In a recent study published within the journal PLOS One, researchers evaluated relationship satisfaction (RS) of first- and second-time fathers from the Dresden Study of Parenting, Work, and Mental Health (DREAM) cohort using the Partnership Questionnaire and multiple regression modeling. Their results elucidate that first-time fathers showed more drastic reductions in RS and longer durations to ‘bounce back’ to normal relationships through the transition to parenthood than their second-time counterparts. Provided that this trend matches previous research on first-time moms, this research suggests that couples expecting their first child should brace themselves to face expected relationship challenges.

Study: Changes in relationship satisfaction within the transition to parenthood amongst fathers. Image Credit: Ground Picture

Parenthood and its impacts on relationships

Alongside discovering real meaning in life, satisfying relationships have been identified as a vital individual life goal. Positive relationship satisfaction (RS), characterised by the high affective involvement of partners in one another’s lives and the proportion of shared life experiences, has been shown to be negatively affected by the transition to parenthood (each first- and second-time parents).

Research has revealed that the standard of partners’ relationships can have a striking impact on their mental health, thereby increasing depression symptoms in each fathers and moms. Relationship discord also adversely affects mental health treatment, with a corresponding increase in substance abuse. Hypotheses for these observations include reductions in intimacy or intercourse, reorganization of the family structure, recent family roles and the associated adjustment stress, lack of sleep as a result of the newborn, and the extra financial burdens the kid brings. These are assumed to cut back inter-partner attention and cause a decline in RS.

Decline RS has been related to a bunch of demerits, including reduced commitment to parenting, weaker parent-offspring bonding, and parent mental health declines. A few of these demerits may extend to the infant, with research identifying a better mental health risk in children raised in an inter-parent conflict environment. In contrast, improved RS has been related to improved personal-social development in children.

Previous RS research has focused on first-time moms, with fathers being largely ignored. Moreover, these studies have failed to tell apart between first- and second-time parents, stopping comparisons between these cases. Study sample sizes have also hitherto been limited, with most research limited to cohorts from the US (US). Provided that evidence suggests that subsequent pregnancies following the primary have reduced impacts on moms’ stress, potential as a result of acclimatization and preparation, studies exploring the RS impacts of first- and second-time parenting are essential.

In regards to the study

“…the present study directs the deal with fathers and their experiences within the family system with the next research questions: (I) How do first- and second-time fathers’ trajectories of RS develop across the transition to parenthood? (II) Do age, education, income, duration of relationship, marital status, child’s biological sex, or child temperament predict RS through the transition to parenthood?”

A subset of information from the Dresden Study of Parenting, Work, and Mental Health (DREAM) cohort, an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal dataset, was used for this study. DREAM comprises a big (n = 3,860) variety of future moms (n = 2,243) and fathers (n = 1,617) aimed toward understanding associations between parental role distribution, stress, work participation, and family outcomes (perinatal and long-term mental and somatic health). The inclusion and exclusion criteria for the current study were derived from the Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) guidelines.

Male participants were chosen in and around Dresden, Germany, between June 2017 and December 2020. Data was collected at 4 time points, T1-T4. T1 was prepartum, collected two months before infant birth, while T2-T4 were postpartum, collected eight weeks, 14 months, and 24 months after delivery, respectively. Given the continued study design on the DREAM dataset, fathers who didn’t complete T1-T4 before 31^st January 2022 were excluded, leading to a final sample of 606 participants (500 first-time fathers and 106 second-time fathers).

Collected data included RS, assessed using a modified version of the Partnership Questionnaire (PFB-K), a well-established RS measurement tool in Germany. Recorded measurements were in accordance with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), a world version of PFB-K, and included assessments of cohesion, satisfaction, and consensus between partners. The questionnaire comprised nine questions, each with a three-point rating, leading to an overall rating range of 0 (lowest) to 27 (maximum). Moreover, number of youngsters, age, education, relationship duration, income, marital status, child’s temperament, and biological sex were recorded as predictors.

“Of all eight predictors, five (number of youngsters, age, education, income, and marital status) were measured at T1. Child’s biological sex and child temperament were assessed at T2. The duration of the connection (measured with the month and yr of the start of the connection) was assessed at T3 and is due to this fact retrospectively calculated for T1.”

The latent growth curve (LGCM), a multiple regression model, was used for analyses. Linear and quadratic latent growth was used to capture growth over time. Model fitting was carried out using the chi-squared test (χ²), the foundation mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), and the comparative fit index (CFI).

Study findings

Fathers were aged, on average, 32.4 years (range 20-49), most of which had over 10 years of education (75%). Lower than 50% of fathers were married to their partners, but the common relationship duration at T1 was 7.3 years, with just about all (98.5%) of people living with their partners.

“There have been significant differences between first-time and second-time fathers in age (t(604) = −6.039; p <. 000), the duration of relationship (t(604) = −3.580; p < .000), and marital status (χ2 = 6.611; p = .010)”

Descriptive evaluation of RS showed that the proportion of participants with PFB-K scores of 13 or less (unsatisfied) increased substantially between T1 and T3 (T1: 5.9%; T2: 8.3%; T3: 15.7%). PFB-K scores were then observed to rise at T4 (9.9%), indicating that RS was reduced after childbirth but increased (or bounced back) after the infant reached age two. Intercorrelation analyses revealed that multicollinearity, while present, was insignificant with respect to the linear regression model used for first- and second-time father comparisons.

“The LGCM with linear and quadratic growth factor fit the info best. First-time fathers showed higher initial RS (Diff_pregnancy = 2.88, SE = 0.46, p < .001) but experienced a steeper decline within the transition to parenthood than second-time fathers.”

Notably, first- and second-time fathers showed significant differences within the T3-T4 time period – the previous group continued the RS decline trend, while the latter cohort showed improvements in RS scores, indicating a reversal within the antagonistic effects of parenthood.

Conclusions

In the current study, researchers used a big cohort (n = 606) of fathers to guage the impact of parenthood on RS and elucidate the differences between participants who were fathers for the first- or second-time, respectively. Their results indicate that RS across participants reduced following childbirth, with the number of youngsters being the strongest predictor of the magnitude of RS decline. First-time fathers were found to point out the steepest decline, with the decline continuing for the longest duration, as much as two years following childbirth. In contrast, second-time fathers depicted lower magnitude and duration reductions, with an observed increase in RS scores between T3 and T4.

“Other than this, the duration of relationship showed a big association with the initial values of RS. Fathers in longer-lasting relationships exhibited lower RS before birth. On this study, age, education, income, marital status, the kid’s biological sex, and temperament didn’t predict the RS within the transition to parenthood.”

These results suggest that parenting experience and increased offspring independence play a significant role in determining RS in fathers. Provided that first-time fathers ‘have it worst,’ results that mirror previous research in moms, couples expecting their firstborn should expect their relationship to (temporarily) hit a rocky patch and prepare accordingly.