engleski

When Two Become Three: Relationship satisfaction in expectant parents.

Pregnancy is time of many changes for expectant parents. Not only physiological and hormonal changes take place in woman’s body, but psychological and family functioning changes take place as well. Studies consistently show changes in relationship satisfaction during transition to parenthood. The aims of the study were: (1) to compare relationship satisfaction during pregnancy between parents and expectant parents for the first time and (2) to examine predictors of relationship satisfaction in pregnant women and their partners. Pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy (N=150) and their partners (N=105) participated in the study while waiting for regular prenatal check-ups. Participants filled out Demographic and Obstetric Information Sheet and Perceived Quality of Marital Relationship Scale (PQMR ; Jurević, 2007) that measures different aspects of relationship satisfaction: General Marital Satisfaction, Communication, Closeness and Intimate Relationship. Two-way ANOVA showed no significant effect of gender or number of children (with/without children) on general relationship satisfaction. Separate hierarchical regression analyses were performed for women and men. Demographic and obstetric variables that correlated significantly with relationship satisfaction were controlled for in the first step. In the second step, satisfaction with different aspects of relationship was entered. In women, Closeness and Intimate Relationship were significant predictors and explained 62% of the global relationship satisfaction variance. In men, Closeness was significant predictor, but explained just 32% of the global relationship satisfaction variance. To conclude, relationship satisfaction is high in expectant parents and can be predicted by different aspects of relationship. However, somewhat different patterns of predictors were established for pregnant women and their partners. Possible changes of relationship satisfaction during transition to parenthood should be discussed in prenatal classes.

relationship satisfaction; pregnancy; expectant parents

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