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Parenthood as a Determining Factor of Satisfaction in Couple Relationships

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Abstract

This study aimed to meet whether there are differences in satisfaction with the relationship according to having children or not and whether these differences are determined by gender, and to establish predictive models explaining the satisfaction based on having children or not. This study included 620 volunteer participants (57.7% women and 42.3% men; 57.9% did not have children, and 42.1% did have), not minors and maintaining a couple relationship at that time. The Satisfaction in Couple Relationship Scale (SCR) was used in the study, made up of ten items and with a reliability of .93. The contrast of satisfaction between people with children and without children was carried out using the Student’s t, and gender differences by using ANOVA (analyzing as well the interaction between gender and children with ANOVA of two factors —gender and children). Moreover, a multiple linear regression analysis identified a multivariate predictive model of the satisfaction with the couple relationship according to the gender. General results showed greater rates of satisfaction among the couples, although persons not having children show greater rates of satisfaction with the couple relationship. According to the gender, mothers show less satisfaction. On the other hand, the greatest predictive factor of the satisfaction is related to feeling excited about the couple relationship. In the face of results obtained, it can be concluded with the need for supporting couples with children in order to strengthen their relationships and hence being able to properly face the challenges of the parenthood.

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Acknowledgements

This work is part of the project EDU2012-38074, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Finance and Competitiveness and the University of Oviedo. The first author is assisted by BES-2013-063623 for pre-doctoral contracts for the training of doctors, granted by the aforementioned Ministry.

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  1. University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Antonio Urbano-Contreras, Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González & María-Teresa Iglesias-García

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  1. Antonio Urbano-Contreras
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  2. Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González
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Correspondence to Antonio Urbano-Contreras.

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Urbano-Contreras, A., Martínez-González, RA. & Iglesias-García, MT. Parenthood as a Determining Factor of Satisfaction in Couple Relationships. J Child Fam Stud 27, 1492–1501 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0990-3

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