos i t iv i ty (sum of we-ness , fondness ,and expans ivene ss ) and the husband ' s nega t iv i ty(d i sappoin tment , nega t iv i ty, and chaos) weresignif icant ly re la ted to the wife 's mari ta l sa t is-

fac t ion in te rcep t, con t ro l l ing fo r d i ffe rences inthe s lope o f the wi fe ' s m ar i ta l sa t i sfac t ion , F(3 ,29) = 5 .10, p = .013. Th e par t ia l correla t ions( for husband ' s pos i t iv i ty,p r = .34, t[29] =- 1 .98, p = .057; for hus ban d 's negat ivi ty,p r =- . 4 9 , t [29] = - 3 .09 , p = .004) show ed tha t them ajor con t r ibu t ion was the husband ' s nega t iv i ty.N e x t w e e x a m i n e d t h e w i f e m o d e l . I n aregress ion ana lys is , the w i fe ' s pos i t iv ity ( sum ofwe-ness , fondness , and expans iveness ) and thewi fe ' s nega t iv i ty (d i sappoin tment , nega t iv i ty,

and chaos) were s ign i f i can t ly re la ted to wi fe ' smari ta l sa t isfact ion intercept , control l ing ford i ffe rences in the s lope o f the wi fe ' s mar i t a lsat isfact ion, F(3 , 29) = 7 .50, p = .0024. Th epart ia l correla t ions ( for wife 's posi t ivi ty,p r =.31, t [29] = 2 .95, p = .0062; for w ife 's negat iv-ity, p r = - . 3 7 , t [2 9 ] = - 3 . 6 0 , p = . 00 11 )show ed tha t the con t r ibu t ion was bo th the w i fe ' spos i t iv i ty and the wi fe ' s nega t iv ity.

F o r t h e g r o u p w h o b e c a m e p a r e nt s , th e r e w a sa s ignif icant decl ine in w ife ma ri ta l sa t isfact ion.Hence , wi th in th i s g roup we sought to accountfor va r ia t ion in the s lope o f the wi fe ' s mar i t a lsat isfact ion, control l ing for var ia t ion in thewi fe ' s in te rcep t . F i r st , we ex am ined the husbandmodel . In a regress ion ana lys i s , the husband ' spos i t iv i ty ( sum of we-ness , fondness , andexpans iveness ) and the husband ' s nega t iv i ty(d i sappoin tment , nega t iv i ty, and chaos) weresignif icant ly re la ted to the w ife 's m ari ta l sa t isfac-t ion s lope , con t ro l l ing fo r d i ffe rences in thein te rcep t o f the w i fe ' s m ar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion , F(3 ,35) = 4 .35, p = .021. Th e par t ia l correla t ions( for husba nd ' s pos i tiv i ty,p r = .31, t[35] = 2.12,p = .041; fo r husban d ' s nega t iv i ty,p r = - . 4 2 ,t [35] = -2 .9 9 , p = .005) show ed tha t the con-

t r ibu t ion was b o th the husband ' s pos i t iv i ty andthe husband 's negat ivi ty.

N e x t , w e e x a m i n e d t h e w i f e m o d e l . I n aregress ion ana lys i s , the wi fe ' sp os i t iv i ty ( sum ofwe-ness , fondness , and expans iveness ) and thewi fe ' s nega t iv i ty (d i sappoin tment , nega t iv i ty,and chaos) were marg ina l ly re la ted to wi fe ' sma ri ta l sa t isfact ion s lope, co ntrol l ing for differ-ences in the in te rcep t o f the wi fe ' s mar i t a lsat isfact ion, F(3 , 29) = 2 .49, p = .0975. Th epart ia l correla t ions ( for wife 's posi t ivi ty,p r =.25, t[29 ] = 1.64, ns; for wife 's negat ivi ty,p r = - . 3 3 , t [2 9 ] = - 2 . 2 6 , p = . 0 2 98 ) s h o w e dtha t the on ly s ign i f i can t con t r ibu t ion was thewi fe ' s nega t iv ity. Equiva len t ana lyses w i th in thegroup of pa ren t s a t t empt ing to account fo rvar ia t ion in the wife 's mari ta l sa t isfact ionintercept , control l ing for her m ari ta l sa t isfact ions lope, p rov ed nons ign i f ican t ( fo r husband mo de l ,F[3 , 35] = 1 .73, ns; f o r w i f e m o d e l , F [ 3 ,35] = 1.21,ns .

D i s c u s s i o n

The pr imary goa l s o f th i s s tudy were topred ic t changes in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion and toiden t i fy buffe r s tha t p ro tec t a coup le dur ing the

t rans i t ion to paren thood on the bas i s o f thecouple ' s ea r ly re la t ionsh ip as newlyweds . Wef i r s t examined change in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ionover the t rans i t ion to paren thood , conf i rmingt h a t th e r e w e r e b o t h w i v e s w h o e x p e r i e n c e d adec l ine in mar i t a l sa t is fac tion and wives w hosemari ta l sa t isfact ion remained s table dur ing thist ransi t ion . W e then tes ted ou r hypothes i s tha t theway couples desc r ibe the i r pas t would revea ls t rengths and vulnerabi l i t ies that would predicts tabi l ity versus d ecl ine in m ari ta l sa t isfact ion as

the couples bec am e paren ts .The major i ty o f research on the t ransi t ion top a r e n t h o o d h a s f o u n d t h a t a s c o u p l e s b e c o m eparen t s , pos i t ive in te rchange be tween the hus -band and the w i fe decreases , conf l i c t inc reases ,and overal l mari ta l sa t isfact ion decreases (Bel-sky Pensky , 1988; Be lsky et a l ., 1983) . Th esef ind ings were par t i cu la r ly p ronounced fo r thew i v e s a n d i n s o m e c a s es w e r e o n l y f o u n d f o r th ewives (Be lsky e t a l ., 1983; W aldron Routh ,1 9 81 ). T h e e x a m i n a t i o n o f o n e s a m p l e o f n e w l y -

weds , h ow ever, found no s ign if i can t d i ffe rencesin m ar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion be tween the con t ro l g roupand the paren t g roup (M acD erm id e t al ., 1990;M cH ale Hus ton , 1985).

In the p resen t s tudy, fo l lowing newlyweds


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through the t rans i tion to paren thood , we found asignif icant ly s teeper decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfac-t i o n f o r w i v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h e r s r e l a ti v e towives who remained ch i ld less . These resu l t ssuppor t the major i ty o f p rev ious f ind ings tha tthere is a systemat ic decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfac-t ion over the t rans i t ion to paren thood tha t i spar t i cu la r ly p ronounced fo r the wives . Th is i spar t icular ly interes t ing in l ight of our f indingt h a t t he w i v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h e r s s t ar te d o u twi th h igher mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion than d id wiveswho remained ch i ld less . Th is re f lec t s the fac tthat the hig her ini t ia l mari ta l sa t isfact ion is, thefar ther i t has to fa l l . Addi t ional ly, th is f indingsugges t s tha t wives w ho s ta rt ou t mo re sa t is f iedwi th the i r mar r iage a re more l ike ly to havechi ldren within the f i rs t 4 to 6 years of theirmar r iage .

T h e d e s i g n o f t h i s n e w l y w e d s t u d y a p p e a r ss imi la r to tha t o f M acD erm id e t a l. (1990) . W hy,then, did we f ind a s ignif icant decl ine in wifem a r i t a l s a t i s f a c t i o n w h e n M a c D e r m i d a n d h e rassoc ia tes d id no t? The se d i ffe rences in resu l tscou ld be due to a d i ffe rence in the pow er tode tec t resu l t s . We were more l ike ly to de tec ts ign i f i can t d i ffe rences be tween groups wi th a

s a m p l e o f 4 3 c o u p l e s w h o b e c a m e p a r en t s t h anM a c D e r m i d e t a l. w e r e w i t h t h e 23 c o u p l e s w h obecame paren t s in the i r s tudy. However, c loseinspec t ion o f our da ta shows tha t the lowes tmar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion scores fo r wives whob e c a m e m o t h e r s w e r e o f t e n o b t a in e d a y e a r o rm ore a f te r the b i r th o f the f i r st ch i ld ra ther thanat 3 months postbir th . This suggests thatd i ffe rences in ou tcom es be twee n the two s tud iesm a y b e t h e r e s u l t o f th e a m o u n t o f t i m e c o u p l e sw e r e f o l l o w e d . M a c D e r m i d e t a l . f o l l o w e d

couples ov er on ly the f ir s t 2 years o f m ar r iageand w ould no t have bee n ab le to de tec t t r ends 1to 2 y ears af te r the bir th of the f i rs t chi ld .

D espi te the ove ral l decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfac-t i o n e x p e r i e n c e d b y c o u p l e s a s t h e y b e c o m eparents , not a l l couples become less sat isf iedwi th the i r mar r iages th rough the t rans i t ion top a r e n t h o o d ( M a c D e r m i d e t a l., 1 9 90 ; M c H a l e &Huston, 1985; Wright e t a l . , 1986) . For couplesw ho b ecam e paren t s in the p resen t s tudy, mar i ta lsa t i sfac t ion dec l ined fo r 67 o f the wives and

rem ained s tab le o r inc reased fo r 33 o f thewives .S c o r e s o n t h e O H I a d m i n i s t e r e d t o c o u p l e s

wi th in the f i r s t f ew months o f the i r mar r iagepred ic ted s tab i li ty versus dec l ine in w i fe mar i t a l

sa t i s fac t ion over the t rans i t ion to paren thood .Spec i f i ca l ly, husband fondness and admira t iontoward the wi fe , the awareness o r cogni t iveroom the husband a l loca ted to the wi fe and tothe i r r e la t ionsh ip , and the awareness o r cogni -t ive room the wi fe a l loca ted to the husbandpredicted s tabi l i ty in mari ta l sa t isfact ion forw i v e s w h o e v e n t u a l l y b e c a m e m o t h e r s . I ncon t ras t , husband nega t iv i ty toward the wi fe ,husband d i sappoin tment in the mar r iage , and av iew tha t the couples ' l ives were chao t ic a l lpredicted a decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfact ion forw i v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h e rs .

T h e O H I v a r i a b le s c a n b e v i e w e d a s d y n a m i cvar iab les tha t index the mar i t a l f r i endsh ip . Thequa l i ty o f the mar i t a l f r i endsh ip ac t s to makestressful per iods , such at the t ransi t ion toparen thood , e i the r sm oother o r m ore d i ff i cu lt tonav iga te . Fondness and admira t ion and h ighexpans iveness o r awareness may ac t as buffe r sthat protect the re la t ionship through s t ressfult ransi t ions such as the bir th o f the co uple s ' f i rs tch i ld . D isappoin tment in the m ar r iage , nega t iv -i ty towa rd one ' s spouse , and chaos in the l ives o fthe couple may re f lec t vu lnerab i l i t i e s in there la t ionsh ip tha t become par t i cu la r ly p rob lem-

at ic dur ing per iods of s t ress such as thet rans i t ion to paren thood . S t ra teg ies used bycons i s ten t ly sa t is f ied couples m ay be use fu l fo rothers in maintaining m ari ta l sa t isfact ion.

The fondness and admira t ion sys tem in acouple ' s r e la t ionsh ip can be thought o f as theg lue tha t ho lds the re la t ionsh ip toge ther. Expan -s iveness can be thought o f as the l eve l o fawareness each spouse has o f the i r r e la t ionsh ip ,the i r spouse , and the i r spouse ' s l i f e . The morefondness fo r h i s wi fe the husband expresses , o r

the m ore g lue h e pu t s in to the re la tionsh ip , them ore sa ti s fi ed the wi fe i s wi th the mar r iage ov erthe t rans i t ion to paren thood . The more awareeach par tner i s o f the i r r e la t ionsh ip and the i rpar tner, again, the mor e sat isf ied the wife is wi ththe m ar r iage ove r the trans i tion to paren thood .T h e s e t w o f a c t o r s m a y w o r k t o g e t h e r. I f t h ehusband i s aware o f the s t ress the wi fe i s go ingt h r o u g h , f o r e x a m p l e , h e m a y r e s p o n d b yput t ing more g lue in to the re la t ionsh ip o rexpress ing more fondness toward h i s wi fe .S imi la rly, i f the w i fe i s aw are o f the e ffo r ts he rhusband i s making to be suppor t ive and lov ingthrough this t ransi t ion, the more sat isf ied shewi l l be w i th the mar r iage .

The un i ty, o r we-ness , in the re la t ionsh ip


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68 SHAPIRO, GOTT MA N, AND CARRI~RE

e x p r e s s e d b y e i t h e r th e h u s b a n d o r t h e w i f e o n l yapproached s ign i f i cance in p red ic t ing s tab i l i tyor inc rease in mar i t a l sa t i s fact ion fo r wives w hobecame mothers . Th is i s somewhat surpr i s ingb e c a u s e B e l s k y a n d K e l l y ( 1 9 9 4 ) d e s c r i b ed t h ecoup les ' ab i l ity to in tegra te in to us as be ingimpo r tan t over the t rans it ion to paren thood . Thecoup les ' ab i li ty to v iew them se lves as a un i t maychange th rough the s t rugg les o f the t rans it ion toparen thood , and the emergen t sense o f un i tym a y b e m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h an t h e o n e t h e h u s b a n da n d w i f e e x p r e ss e d a s n e w l y w e d s .

Nega t iv i ty and c r i t i c i sm can be v iewed ascor ros ive fac to rs tha t ea t awa y a t the qua l i ty o fthe mar r iage . Disappoin tm ent in the mar r iage isfa i r ly s t ra igh t fo rward and may be the cause o fc r i t i c ism and nega t iv i ty. W ives m ay b e par t i cu-la r ly sens i t ive to the i r husban ds ' nega t iv i ty andmar i ta l d i sappoin tment as they become paren t sand may become less sa t i s f i ed wi th the i rmar r iage in respo nse to these cor ros ives dur ingth i s t r ans i t ion . The fee l ing o f chaos expressedby couples re f lec ts a b e l i e f tha t the re a re changesin their l ives that are out of their control . I tma kes sense tha t th is ou t look wo uld re f lec t avu lnerab i l i ty in the re la t ionsh ip o ver the t rans i -t ion to paren thood because the added s t ressestha t accompany th i s major l i f e t r ans i t ion cou ldincrease these fee l ings o f chaos .

Th e O HI var iab les we re re la ted to the mar i ta lsa t i s fac t ion in te rcep t s o f wives who remainedc h i l d l e s s a n d t h e s l o p e s o f w i v e s w h o b e c a m emothers . I t makes sense tha t an index of themar i t a l f r i endsh ip would re la te to the wi fe ' smar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion a round the t ime of theinterview, as is evident in the control group. Int h e g r o u p o f w i v e s w h o b e c a m e m o t h e r s ,however, the re was a s t ronger re la t ionsh ipbe tween the s lope o f wi fe mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ionand the OH I var iab les than be twe en the s lope o fwife mari ta l sa t isfact ion and the ini t ia l mari ta lsat isfact ion scores . This indicates that thequa l i ty o f mar i t a l f r i endsh ip i s pa r t i cu la r lyimpor tan t dur ing per iods o f change and s t ress ,such as the t rans it ion to paren thood .

B o t h t h e h u s b a n d ' s a n d t h e w i f e ' s O H Ivar iab les were impor tan t in p red ic t ing thein te rcep t o f wi fe m ar i ta l sa t is fac tion in coupleswho remained ch i ld less . In con t ras t , the var i -ab les tha t re f lec ted the husba nd ' s con t r ibu t ion tothe mar i t a l f r i endsh ip were the s t ronges t inpred ic t ing the ra te o f change in mother mar i t a lsat isfact ion over t ime. This indicates that the

cont r ibu t ion o f the husban d to the i r r e la tionsh ipi s pa r t icu la r ly impor tan t to w ives dur ing per iodsof s t ressful t ransi tions .

C . P. Cowan and Cowan (1992) repor ted ad i v o r c e ra t e o f 5 0 % f o r c o u p l e s w h o r e m a i n e dch i ld less versus a d ivorce ra te o f 25% forcouples wh o beca m e paren t s . The resu lt s o f thepresen t s tudy revea led th i s t rend m ore d ramat i -cal ly, wi th a l l 17 divorces in the sampleo c c u r r in g i n t h e g r o u p o f c o u p l e s w h o r e m a i n e dch i ld less . The d ivorce ra te fo r couples in oursample who remained ch i ld less was 20%, andthe d ivorce ra te fo r couples in our sample whobecame paren t s was 0%. This ind ica tes tha tremain ing ch i ld less i s no t an adequa te buffe r

against divorce. I t a lso indicates that coupleswho remain mar r ied longer a re more l ike ly tohave ch i ld ren .

The OHI i s a good pred ic to r o f s t ab i l i tyversus decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfact ion for wiveswh o b ecom e paren ts . Th is i s pa r t i cu la rly t rue inc o m p a r i s o n w i t h t h e g r o u p o f c o u p l e s w h oremained chi ldless . This f inding is especial lysa l ien t fo r m others in con t ras t to fa thers becausethe t ransi t ion is par t icular ly s t ressful for thewives (B e lsky & Pensky, 1988). The s t reng th o f

the OHI in predict ing s tabi l i ty versus decl ine inmari ta l sa t isfact ion for wives ov er the transi t ionto paren thood suppor t s our hypothes i s tha t i ttaps re la t ionship buffers and vulnerabi l i t ies .

This s tudy is l imited by i ts correla t ionalna ture . The re la t ionsh ips tha t have been foundb e t w e e n p r e d i c t o r s a n d o u t c o m e c a n n o t b ein te rpre ted as causa l . Su bsequent research us ingcl inical t r ia ls that ma nipulate ch ange in the OH Ivariables and measuring mari ta l sa t isfact ionoutcom es i s needed to c la r i fy the na ture o f there la t ionsh ip be tween the OHI var iab les andchange in m ar i ta l sa t i s fac t ion over per iods o ftransit ion.

Subsequent research should assess how thecouples ' v iew of the i r mar r iage changes o r s taysthe same th rough the t rans i t ion . Th is cou ld beaccom pl i shed by g iv ing couples mul t ip le semi-s t ruc tured in te rv iews , in i t i a l ly to newlyweds ,l a te r to couples w hen they a re expe c t ing thebir th of their f i rs t chi ld , and again af te r the bab yis born . These in te rv iews , coded a long the samedimens ions , would revea l cons i s tency versuschange in these mar i t a l qua li t ie s ov er t ime . Th er a t e o f c h a n g e o v e r t i m e i n t h e O H I c o d i n gc o u l d b e c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e r a te o f c h a n g e o v e r


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t ime in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion to y ie ld be t te runders tand ing of how these fac to rs in f luenceeach other.

I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r A p p l i c a t i o na n d P u b l i c P o l i c y

The var iab les in our s tudy pred ic t ing mar i t a ls tabi l i ty dur ing the t ransi t ion to parenthood( fondness and admira t ion fo r one ' s spouse andthe awareness o r cogni t ive room a l loca ted toone ' s pa r tner and the re la t ionsh ip) re f lec t thecoup le ' s mar i t a l f r iendsh ip and the i r bond w i thone ano ther. The var iab les in our s tudy pred ic t -ing dec l ine in mar i t a l sa t i s fac t ion dur ing the

t rans i t ion to paren thood (nega t iv i ty towardone ' s spouse , d i sappoin tment in the m ar r iage o rin one ' s spouse , and the chaos o f fee l ing thatchanges a re ou t s ide o f the coup le ' s con t ro l )ref lect vulnerabi l i t ies in the marr iage. Theresu l ts o f ou r research ind ica te tha t th i s m ar i ta lf r iendsh ip acts as a bu ffer dur ing s t ressful t imesin the marr iage, such as the t ransi t ion toparen thood . S t reng then ing the mar i t a l f r i end-sh ip i s someth ing tha t bo th the rap i s t s andtherapeu t ic p rograms cou ld focus on to he lp

couples becoming paren t s . In te rven t ion pro-grams des igned to he lp couples nur tu re andbui ld these p ro tec t ive fac to rs o f m ar i ta l f r i end-sh ip , wh i le s im ul taneous ly reduc ing vu lnerab i l i -t i e s , may a id those a t r i sk fo r tu rbu lence anddecl in e in mari ta l qual i ty dur ing the t ransi t ion toparen thood .

There has been a wea l th o f research ind ica t -ing tha t as couples become paren t s theyexperience a decl ine in mari ta l sa t isfact ion, adecrease in pos i t ive in te rchange , and an inc rease

in conf l i c t (Be lsky Kel ly, 1994; Be lskyPensky, 1988; Belsky et a l . , 1983; C. P. CowanCow an, 1992 , 1995). Th e resu lt s o f the

presen t s tudy suppor t the f ind ing tha t mar i t a lsa t is fac t ion decreases in couples as they bec om eparen t s . Desp i te th i s overwhelming ev idence ,the re a re few programs ava i lab le to he lp couplesnav iga te th i s s t ress fu l pe r iod and few s tud iestha t hav e ex am ined the e ffec t s o f an in te rven t ionon mari ta l res i l ience dur ing the t ransi t ion toparen thood (Clu low, 1982; C . P. Cowan

Cow an, 1992). W e advoca te po l icy tha t suppor t sfu r ther research on in te rven t ions des igned to a idc o u p l e s b e c o m i n g p a r e nt s a n d o n t h e i m p l e m e n -ta t ion o f e ffec t ive and ava i lab le in te rven t ionprograms .

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R e c e i v e d J a n u a r y 1 5 , 1 9 9 9R e v i s i o n re c e i v e d N o v e m b e r 3 , 1 9 9 9

A c c e p t e d N o v e m b e r 4 , 1 99 9

shapiro-bringing baby home

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