Award Date

1-1-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Christopher L. Heavey

Number of Pages

78

Abstract

Past research on the transition to parenthood has consistently found that this life phase results in many changes in a couple's marital relationship, specifically declines in couples' marital adjustment. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between constructive communication, personality traits, and spouses' marital adjustment during the transition to parenthood; Participants were 70 married couples expecting their first child. Self-report measures were administered to all participants during the third trimester of pregnancy, three months postpartum, and nine months postpartum; Results showed that marital adjustment significantly declined during the transition to parenthood. Constructive communication consistently correlated significantly with marital adjustment but was not a good predictor of changes in marital adjustment. Husbands' neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness consistently correlated significantly with both husbands' and wives' marital adjustment, but only agreeableness was a consistent predictor of changes in marital adjustment across the transition to parenthood. No support was found for the hypothesis that constructive communication mediates the relationship between personality and marital adjustment.

Keywords

Adjustment; Communication; Marital; Parenthood; Personality; Role; Transition

Controlled Subject

Clinical psychology; Social psychology; Personality; Developmental psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

2048 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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