baby's birth, and a lack of change from this point through the baby's first year (Condon

et al., 2004; Hackel & Ruble, 1992).

Changes in the Couple's Relationship

Decreased marital satisfaction

 The focus of much of the extant research on the transition to parenthood has been

on changes occurring in the couple's relationship when couples have their first child.

Perhaps the most researched topic in this area concerns relationship satisfaction. A

number of research studies have indicated marital satisfaction declines upon the transition

to parenthood (e.g., Cowan & Cowan, 2000; Crohan, 1996; Grote & Clark, 2001; Pancer

& Pratt, 2000; Shapiro et al., 2000; Van Egeren, 2004), while others have not established

this link (e.g., Kurdek, 1998). A meta-analysis of 97 studies published between 1974 and

2000 found marital satisfaction consistently decreases across the transition to parenthood

(Twenge et al., 2003). In 90 of the 97 studies, parents were found to have lower marital

satisfaction than non-parents. The authors of this analysis summarized four key theories

possibly explaining the decline and tested the assumptions of each theory by examining

trends in the research data. These theories suggested decreased marital satisfaction is

caused by role conflict, restriction of freedom, sexual dissatisfaction, or financial cost.

While the results did not indicate a significant impact of sexual dissatisfaction or

financial cost on marital satisfaction, the researchers identified several trends supporting

the role conflict and restriction of freedom theories. Across the studies included in the

meta-analysis, women (whom the authors noted are likely to experience greater role

conflict and restriction of freedom) experienced greater declines in marital satisfaction

than men. Mothers of infants reported the lowest marital satisfaction of any group, with

mothers of older children reporting somewhat higher satisfaction than mothers with new