Psycho-education to enhance couples' transition to parenthood

Abstract

A substantial proportion of couples struggle to adapt to parenthood, feel stress in caring for their infant, and experience a significant decline in their couple relationship adjustment. Moreover, there is a substantial association between effective parenting of infants and sustaining a mutually satisfying couple relationship. This paper reviews randomized controlled trials of psycho-education to assist new parent couples with parenting and their couple relationship. The majority of programs target either the couple relationship or parenting, with few programs addressing both areas. The best outcomes seem to be achieved when programs are accessible by couples at home, when skill-training is provided, and possibly when programs target couples at high-risk of maladjustment to parenthood.