title: Parenting attitudes and marital intimacy: a longitudinal analysis.
abstract: This longitudinal study examined change in 97 couples' marital intimacy over the first 3 years after the birth of a child. Participants included both first-time and experienced parents. Regardless of parity, both wives and husbands, on average, showed linear declines in marital intimacy; however, significant variability in individual trajectories was found. The study evaluated the relation between parenting attitudes, measured independently for each partner and in terms of agreement between partners, and individual differences in the level and trajectory of marital intimacy. For both wives and husbands, higher perceived difficulty with parenting was related to lower initial levels of marital intimacy. Wives whose husbands held more traditional attitudes regarding child rearing and those whose beliefs about child rearing differed from the beliefs of their partners experienced steeper declines in intimacy over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, 148 Stone Building, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402, USA. m_obrien@uncg.edu
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Peyton
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*