Daily and longitudinal associations between relationship catastrophizing and sexual well-being in the postpartum period

Abstract

New parent couples report heightened relationship conflicts and challenges; how romantic partners regulate their emotions in response can have key implications for their sexual relationship. One way people might respond to these emotional challenges is through relationship catastrophizing, which refers to magnifying negative cognitions, ruminating on relationship problems, and adopting a helpless orientation toward coping with these problems. Relationship catastrophizing may orient new parents’ attention toward challenges in their relationship, such as sexual difficulties, with negative implications for sexual well-being. The current study examined how relationship catastrophizing relates to one’s own and a partner’s sexual well-being. Birthing parents and their partners completed a novel measure of relationship catastrophizing and measures of sexual well-being at 3 and 9 months postpartum (n = 184 couples) and brief versions of these measures for 21 days between 3 and 4 months postpartum (n = 229 couples). On days when birthing parents employed greater relationship catastrophizing, they also reported greater sexual distress and both partners reported lower sexual satisfaction and desire. Partners’ daily relationship catastrophizing was associated with their own lower sexual satisfaction and desire, and both partners’ greater sexual distress. Longitudinal analyses, however, provided minimal evidence that the costs of relationship catastrophizing persist over time when accounting for other stressors (e.g., depressive symptoms, stress, fatigue) characteristic of the postpartum period. Findings support the potential for relationship catastrophizing as a novel target for psychoeducation and interventions aimed at promoting the day-to-day sexual well-being of new parents.