14 DAY TRIAL // New scientific conclusions, which experts at the University of Denver (DU) and Texas A&M have drawn from an 8-year-long study of 218 couples, show that marital satisfaction decreases by various percentages after the first child is born in the family. This is not a small trend, researchers warn, as 90 percent of all the couples involved in the investigation have pointed this out in questionnaires. The finds, which have been sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH), have appeared in a recent issue of the scientific journal Personality and Social Psychology.
“Couples who do not have children also show diminished marital quality over time. However, having a baby accelerates the deterioration, especially seen during periods of adjustment right after the birth of a child,” DU research Professor of Psychology Scott Stanley explained. DU Psychology Professor Howard Markman, and DU Senior Researcher Galena Rhoades have also contributed to the paper, which has been authored by Texas A&M Assistant Professor of Psychology Brian Doss.
“There are different types of happiness in life and that while some luster may be off marital happiness for at least a time during this period of life, there is a whole dimension of family happiness and contentment based on the family that couples are building. This type of happiness can be powerful and positive but it has not been the focus of research,” Stanley also added, pointing out the fact that the results of the new study did not imply that children damaged overall happiness in life.
According to the same paper, some couples reported a stronger post-birth relationship. It was in those couples that the birth of a child made connections between the parents stronger. However, the researchers emphasized the fact that they tended to have been married for longer than the average before having babies, and that they also exhibited a statistical tendency of having higher incomes than the average couples in the research registered.
Deeper studies are required into this matter, if researchers are to learn the exact role that socio-economic factors such as income, education and employment, among others, play in the level of happiness that couples exhibit after having their first child.