Sexual satisfaction is an important contributor to relationship functioning that is not well understood among first-time parents, at a time when relationship functioning is important for the well-being of parents as well as the child. The current study examined how several dimensions of individual and relationship functioning among first-time parents (coparenting, division of household and paid labor, parenting stress, and role overload) at 6 months postbirth predicted multiple domains of sexual satisfaction at 12 months postbirth, in a sample of heterosexual first-time parents. Role overload, work hours, and division of household labor each predicted at least one domain of sexual satisfaction for both mothers and fathers, whereas parenting stress was a unique predictor for mothers only. The implications of these results for first-time parents are discussed.
AbidinR. R.BrunnerJ. F. (1995). Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24, 31-40.
2.
Ade-RidderL. (1990). Sexuality and marital quality among older married couples. In BrubakerT. H. (Ed.), Family relationships in later life (2nd ed., pp. 48-67). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
3.
AhlborgT.DahlöfL. G.HallbergL. R. M. (2005). Quality of the intimate and sexual relationship in first-time parents six months after delivery. Journal of Sex Research, 42, 167-174.
4.
AhlborgT.StrandmarkM. (2006). Factors influencing the quality of intimate relationships six months after delivery: First-time parents’ own views and coping strategies. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 27, 163-172.
5.
AhlborgT.StrandmarkM.DahlöfL. G. (2000). First-time parents’ sexual relationships. Scandinavian Journal of Sexology, 3, 127-139.
6.
BancroftJ. (1989). Human sexuality and its problems. Edinburgh, Scotland: Churchill Livingstone.
7.
BancroftJ.LoftusJ.LongJ. S. (2003). Distress about sex: A national survey of women in heterosexual relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 193-208.
8.
BarrettG.PendryE.PeacockJ.VictorC.ThakarR.ManyondaI. (2000). Women’s sexual health after childbirth. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 107, 186-195.
9.
BarstadA. (2014). Equality is bliss? Relationship quality and the gender division of household labor. Journal of Family Issues, 35, 972-992.
10.
BianchiS. M.MilkieM. A.SayerL. C.RobinsonJ. P. (2000). Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor. Social Forces, 79, 191-228.
11.
BielbyW. T.BielbyD. D. (1989). Family ties: Balancing commitments to work and family in dual-earner couples. American Sociological Review, 54, 776-789.
12.
BodenmannG.LedermannT.BradburyT. N. (2007). Stress, sex, and satisfaction in marriage. Personal Relationships, 14, 551-569.
13.
CarpenterL. M.NathansonC. A.KimY. J. (2009). Physical women, emotional men: Gender and sexual satisfaction in midlife. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 87-107.
14.
ColtraneS. (2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1208-1233.
15.
CowanC. P.CowanP. A. (1988). Who does what when partners become parents: Implications for men, women, and marriage. Marriage & Family Review, 12, 105-131.
16.
CowanC. P.CowanP. A. (1992). When partners become parents: The big life change for couples. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
CrnicK.LowC. (2002). Everyday stresses and parenting. In BornsteinM. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Practical issues in parenting (2nd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 243-267). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
DavisonS. L.BellR. J.LaChinaM.HoldenS. L.DavisS. R. (2009). The relationship between self-reported sexual satisfaction and general well-being in women. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6, 2690-2697.
19.
De JudicibusM. A.McCabeM. P. (2002). Psychological factors and the sexuality of pregnant and postpartum women. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 94-103.
20.
DewJ.WilcoxW. B. (2011). If momma ain’t happy: Explaining declines in marital satisfaction among new mothers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 1-12.
21.
DixonM.BoothN.PowellR. (2000). Sex and relationships following childbirth: A first report from general practice of 131 couples. British Journal of General Practice, 50, 223-224.
22.
Ein-DorT.HirschbergerG. (2012). Sexual healing: Daily diary evidence that sex relieves stress for men and women in satisfying relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29, 126-139.
23.
ElliottS.UmbersonD. (2008). The performance of desire: Gender and sexual negotiation in long-term marriages. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 391-406.
24.
FeinbergM. E. (2003). The internal structure and ecological context of coparenting: A framework for research and intervention. Parenting, 3, 95-131.
25.
FeinbergM. E.BrownL. D.KanM. L. (2012). A multi-domain self-report measure of coparenting. Parenting, 12, 1-21.
26.
FeinbergM. E.KanM. L. (2008). Establishing family foundations: Intervention effects on coparenting, parent/infant wellbeing, and parent–child relations. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 253-263.
27.
FeinbergM. E.KanM. L.GoslinM. C. (2009). Enhancing coparenting, parenting, and child self-regulation: Effects of family foundations 1 year after birth. Prevention Science, 10, 276-285.
28.
FouxR. (2008). Sex education in pregnancy: Does it exist? A literature review. Sexual Relationship Therapy, 23, 271-277.
29.
GagerC. T.YabikuS. T. (2010). Who has the time? The relationship between household labor time and sexual frequency. Journal of Family Issues, 31, 135-163.
30.
GalovanA. M.HolmesE. K.SchrammD. G.LeeT. R. (2014). Father involvement, father–child relationship quality, and satisfaction with family work: Actor and partner influences on marital quality. Journal of Family Issues, 35, 1846-1867.
31.
HatfieldE.RapsonR. L. (1987). Gender differences in love and intimacy: The fantasy vs. the reality. Journal of Social Work & Human Sexuality, 5, 12-26.
32.
HochschildA. R. (1989). The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home. New York, NY: Viking.
33.
HydeJ. S.DeLamaterJ. D.HewittE. C. (1998). Sexuality and the dual-earner couple: Multiple roles and sexual functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 354.
34.
ImpettE. A.MuiseA.PeragineD. (2013). Sexuality in the context of relationships. In DiamondL.TolmanD. (Eds.), APA handbook of sexuality and psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 269-316). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
35.
KornrichS.BrinesJ.LeuppK. (2013). Egalitarianism, housework, and sexual frequency in marriage. American Sociological Review, 78, 26-50.
36.
LaveeY.SharlinS.KatzR. (1996). The effect of parenting stress on marital quality: An integrated mother-father model. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 114-135.
37.
LawrenceE.RothmanA. D.CobbR. J.RothmanM. T.BradburyT. N. (2008). Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 41-50.
38.
LeiblumS. R. (2002). Reconsidering gender differences in sexual desire: An update. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 17, 57-68.
39.
LevineS. B. (1992). Sexual life: A clinician’s guide (Critical issues in psychiatry). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
40.
LitzingerS.GordonK. (2005). Exploring relationships among communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 31, 409-424. doi:10.1080/00926230591006719
41.
MarksS. R. (1977). Multiple roles and role strain: Some notes on human energy, time and commitment. American Sociological Review, 39, 567-578.
42.
McDanielB. T.TetiD. M. (2012). Coparenting during the first three months after birth: The role of infant sleep quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 886-895.
43.
McHaleJ.KhazanI.EreraP.RotmanT.DeCourceyW.McConnellM. (2002). Coparenting in diverse family systems. Handbook of Parenting, 3, 75-107.
44.
MilkieM. A.BianchiS. M.MattingleyM. J.RobinsonJ. P. (2002). Gendered division of childrearing: Ideals, realities, and the relationship to parental well-being. Sex Roles, 47, 21-38.
45.
MorokoffP. J.GillillandR. (1993). Stress, sexual functioning, and marital satisfaction. Journal of Sex Research, 30, 43-53.
46.
OfferS.SchneiderB. (2011). Revisiting the gender gap in time-use patterns multitasking and well-being among mothers and fathers in dual-earner families. American Sociological Review, 76, 809-833.
47.
O’SullivanL. F.ChengM. M.HarrisK. M.Brooks-GunnJ. (2007). I wanna hold your hand: The progression of social, romantic and sexual events in adolescent relationships. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39, 100-107.
48.
PaceyS. (2004). Couples and the first baby: Responding to new parents’ sexual and relationship problems. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 19, 223-246.
49.
ReillyM. D. (1982). Working wives and convenience consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 8, 407-418.
50.
RiessmanC. K. (1990). Divorce talk: Women and men make sense of personal relationships. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
51.
TangC. Y.CurranM. A. (2013). Marital commitment and perceptions of fairness in household chores. Journal of Family Issues, 34, 1598-1622.
52.
Trice-BlackS. (2010). Perceptions of women’s sexuality within the context of motherhood. Family Journal, 18, 154-162.
53.
WilkeeJ. R.FerreeM. M.RadcliffK. S. (1998). Gender and fairness: Marital satisfaction in two-earner couples. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 577-594.
54.
WittingK.SanttilaP.AlankoK.HarlaarN.JernP.JohanssonA.. . . SandnabbaN. K. (2008). Female sexual function and its associations with number of children, pregnancy, and relationship satisfaction. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 34, 89-106.
55.
WoolettA.ParrM. (1997). Psychological tasks for women and men in the postpartum. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 15, 159-183.
56.
YehH.LorenzF. O.WickramaK. A. S.CongerR. D.ElderG. H. (2006). Relationships among sexual satisfaction, marital quality, and marital instability at midlife. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 339.
57.
YoungM.WallaceJ. E.PolachekA. J. (2013). Gender differences in perceived domestic task equity: A study of professionals. Journal of Family Issues. 36, 1751–1781.
