TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in marital congruence and quality of life across the transition to parenthood in couples who conceived spontaneously or with assisted reproductive technologies
AU - Gameiro, Sofia
AU - Nazaré, Bárbara
AU - Fonseca, Ana
AU - Moura-Ramos, Mariana
AU - Canavarro, Maria Cristina
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Objective: To investigate the relationship between changes in marital congruence (ie, level of agreement between partners about their relationship) and quality of life across the transition to parenthood in couples who conceived spontaneously and with assisted reproduction technology (ART). Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort design using multilevel modeling. Setting: Portuguese large public university-based hospital. Patient(s): Pregnant couples who conceived spontaneously and with ART. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): ENRICH Marital Inventory and the World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life Instrument. Result(s): For all couples, an increase in satisfaction with the marital relationship was associated with increases in all quality of life domains. For couples who conceived with ART only, a decrease from pregnancy to the postpartum period in congruence about the existence of conflicts in their relationship was associated with a decrease in psychologic quality of life. Conclusion(s): Couples who conceive with ART are usually satisfied with their marital relationship, but they may still disagree in their perceptions of this relationship, which may negatively impact their well-being. These results reinforce the role of couple-based interventions to prevent intracouple disagreement across the transition to parenthood, especially when conception is achieved with ART.
AB - Objective: To investigate the relationship between changes in marital congruence (ie, level of agreement between partners about their relationship) and quality of life across the transition to parenthood in couples who conceived spontaneously and with assisted reproduction technology (ART). Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort design using multilevel modeling. Setting: Portuguese large public university-based hospital. Patient(s): Pregnant couples who conceived spontaneously and with ART. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): ENRICH Marital Inventory and the World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life Instrument. Result(s): For all couples, an increase in satisfaction with the marital relationship was associated with increases in all quality of life domains. For couples who conceived with ART only, a decrease from pregnancy to the postpartum period in congruence about the existence of conflicts in their relationship was associated with a decrease in psychologic quality of life. Conclusion(s): Couples who conceive with ART are usually satisfied with their marital relationship, but they may still disagree in their perceptions of this relationship, which may negatively impact their well-being. These results reinforce the role of couple-based interventions to prevent intracouple disagreement across the transition to parenthood, especially when conception is achieved with ART.
KW - Infertility
KW - assisted reproductive technologies
KW - marital congruence
KW - marital relationship
KW - quality of life
KW - transition to parenthood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=82455212086&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.09.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 21982288
AN - SCOPUS:82455212086
SN - 0015-0282
VL - 96
SP - 1457
EP - 1462
JO - Fertility and Sterility
JF - Fertility and Sterility
IS - 6
ER -