How does stress affect maternal and paternal perceptions of relationship strain after a preterm birth? Results of a retrospective survey study

AIM

Strain on couple relationships is associated with a lower well-being. As premature birth is known to pose stress to parents, this study explores whether interparental relationship strain comes to pass within mothers and fathers during their infant's stay in a neonatal intensive care unit.

METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted with parents who experienced a preterm birth (September to December 2020). Linear regression was used to analyse associations between stress and relationship strain.

RESULTS

The study included 437 mothers and 301 fathers. Fathers experienced lower relationship strain (M = 2.49, SD = 1.00) than mothers (M = 3.37, SD = 1.04). Overall, a significant association between relationship strain and stress due to the infant's behaviour and appearance was found for mothers (β = 0.16, p = 0.02) and fathers, with a significantly higher association for fathers (β = 0.27, p ≤ 0.002). With regard to parental role alterations, only mothers showed a significant association (β = 0.21, p ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Although mothers showed higher levels of stress and relationship strain, stress may also have an impact on fathers. Therefore, research should focus on stress prevention measures to meet both maternal and paternal needs.

Reexamining the association between the interparental relationship and parent-child interactions: Incorporating heritable influences

Family systems research has identified two key processes (spillover and compensatory), linking interparental relationship quality to the parent-child relationship. However, previous research has focused on the parent as the sole initiator and had not often considered the role of the child in these processes. The present study adds to the literature by leveraging a genetically informed design to examine possible child evocative effects on spillover and compensatory processes. Participants were from a longitudinal parent-offspring adoption sample of 361 linked sets of adoptive parents of an adopted child (57% male), and the child's birth parents. Adoptive parents reported on child pleasure and anger at 18 months and the interparental relationship at 27 months. Parent-child interactions were observed at child age 6 years, and heritable influences were assessed via birth mother self-report at 5 months. Our results indicated a dampening effect where higher interparental warmth at child age 27 months was associated with less adoptive mother-child coercion at child age 6 years, and a compensatory effect where higher interparental conflict was associated with more adoptive father-child positive engagement. Moreover, our results indicated child-driven effects via both genetic and environmental pathways. Specifically, higher levels of birth mother negative affect (heritable characteristic) were associated with lower levels of adoptive father-child coercion. Also, child anger was positively associated with interparental conflict, and child pleasure was positively associated with interparental warmth. These findings support findings from the family literature with evidence of compensatory mechanisms, while also highlighting the active role children play in shaping family interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Interplay between children's biobehavioral plasticity and interparental relationship in the origins of internalizing problems

The present study demonstrates the interplay between interparental relationship satisfaction and child plasticity in the origins of internalizing problems in 99 community mothers, fathers, and children. Our cumulative measure of plasticity integrated genetics (5-HTTLPR polymorphism), psychophysiology (skin conductance level), and observed behavior (inhibition, sadness, joy). The interaction between plasticity and interparental relationship satisfaction reflected differential susceptibility. Compared with low-plasticity peers, high-plasticity children had more internalizing problems from 5.5 to 12 years when the interparental relationship at 4.5 years was acrimonious, but fewer problems when it was harmonious. Further, almost half of the children in this sample were "differentially affected" by the interaction such that greater plasticity was associated with fewer internalizing problems when their parents had a harmonious relationship, a key feature of differential susceptibility. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interparental relationship dynamics and cardiac vagal functioning in infancy

This study examined associations between interparental relationship dynamics and vagus system functioning in infancy. The functioning of the vagus system, part of the parasympathetic nervous system, indexes emotional reactivity and regulation. Interparental avoidance and dyadic adjustment constitute the focus of this study in order to bring attention to relationship dynamics not subsumed under overt conflict. Infants' baseline vagal tone and change in vagal tone in response to a novel toy were assessed at 5 months in a sample of high-risk mother-infant dyads (n=77). Maternal report of interparental avoidance demonstrated an association with infants' baseline vagal tone, while interparental dyadic adjustment was associated with change in infants' vagal tone from baseline to the novel toy. Infant gender moderated these associations. Maternal sensitivity did not mediate interparental relationship dynamics and infants' vagal functioning. Results are discussed in the context of emotional security theory.