The DOI matches its Crossref record; 89 of the 89 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The effect of the transition to parenthood on relationship quality: An 8-year prospective study.
Open accessAbstract
This longitudinal study examined the effect of the birth of the 1st child on relationship functioning using data from 218 couples (436 individuals) over the course of the first 8 years of marriage. Compared with prebirth levels and trajectories, parents showed sudden deterioration following birth on observed and self-reported measures of positive and negative aspects of relationship functioning. The deterioration in these variables was small to medium in size and tended to persist throughout the remaining years of the study. Mothers and fathers showed similar amounts of change after birth. The amount of postbirth deterioration in relationship functioning varied systematically by several characteristics of the individual, the marriage, and the pregnancy itself. In a group of couples who did not have children, results indicated more gradual deterioration in relationship functioning during the first 8 years of marriage without the sudden changes seen in parents, suggesting that the results seen in the parent sample may be due to birth.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods.
Longford, N. T., Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1993) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2075823 · Cited by 18,773 · cited 2×
“Models 1c, 2c, 3c, as well as 1d, 2d, and 3d were fit to the data using a piecewise model (e.g., Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) that estimated a linear rate of change before birth and a separate linear rate of change after birth that captured deviations from the prebirth rate of change.”
(2002) · Cited by 13,211
Bayesian model selection in social research
Raftery, A. E. (1995) · Sociological Methodology · doi:10.2307/271063 · Cited by 6,823 · cited 2×
“When comparing models, Raftery (1995) suggested that BIC differences of 2– 6 to be " positive " evidence, of 6 –10 to be " strong, " and over 10 to be " very strong.”
An alternative "description of personality": The Big-Five factor structure.
Goldberg, L. R. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.59.6.1216 · Cited by 6,652
Short Marital-Adjustment and Prediction Tests: Their Reliability and Validity
Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. M. (1959) · Marriage and Family Living · doi:10.2307/348022 · Cited by 2,913 · cited 1×
“The first item from the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; Locke & Wallace, 1959) was used to assess satisfaction.”
The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, method, and research.
Karney, B. R., & Bradbury, T. N. (1995) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.3 · Cited by 2,613 · cited 2×
“The VSA model suggests that each of these components— enduring vulnerabilities, the nature and timing of stressful events, and the degree to which couples can engage in adaptive processes—must be considered in order to understand changes in relationship functioning (Karney & Bradbury, 1995).”
MethodSensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment
De Wolff, M. S., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1997) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb04218.x · Cited by 2,526
Economic Stress, Coercive Family Process, and Developmental Problems of Adolescents
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00768.x · Cited by 2,005
Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis.
Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.387 · Cited by 1,866
Funk, J. L., & Rogge, R. D. (2007) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.572 · Cited by 1,806
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Clulow CF To have and to hold: Marriage, the first baby and parenting during the transition to parenthood 1982 Aberdeen University Press Aberdeen, Scotland
- Crane DR Allgood SM Larson JH Griffin W Assessing marital quality with distressed and nondistressed couples: A comparison and equivalency table for three frequently used measures Journal of Marriage and the Family 1990 52 87 93
- Cummings EM Davies PT Children and marital conflict: The impact of family dispute and resolution 1994 Guilford Press New York
- Kline GH Wood LF Moore S Validation of revised measures of family and interparental conflict for use with young adults Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 2003 39 34 125 142
- Schwarz G Estimating the dimensions of a model Annals of Statistics 1978 6 461 464
- Stanley SM Whitton SW Markman HJ Maybe I do: Interpersonal commitment and premarital or nonmarital cohabitation Journal of Family Issues 2004 25 496 519
- West SG Biesanz J Pitts SC Reis HT Judd CM Causal inference and generalization in field settings: Experimental and quasi-experimental designs Handbook of research methods in social psychology 2000 40 84 Cambridge University Press New York
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Parenting Stress, Mental Health, Dyadic Adjustment: A Structural Equation Model
Rollè, L., Prino, L. E., Sechi, C., Vismara, L., Neri, E., Polizzi, C., Trovato, A., Volpi, B., Molgora, S., Fenaroli, V., et al. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00839 · Cited by 1,047
“…analyzed depressive and anxious symptoms during the perinatal period in mother and fathers and their links to parenting stress; however, none seem to have considered these factors in relation to the dyadic adjustment of the couple (Doss et al., 2009; Mitnick et al., 2009; Darwiche et al., 2015).”
BackgroundParenthood and Happiness: a Review of Folk Theories Versus Empirical Evidence
Hansen, T. (2011) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-011-9865-y · Cited by 413
“For example, recent U.S. data shows that marital satisfaction tends to decline in the first 2 years (Crohan 1996), 5 years (Lawrence et al. 2008), and 8 years (Doss et al. 2009) of marriage for all couples, but more so for parents.”
Baldwin, S., Malone, M., Sandall, J., & Bick, D. (2018) · The JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports · doi:10.11124/jbisrir-2017-003773 · Cited by 305
“This is not uncommon as the reduction in positive communication between couples following birth has been linked to a decline in relationship and marital satisfaction as well as an increase in conflict.(70,71,72,73,74) In a study by Darwin et al.”
BackgroundMarkman, H. J., RHOADES, G. K., Stanley, S. M., Ragan, E. P., & Whitton, S. W. (2010) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019481 · Cited by 238
Self-citationAdult Attachment Orientations, Stress, and Romantic Relationships
Simpson, J. A., & Rholes, W. S. (2012) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-394286-9.00006-8 · Cited by 225
Metadata
- Authors
- Doss, B. D., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J.
- Affiliations
- Texas A&M University (US)
- University of Denver (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 601-619
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- PMC
- PMC2702669
- OpenAlex
- W2098223435
- Cited by
- 656
- References
- 89
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 36.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5-R01-MH35525-12, R01MH035525)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD053314, R03HD051695, R01HD047564)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Keywords
- transition to parenthood, relationship quality, marital functioning, couples, pregnancy characteristics, parents
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Communication, Conflict, Psychological, Family Relations, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Marriage, Parents, Personal Satisfaction, Prospective Studies, Self Disclosure, Sex Factors, Social Adjustment, Stress, Psychological
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
