Adjustment of Couples Following Childbirth: The Role of Generalized and Specific States of Mind in an Italian Sample

• Published in: European psychologist 2011-01, Vol.16 (1), p.1-10
• Main Authors: Velotti, Patrizia, Castellano, Rosetta, Zavattini, Giulio Cesare
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; Attachment Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Birth; Couple and family; Couples; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Male; Parenthood Status; Parents; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social psychology
• ISSN: 1016-9040; 1878-531X
• DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000022

This study focuses on the changes in perception of dyadic adjustment following childbirth and on the role of attachment (as a risk or protection factor) in the way partners adjust to this stressful event. Four attachment configurations were analyzed which emerged from the concordance or discordance between the "generalized" and the "specific" states of mind in the individual, and a longitudinal and cross-sectional study on N = 206 participants (104 "new-parents" and 102 "nonparents by choice") was then implemented. These results showed that individuals who became parents had lower dyadic adjustment levels than nonparents (Lrtest = 395.03; p < .001). This decline in values seemed to be more pronounced for the "affectional expression" subscale ( b = −3.69) and suggests that in our sample the expression of love toward a partner might be particularly subject to stress due to the arrival of a child. Considering the role played in the attachment configuration of each individual, a significant effect upon Insecure GEN /Insecure SPEC individuals was found ( p = .015). This then would seem to indicate that these individuals might be more vulnerable to perceiving worse adjustment levels during the transition to first-time parenthood.