mitnick et al - parenthood

aim

To investigate changes in satisfaction levels of couples after becoming parents compared to couples who have not had children. The meta-analysis comprised of samples from 37 longitudinal studies tracking first-time parents from pregnancy up to the child being about a year old.

procedure

A meta-analysis was conducted using research articles of couples with and without children dating as far back as 1887 up to and including 2006. The researchers identified key words which formed the basis of the research e.g. 'transition', 'parenthood', 'relationship satisfaction'. The studies included were generally self-report questionnaires which used rating scales to measure satisfaction expressed by the participants.

findings

There was a significant decline in relationship satisfaction for the couples who had children compared to the childless couples: particularly in the first couple of years after the first child had been born. There was a good deal of variability in this particular finding, with some couples recording large decreases in satisfaction compared to slight increases in some cases.

conclusions/ link

Becoming first-time parents may affect the satisfaction levels of a relationship, with a mostly negative impact on the relationship.

critical thinking for research

-Meta-analyses use a variety of statistical measures which makes the analysis more objective and increases the reliability of the findings

-There is a lack of ecological validity in the results as the rather cold and detached statistical measures cannot reveal how and why this lack of satisfaction occurs.

-One of the issues is that this study measures satisfaction up to only around one year after the birth of the child, which means that long-term effects of becoming a parent have not been addressed.

theory

- becoming parents is a big change in a relationship and can cause couples to break up

- one may want a child whilst the other may not or there could be some infertility issues