Conditional regard, stress, and dyadic adjustment in primiparous couples: A dyadic analysis perspective

Dyadic coping and associated factors in women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses: Do they interact?

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to examine the present situation of dyadic coping in pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses, as well as the relevant factors and the interactions between partners.

METHODS

From October 2022 to September 2023, a cross-sectional survey was undertaken, involving 460 pairs of pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy who were hospitalized for childbirth and their accompanying spouses. These participants completed self-assessments on dyadic coping, marital satisfaction, perceived stress, and self-efficacy through the completion of paper questionnaires. The collected data was then subjected to analysis utilizing correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was then developed using the structural equation modeling(SEM) to test the binary association.

FINDINGS

Pregnant women preferred to utilize stressful communication, whereas their spouses employed supportive and delegated coping. Both external (such as education level, employment status, and medical insurance) and internal (such as marital satisfaction, perceived stress, and self-efficacy) factors were associated with pregnant women's dyadic coping. Education level and internal factors were also associated with the spouses' dyadic coping. In contrast to spouses, who can only have a partner effect on pregnant women through marriage satisfaction, all pregnant women's internal elements played the partner effect on the spouses' dyadic coping.

IMPLICATIONS

The study's findings help identify populations with inadequate coping ability. Promoting marital satisfaction, self-efficacy, and reducing perceived stress are associated with enhancing the dyadic coping ability of pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses. It also suggests that antenatal care should intervene with pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses as a whole, and emphasize collaborative coping and effective mutual support between couples rather than spousal support alone.

Dyadic Association Between New Parents' Mindfulness and Relationship Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Perceived Stress

The transition to parenthood is marked by increased potential stressors and relationship satisfaction declines among new parents. Recently, it has been suggested that people with greater mindfulness perceived their environment as less stressful during difficult times in life, which in turn, is associated with greater relationship satisfaction. Accordingly, this dyadic diary study evaluated if perceived stress explains the link between new parents' mindfulness and relationship satisfaction. A total of 78 new parent couples (N = 156 participants; M = 6 months postpartum) provided ecologically valid perceived stress and relationship satisfaction data by responding to a questionnaire on their smartphones, between 7 p.m. and midnight, for 14 consecutive days. Data were analyzed using Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM). Results revealed that parents with higher mindfulness reported lower perceived stress, which in turn was associated with them reporting higher relationship satisfaction. In addition, one's mindfulness was directly positively associated with their partner's relationship satisfaction. Lastly, when all partner effects between mindfulness, perceived stress and relationship satisfaction were tested together without defining specific partner paths, one's mindfulness was positively associated with their partners' relationship satisfaction. Our findings extend current knowledge on the dyadic association between mindfulness and relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood by highlighting perceived stress as a key variable underlying this relationship.