Submitted by: Heidi Liss Radunovich, PhD, Assistant Professor of Human Development

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Salmela-Aro, K., Aunola, K., Saisto, T., Halmesmäki, E., & Nurmi, J. (2006). Couples share similar changes in depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction anticipating the birth of a child [Electronic version]. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 23, 781-803.

Introduction

Although it is evident that the birth of a child has a large impact on the relationship of a couple, the exact mechanisms of how it affects the relationship are less clear. Previous studies have not looked at this issue longitudinally (following a couple over time), compared those having their first child with those having a later child, or looked at both members of the couple as well as their interaction. This study, which took place in Finland, takes a more thorough look at the adjustment of both members of the couple over time. They sought to examine both depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction in both members of a couple over time: as they were preparing for and after the birth of their first child; whether the two issues impacted one another; whether there were differences between it being a first or later child; and did likelihood of divorce increase with the birth of a child, and with changes in depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction.

Methodology

Although 407 women who attended prenatal care were originally contacted to participate in the study, 320 women agreed to participate (32 refused, 20 miscarried, and 28 were single so not eligible for the study). There were 260 male partners of these women who also participated in the study. Over the course of the study both members of the couple were surveyed 4 times: early in the pregnancy (around 12 weeks), one month before the birth (around 36 weeks), 3 months after the birth, and around 2 years after the birth. At the end of the study, 187 females and 127 males had completed all measures. Interestingly, those who dropped out of the study had lower marital satisfaction at the start of the study.

Depression was examined at all 4 points by using the Beck Depression Inventory; the couple’s marital satisfaction was examined at all 4 points by using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale; and whether or not a couple had divorced was assessed at point 4 (2 years after birth) by using the Life Changes Questionnaire. Additionally, age, education, employment, marital status, and number of children were recorded at the start of the study. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the relationships among the variables for each individual and for the couple as a unit.

Main Ideas

Depression and relationship satisfaction seemed consistent within a couple, such that higher depressive symptoms in one spouse meant that the other spouse was likely to have depressive symptoms, and level of relationship satisfaction was similar for each member in a couple. Also, depression and relationship satisfaction seemed to go together, such that higher depressive symptoms were associated with lower relationship satisfaction, and lower depressive symptoms with higher relationship satisfaction. However, it is unclear why they go together: do depressive symptoms lead to lower relationship satisfaction, or does lower relationship satisfaction lead to more depressive symptoms (or both)?

Another interesting finding was that those who had more depressive symptoms before the birth of the baby showed a reduction in symptoms after the birth of the baby, but those with lower levels of symptoms at the start showed an increase in depressive symptoms after the birth of the baby. There was a similar finding for relationship satisfaction: low relationship satisfaction at the start of the pregnancy was associated with higher satisfaction after the birth, and higher relationship satisfaction before the birth was associated with lower relationship satisfaction after the birth. There were also gender differences: women were more likely to have depressive symptoms than men, but women were more satisfied with the relationship before the birth of the baby, and showed less of a decrease in satisfaction after the birth of the baby than did men. Interestingly, those couples that already had children showed more depressive symptoms and lower relationship satisfaction during this pregnancy, but there was improvement after birth.

Some of these findings differ from the results of other studies. The research literature has shown that how satisfied you are in your relationship decreased for most couples after the birth of a child, but couples who were happier in their relationship before the baby had less of a decrease in satisfaction (e.g., Shapiro, Gottman, & Carrere, 2000). It is unclear why this study found different results, but perhaps some of it could be related to cultural differences (previous studies were conducted in the US or similar countries), or societal policy differences (in Finland there is state supported medical care, paid time off from work, and supplemental money provided to parents until the child is age 3) that could lead to different results. It could also be the way that researchers look at the issues (how marital satisfaction is measured and when).

Implications for Extension Programs

For Extension agents who work with parents expecting a child (particularly their first child), it may be good to inform them that symptoms of depression are common after the birth of the child, especially for women. It may also be good to prepare expectant parents for some of the changes that could occur in their relationship with their partner, and help them to strengthen their relationship in anticipation of the demands of a new baby. However, it is important to remember that not all couples are the same, and culture or circumstances may play a part in the changes that occur with the birth of a child.

Conclusion

Although previous research suggests that couples’ satisfaction with their relationship reduces with the birth of a child, and that happiness with the relationship prior to the birth of a child predicts happiness after the birth of the child, this study suggests that this mechanism may not work the same way in all couples or in all cultures. In this study couples whose relationships were unhappy prior to the birth of the child showed improvement, while those who were happy prior to the birth of the child showed reductions in happiness. There were consistent reports from both partners in a couple: if one person was happy in the relationship, the other would report a similar level of happiness. Finally, it was found that depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction had an inverse relationship, so those with high levels of depressive symptoms had lower levels of relationship satisfaction, while those with fewer depressive symptoms reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Although these states (depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction) vary together, it is unclear whether one causes the other.

Additional References

Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J., & Carrere (2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 59-70.

Submitted by: Kate Fogarty, Ph.D., Youth Development
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Introduction

The role grandparents play in children’s development is an increasingly recognized phenomenon in the U.S., as well as other developed nations. For example, nearly 6% of children reside in homes where grandparents are the head of household (U.S. Census, 2001) and there has been a recent, steep increase in grandparents serving as surrogate parents to their grandchildren (Fuller-Thomson & Minkler, 2000). The increase is attributed to a number of dire conditions affecting parents/children of grandparents such as: (1) death, divorce, child abuse, drug use and incarceration (Edwards & Daire, 2006); and (2) grandparents are the most willing of any family member to take grandchildren into their home (Edwards, 1998).

Beyond the influence, grandparents have on their grandchildren while they raise them – such as academic success and psychological well-being (Edwards, 2003) – grandparents also affect grandchildren even when they do not live under the same roof. When children face high risk situations such as poverty and parental mental illness, grandparents can make a difference by positively affecting a child’s development. Notably, recent findings support how grandparents buffer the negative effects of high risk on children. High risk settings that include: poverty, parental mental illness, and stressful family events are found to be correlates and causes of maternal depression (Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006). Maternal depression has notable negative effects on parenting and children’s functioning, effects which have been found to be lessened by grandchildren’s sense of emotional closeness to their grandparents.

Maternal Depression and Family Relationships

Maternal depression affects children through family relationships by how parents and children interact with one another (Davies & Windle, 1997; Nelson, Hammen, Brennan, & Ullman, 2003). Compared to nondepressed mothers, depressed mothers are found to respond:

• minimally or inconsistently with their children;
• express more negative emotions with their children; and
• are less engaged when interacting with their children (Petterson & Albers, 2001). Like poverty, maternal depression:
• inhibits children’s cognitive development (Petterson & Albers, 2001);
• worsens their behavior problems (Elgar, Curtis, McGrath, Waschbusch, & Stewart, 2003; Zuckerman & Beardslee, 1987);
• influences teens’ acting out behaviors and impairs their functioning in social and academic roles (Nelson, et al., 2003).

Depressive symptoms reported by mothers are associated with adolescent daughters’ (but not sons’) experiences with depression, behavioral problems, and academic difficulties (Davies & Windle, 1997). Mothers’ reports of depression when children are school-aged and adolescents had negative effects on psychological functioning and educational attainment for adult sons and daughters (Ensminger, Hanson, Riley, & Juon, 2003). Moreover, mother’s depression when children were school-aged to young adult was significantly related to children’s reports of depression in young adulthood (Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006). Similar to the timing effects found with poverty, the longer a period of time a child experiences maternal depression, the more negative developmental effects result (Petterson & Albers, 2001).

Maternal depression has clearly been established as a risk factor for poor child, adolescent, and young adult (e.g., developmental) outcomes. For example, a national, representative longitudinal study has found that being (Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006):

• female;
• unmarried vs. married and cohabiting;
• cohabiting vs. married;
• depressed in childhood; and
• having a depressed mother as a child, each increased the likelihood that children would be depressed as young adults.

Grandparent(s) as Protective Factor

However, this same study shows that a child’s relationship with his or her grandparent(s) is a source of protection or a protective factor. For example, a grandchild’s:

• sense of emotional closeness to their grandparent(s);
• frequency of contact with grandparent(s); and
• view of their grandparent(s) as a source of social support, together buffer the “intergenerational effect” of maternal depression on children (Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006).

In other words, for children with depressed mothers, the higher a child’s sense of “social cohesion” with their grandparent(s), measured by the above three factors, the less likely he or she is to experience depression in adulthood. Or, among all children, the link between depressive symptoms of mothers and children was found to be weakened by the presence of strong grandparent-grandchild relationships.

Notable protective factors pinpointed in resilience research include: availability of community support networks, the presence of caring adults, possession of high intelligence, and having high self-esteem; these protective factors have caught the attention of youth interventionists and prevention researchers. Decreasing the influence of risk factors and increasing or providing the presence of protection in the lives of at-risk youth is a main goal of intervention. There is logic in targeting those protective factors found in youth development research as part of treatment and prevention for youth at risk (Wolkow & Ferguson, 2001); however, setbacks occur due to limited knowledge of how to influence underlying processes that buffer risk and stress in the lives of youth (Rutter, 1993).

In light of these recent findings of the protective function of grandparents on youth outcomes, Extension educators can (adapted from Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006):

• Consider ways to mobilize family resources toward the extended, and beyond the nuclear, family;
• Emphasize the importance of intergenerational relationships in families;
• Incorporate ways for intergenerational family participation in programs;
• Encourage the volunteerism of older adults in the community (e.g., as “surrogate” grandparents to individual youth or youth programs); and
• Make use of multigenerational resources in their programs.

References

Davies, P.T., & Windle, M. (1997). Gender-specific pathways between maternal depressive symptoms, family discord, and adolescent adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 33, 657-668.

Edwards, O.W. & Daire, A.P. (2006). School-age children raised by their grandparents: Problems and solutions. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 33, 113-119.

Edwards, O.W. (1998). Helping grandchildren raised by grandparents: Expanding psychology in the schools. Psychology in the Schools, 35, 173-181.

Edwards, O.W. (2003). Living with grandma: A grandfamily study. School Psychology International, 24, 204-217.

Elgar, F.J., Curtis, L.J., McGrath, P.J., Waschbusch, D.A., & Stewart, S.H. (2003). Antecedent-consequence conditions in maternal mood and child adjustment: A four-year cross-lagged study. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 362-374.

Ensminger, M.E., Hanson, S.G., Riley, A. W., & Juon, H.S. (2003). Maternal psychological distress: Adult sons’ and daughters’ mental health and educational attainment. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1108-1115.

Fuller-Thomson, E., & Minkler, M. (2000). America’s grandparent caregivers: Who are they? In B. Hayslip Jr. & R. Goldberg-Glen (Eds.), Grandparents raising grandchildren: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives (pp. 3-21). New York, NY: Springer.

Nelson, D.R., Hammen, C., Brennan, P.A., & Ullman, J.B. (2003). The impact of maternal depression on adolescent adjustment: The role of expressed emotion. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 935-944.

Petterson, S.M. & Albers, A.B. (2001). Effects of poverty and maternal depression on early child development. Child Development, 72, 1974-1813.

Rutter, M. (1993). Resilience: Some conceptual considerations. Journal of Adolescent Health, 14, 626-631.

Silverstein, M., & Ruiz, S. (2006). Breaking the chain: How grandparents moderate the transmission of maternal depression to their grandchildren. Family Relations, 55, 601-612.

United States Census Bureau. (2001). Census 2000 Supplementary Survey: Profile of selected social characteristics.

Wolkow, K.E., & Ferguson, H.B. (2001). Community factors in the development of resiliency: Considerations and future directions. Community Mental Health Journal, 37, 489-498.

Zuckerman, B.S., & Beardslee, W.R. (1987). Maternal depression: A concern for pediatricians. Pediatrics, 79, 110-117.