The aim of this three-wave cross-lagged longitudinal study was to examine the prospective relationships between women’s goal-related spousal support and their relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood. Two-hundred and forty-six Finnish women who were either married or cohabited (45% primiparous; 55% multiparous) filled in questionnaires on personal projects (Little, 1983) and related spousal support, relationship satisfaction (Spanier, 1976), and background data three times: in their early pregnancy; one month before childbirth; and three months after childbirth. Among the primiparous women the results showed a cumulative cycle of goal-related spousal support and relationship satisfaction: goal-related spousal support in early pregnancy predicted higher relationship satisfaction just before childbirth, and, vice versa, relationship satisfaction in early pregnancy predicted higher goal-related spousal support just before childbirth. In turn, among the multiparous women only relationship satisfaction predicted goal-related support later on. In addition, the results showed that women perceived low spousal support for individualistic goals, such as self-related goals, and high support for shared goals, such as family-related goals.
Beach, S.R., Marin, J.K., Blum, T.C., & Roman, P.M. ( 1993). Effects of marital and co-worker relationships on negative affect: Testing the central role of marriage. American Journal of Family Therapy, 21(4), 313-323.
2.
Berg, C. ( 1998). The contextual-model for goals. Presentation in the ISSBD Congress, Bern, Switzerland, July.
3.
Berg, C., Meegan, S., & Deviney, F. ( 1988). A social-contextual model of coping with everyday problems cross the life-span. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 22(2), 239-261.
4.
Blood, R., & Wolfe, D. ( 1960). Husbands and wives: The dynamics of married living. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
5.
Brandtstädter, J. ( 1998). Action perspective on human development. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & R. Lerner (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology. Vol . 1: Theoretical models of human development, 5th ed. (pp. 807-863). New York: Wiley.
6.
Brock, R.L., & Lawrence, E. ( 2008). A longitudinal investigation of stress spillover in marriage: Does spousal support adequacy buffer the effects? Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1), 11-20.
7.
Brown, G., & Harris, T. ( 1978). Social origins of depression: A study of psychiatric disorders in women. New York: Free Press.
8.
Brunstein, J. ( 1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1061-1070.
9.
Brunstein, J., Dangelmayer, G., & Schultheiss, O. (1996). Personal goals and social support in close relationships: Effects on relationship mood and marital satisfaction . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(5), 1006-1019.
10.
Brunstein, J., Schultheiss, O., & Maier, G. ( 1999). The pursuit of personal goals: A motivational approach to well-being and life adjustment. In J. Brandtstädter & R. Lerner (Eds.), Action and self-development: Theory and research through the life-span. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
Burke, R., & Weir, T. ( 1977). Wife’s employment and husband’s stress: A replication and refutation. Journal of Marriage and Family , 39(4), 645-650.
12.
Cantor, N., Norem, J., Niedenthal, P., Langston, C., & Brower, A. ( 1987). Life-tasks, self-concept ideals and cognitive strategies in a life transition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 53, 1178-1191.
13.
Collins, N., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Lobel, M., & Scrimshaw, S. ( 1993). Social support in pregnancy: Psychosocial correlates of birth outcomes and postpartum depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(6), 1243-1258.
14.
Coltrane, S. ( 1996). Family man: Fatherhood, housework, and gender equality . New York: Oxford University Press .
15.
Coyne, J., & DeLongis, A. ( 1986). Going beyond social support: The role of social relationship is adaptation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 54, 454-460.
16.
Cowan, P.A., & Cowan, C.P. ( 1988). Changes in marriage during the transition to parenthood: Must we blame the baby? In G.Y. Michaels, & W.A. Goldberg (Eds.), The transition to parenthood (pp. 114-154). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17.
Cowan, P.C., Cowan, P.A., Heming, G., Garrett, E., Coysh, W.S., Curtis-Bole, H., & Boles III, A.J. (1985). Transition to parenthood: His, hers, and theirs. Journal of Family Issues, 6(4), 451-481.
18.
Cowan, C.P., Cowan, P.A., Heming, G., & Miller, N.B. ( 1991). Becoming a family: Marriage, parenting, and child development . In P.A. Cowan & M. Hetherington (Eds.), Family transitions (pp. 79- 109). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Crnic, K., & Greenberg, M. ( 1987). Maternal stress, social support, and coping: Influences on the early mother-infant relationship. In C. Boukydis (Ed.), Research on support for parents and infants in the postnatal period (pp. 25-40). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp.
20.
Crockenberg, S. ( 1993). Perspectives on research in the early years of family life: Costs and benefits of nontraditional variations. In P. Cowan (Ed.), Family, self, and society: Toward a new agenda for family research (pp. 287-292). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. ( 1993). The measurement of flow in everyday life: Toward a theory of emergent motivation. In J. Jacobs (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on motivation. Developmental perspectives on motivation: Current theory and research in motivation (Vol. 40, pp. 57-97). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
22.
Cutrona, C. ( 1984). Social support and stress in the transition to parenthood . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 378-390.
23.
Cutrona, C. ( 1996). Social support in couples: Marriage as a resource in times of stress. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Cutrona, C., & Russell, D. ( 1990). Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In B. Sarason , I. Sarason, & G. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 319-366). New York: Wiley.
25.
Cutrona, C.E., Shaffer, P.A., Wesner, K.A., & Gardner, K.A. ( 2007). Optimally matching support and perceived spousal sensitivity . Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), 754-758.
26.
Deutsch, F., Ruble, D., Fleming, A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Stagnor, C. ( 1988). Information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 420-431.
27.
Diener, E., & Fujita, F. ( 1995). Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: A nomothetic and idiographic approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 926-935.
28.
Emmons, R. ( 1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1058-1068.
29.
Fedele, N., Golding, E., Grossman, F., & Pollack, W. ( 1988). Psychological issues in adjustment to first parenthood . In G. Michaels, & W. Goldberg (Eds.), The transition to parenthood: Current theory and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Feeney, B.C. ( 2004). A secure base: Responsive support of goal strivings and exploration in adult intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 631-648.
31.
Fleming, A., Ruble, D., Flett, G., & Shaul, D. ( 1988). Postpartum adjustment in first-time mothers: Relations between mood, maternal attitudes, and mother-infant interactions. Developmental Psychology, 24(1), 71-81.
32.
Gloger-Tippelt, G. ( 1983). A process model of the pregnancy course. Human Development, 26, 134-148.
33.
Grossman, F. ( 1987). Separate and together: Men’s autonomy and affiliation in the transition to parenthood. In P.W. Berman, & F.A. Pedersen (Eds.), Men’s transition to parenthood: Longitudinal studies of early family experience. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
34.
Grossman, F. ( 1988). Strain in the transition to parenthood. In R. Palkowitz, & M. Sussman (Eds.), Transitions to parenthood. New York: Haworth Press.
35.
Hackel, L., & Ruble, D. ( 1992). Changes in the marital relationship after the first baby is born: Predicting the impact of expectancy disconfirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(6), 944-957.
36.
Harackiewics J., & Elliott, A. ( 1993). The joint effects of target and purpose goals on intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(7), 675-689.
37.
Harlow, R., & Cantor, N. ( 1994). Social pursuits of academics: Side effects and spillover of strategic reassurance seeking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 386-397.
38.
Heckhausen, J. ( 1999). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age, normative and sociostructural constraints as adaptive challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39.
Hendrick, S. ( 1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 93-98.
40.
Jokisaari, M., & Nurmi, J.-E. ( 2005). Company matters: Goal-related social capital in the transition to working life. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 413-428.
41.
Jöreskog, K., & Sörbom, D. (1996). LISREL8: Structural equation modeling with the SIMPLIS command language. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
42.
Kaplan, M., & Maddux, J.E. ( 2002). Goals and marital satisfaction: Perceived support for personal goals and collective efficacy for collective goals. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 21, 157-164.
43.
Lawrence, E., Nylen, K., & Cobb, R.J. ( 2007). Prenatal expectations and marital satisfaction over the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 155-164.
44.
Lawrence, E., Rothman, A.D., Cobb, R.J., Rothman, M.T., & Bradbury, T.N. (2008). Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology , 22(1), 41-50.
45.
Little, B. ( 1983). Personal projects: A rationale and method for investigation . Environment and Behavior, 15, 273-309.
46.
Little, B. ( 1989). Personal project analysis: Trivial pursuits, magnificent obsessions, and the search for coherence. In D. Buss & N. Cantor (Eds.), Personality psychology: Recent trends and emerging directions (pp. 15-31). New York: Springer.
47.
McKeen, N.A. ( 1984). The personal projects of pregnant women. Unpublished Bachelors thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
48.
Meegan, S., & Berg, C. ( 1998). The interpersonal context of appraisal and coping with developmental life tasks. Unpublished manuscript. University of Utah.
49.
Meegan, C., Berg, S. & Deviney, F. ( 1998). A social-contextual model of coping with everyday problems across the lifespan. International Journal of Behavioral Development , 22, 239-261.
50.
Meegan, S., & Goedereis, E. ( 2006). Life task appraisals, spouse involvement in strategies and affect among short- and long-term married couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 20(2), 319-327.
51.
Michaels, G., & Goldberg, W. (Eds.). (1988). The transition to parenthood: Current theory and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
52.
Muthén, L., & Muthén, B.O. (1998-2006). Mplus users guide & Mplus Version 4. Retrieved from http://www.statmodel.com/index2.html
53.
Nurmi, J.-E. ( 1989). Planning, motivation and evaluation in orientation to the future: A latent structure analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 30, 64-71.
54.
Nurmi, J.-E. ( 1992). Age differences in adult life goals, concerns, and their temporal extension: A life course approach to future-oriented motivation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 169-189.
55.
O’Hara, M. ( 1986). Social support, life events, and depression during pregnancy and puerperium. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 569-573.
56.
Palys, T., & Little, B. ( 1983). Perceived life satisfaction and the organization of personal project systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 44, 1221-1230.
57.
Parke, R., & Tinsley, B. ( 1987). Family interaction in infancy. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development. New York: Wiley.
58.
Robins, R., John, O., & Caspi, A. ( 1998). The typological approach to studying personality. In R. Cairns, L. Bergman, & J. Kagan (Eds.), Methods and models for studying the individual (pp. 135-160). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
59.
Ruehlman, L., & Wolchik, S. ( 1988). Personal goals and interpersonal support and hindrance as factors in psychological distress and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 293-301.
60.
Salmela-Aro, K. ( 1992). Struggling with self: The personal projects of students seeking psychological counseling. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 33, 330-338.
61.
Salmela-Aro, K., Aunola, K., Nurmi, J.-E., Saisto, T., & Halmesmäki, E. (2006). Changes in depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction during a birth of a child to the family vary across couples rather than individuals. Journal of Personal and Social Relationships, 23, 781-803.
62.
Salmela-Aro, K., & Little, B.R. ( 2007). Relational aspects of personal projects. In B.R. Little, K. Salmela-Aro , & S.D. Phillips (Eds.), Personal project pursuit: Goal, action and human flourishing (pp. 199- 220). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
63.
Salmela-Aro, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. ( 1996). Uncertainty and confidence in interpersonal projects: Consequences for social life and well-being. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13, 109-122.
64.
Salmela-Aro, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. ( 1997). Depressive symptoms and personal project appraisals: A cross-lagged longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 21(3), 373-381.
65.
Salmela-Aro, K., Nurmi, J.-E., Saisto, T., & Halmesmäki, E. (2000). Women’s and men’s personal goals during transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 171-186.
66.
Salmela-Aro, K., Pennanen, R., & Nurmi, J.-E. ( 2001). Self-focused goals: What they are, how they function and how they relate to well-being. In P. Schmuck , & K. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-being. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.
67.
Sarason, B., Pierce, G., & Sarason, I. ( 1990). Social support: The sense of acceptance and the role of relationships. In B. Sarason, I. Sarason, & G. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view. New York: Wiley.
68.
Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J.K., & Carrere, S. ( 2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 59-70.
69.
Spanier, G. ( 1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15-28.
70.
Strauss, R., & Goldberg, W. ( 1999). Self and possible selves during the transition to fatherhood . Journal of Family Psychology, 13(2), 244-259.
