Couples’ relationship affects mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety and depression trajectories over the transition to parenthood

Background: The association between the couple relationship and the mothers’ and fathers’ psychological adjustment to the transition to parenthood has been examined in the literature. However, the direction of effects between these variables has not been extensively explored. This study aimed to assess the direction of effects between mothers’ and fathers’ positive and negative interactions and anxiety and depression symptoms trajectories over the transition to parenthood. Methods: A sample of 129 couples (N = 258) completed self-report measures of positive and negative interactions, anxiety and depression symptoms at each trimester of pregnancy, at childbirth, and at 3- and 30-months postpartum. Dyadic growth curve models were performed using multilevel modeling. Results: Whereas anxiety and depression showed no moderation effect on positive and negative interactions over time, negative interaction moderated depression from 3- to 30-months postpartum. Mothers and fathers with high negative interaction scores experienced a steeper increase in depression from 3- to 30-months postpartum. Additionally, gender moderated the effect of positive interaction on anxiety from 3- to 30-months postpartum. Fathers with low positive interaction scores experienced an increase in anxiety, whereas fathers with high positive interaction scores and mothers with high or low positive interaction scores did not experience changes in anxiety from 3- to 30-months postpartum. Limitations: Despite the longitudinal aspect of the models, a possible causal relationship need to be taken with caution. Conclusions: Our results suggest that mothers’ and fathers’ positive and negative interactions affect their anxiety and depression symptoms trajectories: negative interaction raises mothers’ and fathers’ depression symptoms and positive interaction prevents the increase of fathers’ anxiety symptoms over the postpartum period.
This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/
01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of
Education and Science through national funds and co‐financed by
FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership
Agreement (POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐007653). This study was also supported
by FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de
Competitividade - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under the project PTDC/SAU/
SAP/116738/2010 (PI Bárbara Figueiredo). Data analysis were supported
by a doctoral grant from FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a
Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/50241/2009).
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion