title: Relationship satisfaction among mothers of children with congenital heart defects: a prospective case-cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the level of partner relationship satisfaction among mothers of children with different severity of congenital heart defects (CHD) compared with mothers in the cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers of children with mild, moderate, or severe CHD (n = 182) and a cohort of mothers of children without CHD (n = 46,782) from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were assessed at 5 time points from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum. A 5-item version of the Relationship Satisfaction scale was used, and relevant covariates were explored.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The trajectories of relationship satisfaction among mothers of children with varying CHD severity did not differ from the trajectories in the cohort. All women in the cohort experienced decreasing relationship satisfaction from 18 months after delivery up to 36 months after delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Having a child with CHD, regardless of severity, does not appear to exacerbate the decline in relationship satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Health Behavior, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. MariaTeresaGronning.Dale@fhi.no
authors.forename: Maria T G
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: Oivind
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Holmstrøm
authors.forename: Markus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Landolt
authors.forename: Leif T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Eskedal
authors.forename: Margarete E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Vollrath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009664:Norway; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: chronic illness in children; congenital heart defects; motherhood; partnership; relationship stability