Temporary Life Changes and the Timing of Divorce

Developing a Valid and Reliable Cross-cultural Measure of Coparenting Conflict between Divorced Parents: The Portuguese Version of the Acrimony Scale

Coparenting conflict is predictive of parents' and children's adjustment to divorce. An accurate assessment of postdivorce acrimonious coparenting relationships is critical for research, clinical, forensic, and public policy purposes. The Acrimony Scale (AS) is a measure commonly used to assess coparenting conflict. We translated and cross-culturally adapted the AS to the Portuguese context, testing its reliability and validity. Using a web-based survey, data were collected from a community and convenience sample of 196 unrelated divorced parents, assessing sociodemographic characteristics, coparenting conflict, and divorce adjustment. The study consisted of two phases: (1) forward-backward translation and cultural adaptation and (2) psychometric properties analyses: construct and criterion-related validity and internal consistency reliability. The 25-item AS was successfully translated and cross-culturally adapted to the Portuguese language. Principal component analyses (PCA) suggested a three-factor structure solution of 22-items, explaining 57.5% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed the goodness of fit of this tridimensional model. The results also demonstrated acceptable convergent and good discriminant validity and high internal reliability. Scores on the AS suggested good known-groups validity and high discriminative power with 86.7% classification accuracy. The area under the ROC curve was 0.91, establishing a very good predictive value of the scale. We suggest that the AS is a reliable multidimensional measure to assess coparenting conflict after divorce and may be useful, namely, in the psychological assessment of child custody and evaluation of the effectiveness of coparenting conflict-based interventions. We discussed future research and practical implications.

Marital Stability Over 10 Years Following Traumatic Brain Injury

OBJECTIVE

To examine the stability of marriage from the time of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to 10 years postinjury.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort.

SETTING

TBI Model Systems centers.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 1423 participants in the TBI Model Systems National Database who experienced TBI 10 years prior and were married at the time of injury.

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Remaining married to the same partner from the time of injury to 10-year follow-up.

RESULTS

At 10 years, 66% (938) remained married to the same person. Significant associations were found with age at injury (P < .0001), sex (P = .0028), and preinjury problematic substance use (P = .0092). Marital stability over the 10-year period was higher for those who were older, were female, and had no problematic substance use history. Marital instability was greatest in the first year postinjury.

CONCLUSIONS

Most married adults who received inpatient rehabilitation for TBI remained married to the same individual 10 years later. Those who were younger, were male, and had a history of problematic substance use were at a highest risk for relationship dissolution. Findings have implications for content, timing, and delivery of marital interventions. Substance use education and prevention appear to be important aspects of marital support.

Shorter birth intervals between siblings are associated with increased risk of parental divorce

Birth intervals are a crucial component of fertility behaviour and family planning. Short birth intervals are associated—although not necessarily causally—with negative health-related outcomes, but less is known about their associations with family functioning. Here, the associations between birth intervals and marital stability were investigated by Cox regression using a nationally representative, register-based sample of individuals with two (N = 42,481) or three (N = 22,514) children from contemporary Finland (observation period 1972–2009). Shorter interbirth intervals were associated with an increased risk of parental divorce over a ten-year follow-up. Individuals with birth intervals of up to 1.5 years had 24–49 per cent higher divorce risk compared to individuals whose children were born more than 4 years apart. The pattern was similar in all socioeconomic groups and among individuals with earlier and later entry to parenthood. Our results add to the growing body of research showing associations between short birth intervals and negative outcomes in health and family functioning.

The consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family: an integrative literature review

BACKGROUND

The consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family are acknowledged in research, yet to our knowledge, no literature review has been made regarding the overall consequences to the family and infant. This integrative review fills the gap with the aim to review and synthesise current research.

AIMS

To identify, describe and synthesise previous studies on the consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family.

DESIGN

An integrative review of literature published between January 2008 and April 2018. The search was conducted in the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Medic and Journals@Ovid. Empirical literature reporting the consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family was eligible for inclusion. Quality appraisal was performed using CASP tools and JBI checklists. The extracted data were analysed using thematic analysis.

FINDINGS

Thirty-one articles were included in the review. Ten themes were identified: The consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family create desperation. It ruins everyday life, impairs breastfeeding, isolates and casts parents into loneliness, strains and breaks family relationships with feelings of failure as a parent. The excessively crying infant in the family brings a struggle that can lead to physical and mental exhaustion. The infant may have problems later in childhood. Parents are actively trying to solve the problem and to adjust. Time allows survival with traces of negative symptoms, feelings and memories.

CONCLUSIONS

The consequences of having an excessively crying infant in the family are harmful to relationships and health. Caring for the crying infant can lead to exhaustion, which might escalate into abuse. These findings help professionals understand this complex phenomenon and encourage actions for concrete support. Further research is required to explore evidence-based interventions that can help excessively crying infants and their families.