Quality of the intimate and sexual relationship in first-time parents six months after delivery.

Sexuality is one part of the intimate relationship of couples, and the factors that affect the experience of a couple's intimate relationship are complex, especially when the couple enters parenthood. Belsky (1981) described a triad of components affecting the members of the new family: the parenthood, the intimate relationship and the health and development of the child. There is a high divorce and separation rate among the parents of small children in Sweden that peaks when the first child is one and a half years old (Statistics Sweden, 2003). The intimate relationship of first-time parents has been studied somewhat in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia. The purpose of the present study was to describe the quality of the intimate relationship of Swedish first-time parents six months after the birth of their child.

An intimate relationship often changes over time (Belsky, 1985). In a longitudinal study of 186 married couples, Kurdek (1998) found that marital satisfaction decreased over four years, with the steepest drop between years one and two. During a ten-year period, Kurdek (1999) found that marital quality declined fairly rapidly over the first four years, then stabilized, and then declined again in about the eighth year of marriage. However, in this sample of 93 couples, after ten years of marriage, only 52 couples were living with their biological children, whose mean age was a low 3.84 years, meaning preschool children. Kurdek (1999) suggests that "it would be of interest to determine whether marital quality stabilizes or even increases when children become more autonomous" (p. 1295). Kurdek (1999) also found that the husbands and wives living with their biological children started on lower levels of marital quality at one year of marriage and experienced steeper declines in marital quality than couples without children or living with stepchildren. Lewis (1988) found that healthy emotional relationships before parenthood continued to function well after the first child was born, but "low competent" relationships deteriorated.

In modern Western society, becoming a parent can be difficult. Both men and women may feel that a child could threaten their well-established careers or disturb their intimacy as a couple. Glenn and McLanahan (1982) stated that the child might be experienced as someone interfering with the marital relationship. This is supported by Willen (1996), who found that the wish to have a child increased happiness, but when the baby was born, the happiness decreased again, especially among fathers. Wadsby (2001) compared the experiences of 60 couples of Swedish first-time parents one year after birth with their experiences after four months of pregnancy. She reported that there was less sexual closeness at the end of that first year than during the fourth month of pregnancy. New parents' lack of leisure time together as partners makes the satisfaction decline, especially for wives, and sharing housework and responsibilities are common sources of conflict (Belsky & Pensky, 1988). Role conflicts easily occur during the transition to parenthood (Dalgas-Pelish, 1993). However, Umberson and Gove (1989) found that the increased sense of meaningfulness, which results from becoming parents, overrides the reduction in satisfaction and individual well-being. Failure to confirm the expectations among first-time parents regarding the sharing of child care and housekeeping responsibilities may influence marital satisfaction negatively (Hackel & Ruble, 1992).

People's sexual lives usually change when they become parents, and one likely problem for first-time parents is that sexual desire is greater among fathers than among mothers (Ahlborg, Dahlof, & Strandmark, 2000). This change produces a tension between the sexual desires of the couple and the baby as the focus of attention, a tension between the partner and parent roles. In an interview study by Ahlborg et al. (2000), the couples that felt good were able to communicate about the situation and confirmed one another emotionally and sensually. It is not possible, however, to neglect completely the common imbalance of sexual needs between the sexes if what Kohler-Riessman (1990) states is true: for most men, sexuality is a way to intimacy, but for women, intimacy is a way to sexuality. Women usually need some intimacy through talk and familiarity before sexuality, which does not appear to be as necessary for men. When sexuality is one of the main ways of achieving intimacy for men, the absence of sexuality often creates a feeling of loneliness and emotional emptiness (Kohler-Riessman, 1990).

Psychosexual problems are common after the birth of a baby (von Sydow, 1999). A study by Barrett et al. (2000) revealed that more than half of 480 mothers experienced pain during the first intercourse after delivery and that this continued after six months; 15% of the non-breastfeeding mothers and 35% of the breastfeeding mothers felt pain. The resumption of sexual intercourse took place after six to eight weeks for 62% of the mothers, and at three months, 81% had resumed sexual intercourse. At six months that figure was 89%. In a longitudinal study of a sample of 570 women and 550 of their husbands by Hyde, DeLamater, Plant, and Byrd (1996), the mean time for resuming intercourse after delivery was 7.33 weeks, but there was large variability (SD = 4.66). There is a connection between the couple's sexuality and stability of their relationship, so if both partners are sexually active during pregnancy and enjoy it, the relationship is evaluated as better in terms of tenderness and communication four months after delivery. Three years later, the relationship is more stable and less negatively affected in the view of both partners (von Sydow, 1999). According to von Sydow (1999), more research of the field is necessary. The aim of the present study was to describe the quality of the intimate relationship of Swedish parents six months after the birth of their first child.

METHOD

Measure

The questionnaire used in this study, the Modified Dyadic Adjustment Scale, is based on an American instrument, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier 1976). The DAS consists of 32 items in four subscales: Dyadic Consensus, Dyadic Satisfaction, Dyadic Cohesion and Affectional Expressions. The Dyadic Consensus subscale includes 13 items asking partners to respond to statements about finances, recreation, friends, religion, sex, career decisions and so on, on a six-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (always disagree) to 5 (always agree). The Dyadic Satisfaction subscale consists of 10 items, including "How often do you and your partner quarrel?" and "How often do you get on each other's nerves?" on a response scale ranging from 0 (all the time) to 5 (never). The subscale of Dyadic Cohesion has five items, including "How often do you laugh together?" Finally, the Affectional Expressions subscale includes four items including "Is it a problem not showing any love?" with response alternatives of 0 (yes) and 1 (no).

The DAS has been used in hundreds of studies around the world, but only a few times in parents with babies, and the instrument has not been revised since 1976. To suit first-time parents, after retranslation into Swedish, we added questions about the couple's communication with each other (three items), sensuality (four items) and sexuality (three items). These dimensions were found to be fundamental for the well-being of Swedish first-time parents when they were interviewed (Ahlborg et al., 2000; Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2001). In this context, sensuality and sexuality are two separate dimensions. Sensual behavior involves hugging, kissing and caressing, and sexual activity includes touching the genitals. The item "How often during the last 4 weeks did you have sexual intercourse?" does not necessarily mean vaginal intercourse. To prevent misunderstandings by the respondents, the items were specific and deliberately not identified as sensuality or sexuality. After testing the modified DAS questionnaire in a 2001 pilot study involving 80 first-time parents, we added one question about consensus on baby matters after a proposal from a responding mother. The modified DAS therefore consisted of 43 items, together with background variables like gender, age, education, social situation, stress level, and breastfeeding.

Participants and Procedure

We collected the data of this cross-sectional study from a sample of Swedish first-time parents, with the help of primary care nurses at family health centers, when the children were about six months old. The inclusion criteria were as follows:

1. first-time parents (the mother's and the father's first baby in common)

2. cohabiting parents (at the time of the study)

3. Swedish speakers (to ensure comprehension of the questionnaire)

4. healthy child (to avoid the strain of a sick child).

During four months in the spring and four months in the autumn of 2002, we distributed 1,256 questionnaires, and 820 parents fulfilling the inclusion criteria responded, giving a response rate of 65%. This rate could have been higher if practical problems with the coding lists remaining at the health centers (owing to a high workload) during the first spring period had been avoided. In the autumn, the response rate was 74%, an excellent response rate for a study dealing with sensitive data. The dropouts and the respondents were of a very similar mean age (31.8 versus 31.3 years), but dropouts lived in apartment buildings more often than in detached or semidetached houses.

In the present study, 94% (n = 768) of the respondents were mothers and fathers from the same couples. This makes 384 couples, 47 single mothers, and 5 single fathers. The cover letter encouraged the mothers and fathers to answer the questionnaires independently of each other. The total sample consisted of 431 mothers and 389 fathers with an average age of 30.3 years and 32.4 years, respectively. See Table 1. Currently, the average age in Sweden for first-time mothers is 28.6 years (Statistics Sweden, 2003) and in the city in which the study was conducted, it is 30 years, which means that the parents are fairly representative of Swedish first-time parents. It is common in Sweden to obtain a higher education and have some years of employment experience before parenthood. In the study sample, 91% of the fathers and 10% of the mothers were working outside the home six months after the birth of their first child. The mean weekly working hours were M = 40 hours (SD = 9) for fathers and M = 15 (SD = 13) for mothers. Fifty-nine percent of responding parents had university level education, and 41% had a high school diploma or less, with a negligible difference between the sexes. The civil status of the mothers and fathers was 375 (46%) married and 444 (54%) cohabiting with one set of missing data. The mean duration of the intimate relationship before the birth of the first child was 5.1 years (SD = 3.2; range = 0-17 years). Table 1 presents descriptive statistics.

The nurses who distributed the questionnaires at the primary health centers did not ask whether the male partner had had children before, since it was the couples' relationship with their first common experience as parents that was going to be studied. Among the couples, 7.5% of the fathers had previously been parents. For 98.1% (424 of 432) of the mothers, however, this was their first child. According to earlier research, the greatest transition is usually experienced by the mother since she invests more in the parenting (Alexander & Higgins, 1993; Hackle & Ruble, 1992), and the role changes are substantial for the mothers, who find parenthood overwhelming. This may have a major impact on the relationship (Ahlborg et al., 2000; Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2001).

Data analysis

The data analysis had three steps. First we made comparisons between the means of scores for mothers and fathers within couples with Wilcoxon signed rank test. Secondly, estimation of correspondence between mothers and fathers within couples was done with Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. Finally, we performed estimation of correlation between subscale scores and items, separately for mothers and fathers, with Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. Computations were made using SPSS 12 and STATA 8.

Ethical Concerns

Each respondent was guaranteed anonymity. However, to make comparisons between the partners possible and to be able to send follow-up reminders to those who had not responded, the questionnaires were coded with a number. The responses were sent by the parents in separate envelopes directly to the researching midwife. The coding list was never seen by the researching midwife, who was the only person to see the respondents' answers. As a result, the answers could never be connected to any names, only to numbers, belonging together as a couple with the same code number. We explained this to parents and informed them that participation was voluntary. The local ethics research committee approved the study.

RESULTS

Dyadic Consensus

The data revealed that among the individual items in the subscale of Dyadic Consensus, the new parents tended to disagree about the following things in this ranking order (lowest mean values in Table 2): Household work (item 13), Recreation (item 2), Leisure time activities (item 14) and Time together (item 11). The intracorrelation within the couples was low regarding consensus about friends, correct behavior, leisure time activities and career decisions. The Dyadic Consensus index was associated with dyadic satisfaction, affectional expression, dyadic communication and, to a moderate extent, dyadic cohesion. See Table 3.

Dyadic Satisfaction

The majority of both mothers and fathers were very happy in their relationship. When single items of Dyadic Satisfaction were evaluated, fathers were somewhat more satisfied with the relationship than mothers. For example, fathers felt that the couple quarreled less frequently (item 21) and that they functioned well together (item 18) to a larger extent than the mothers. The fathers were also more optimistic about the future of the relationship (item 32). However, the fathers experienced more stress in the present situation than the mothers, 33% and 13%, respectively (p < .001) according to background data. Item 19 about reliance on partner, formulated "Do you confide in your mate?" was answered with almost always and always, on the scale from 0 (never) to 5 (always), by both mothers and fathers. However, the intracorrelation between mothers and fathers in the couples regarding this item of confidence was very low, meaning that confiding may not be mutual. Item 23, "How often do you kiss your mate?" was answered with "almost every day" on a scale from 0 (never) to 4 (every day) for both sexes. Dyadic satisfaction was associated with dyadic consensus, communication, affectional expression, dyadic cohesion and dyadic sensuality; see Table 3.

Dyadic Cohesion

The items of dyadic cohesion consist of "engagement in common interests outside the family" (item 24), "stimulating exchange of ideas" (item 25), "laughing together" (item 26), "calmly discussing something" (item 27) and "working together on a task/project" (item 28). For most parents, common interests are stated as "some to most," on a scale ranging from 0 (none) to 4 (all of them). The couples reported laughing together about "once/day," on a scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (more often than once/day), and the fathers experienced laughing together as being more frequent than the mothers did (Table 2). Stimulating exchange of ideas and discussing something calmly happened "once/day to once or twice/week," on the scale above. Working together on a task was felt to be more frequent among fathers; see Table 2. This as well as "calmly discussing something" had low intracorrelations in pairs, suggesting different perceptions within the couples of how frequently this happened (Table 2). Dyadic cohesion was associated with dyadic satisfaction and dyadic sensuality; see Table 3.

Affectional Expression

The items included here are "consensus about showing feelings" and "about sexuality" as well as "being too tired for sexual activity" and "not showing love and appreciation." After household work, "consensus about showing feelings" (item 4) and "about sexuality" (item 6) were the second most frequent subjects on which the parents disagreed, on a scale from 0 (always disagree) to 5 (always agree), and it did not differ between the sexes; see Table 2. Both fathers and mothers experienced "being too tired for sexual activity" as a problem, and mothers felt that this fatigue was a greater problem than the fathers (47% and 38%, respectively; p = .014). When it came to the item "Is it a problem not showing love and appreciation?" around a quarter of both mothers and fathers (26.3%) experienced this. The intracorrelation of affectional expressions in pairs was above .40.

Dyadic Communication

The variables of communication are "Expressing wishes" (item 33), "Partner listening to expressed wishes" (item 34) and "Frequency of misunderstandings" (item 35). The mothers in the study stated that they expressed their wishes more frequently than the fathers did, and the correlation within couples of this item was low (Table 2). Both sexes said that the partner listened "almost always," on a scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (always). Also, the perception of listening to each other differed within the couples, causing low intracorrelation in pairs (Table 2). When it came to misunderstanding one another, the answer from both mothers and fathers was "sometimes," on the same scale. In this context, there were individual cases where it was clear that the mother and father displayed a reciprocal discrepancy regarding the experience of mutual misunderstanding (e.g., father: "never" and mother: "almost always"). Dyadic communication was associated with the dimensions of dyadic satisfaction and consensus and moderately associated with affectional expression and dyadic cohesion (Table 3). This means that good communication has some significance for enhanced quality in the intimate relationship.

Dyadic Sensuality

The parents had been caressing during the last four weeks (item 38) on average "once a day," on a scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (more often than once a day); see Table 2. However, the frequency of caressing was lower than the desire to do so (M = 3.77, compared with M = 4.23; p < .0001) and they were only "partly satisfied" with the sensual situation (item 39), on the scale comprising 1 (discontented), 2 (partly content) and 3 (content). Fathers had somewhat higher values than mothers regarding sensual desire (item 37), which could indicate that they wanted to hug and caress their partner more often than the mothers did, and here was a discrepancy within the couples. See Table 2.

Dyadic sensuality correlated with dyadic satisfaction and dyadic cohesion and moderately with dyadic sexuality (Table 3). The sensual activity correlated mostly with the items "kissing your mate" (r = .40), "laughing together" (r = .39) and "feeling of happiness" (r = .38); (all three items: p < .0001). "Being too tired for sexual activity" did not imply more dyadic sensuality among the responding parents. Instead, the opposite was true, which meant that "being too tired for sex" produced somewhat lower values for sensual activity than when fatigue was not regarded as a problem (M = 3.49, SD = 1.21, and M = 3.98, SD = 1.02, respectively; p < .0001).

Dyadic Sexuality

The items in this dimension are "sexual desire" (item 40),"sexual activity" (item 41) and "contentment with the sexual situation" (item 42). On average, the parents resumed their sexual activity about three months (M = 2.6, SD = 1.2) after delivery. However, the frequency of sexual intercourse was "once to twice a month," on a scale from 0 (never) to 5 (more often than once a day); see Table 2. Both sexes were "discontented" or "partly content" with the sexual situation, on the scale comprising 1 (discontented), 2 (partly content), and 3 (content). Fathers were the most discontented (46%); the corresponding figure for mothers was 36% (p = .001). Around 17% of the couples had not had any sexual intercourse during the last four weeks, and most of these couples had not resumed their sexual life after delivery. Sexual desire was only somewhat associated with sexual activity (r = .30) in this group of new parents. Fathers experienced sexual desire more often than mothers, "twice a week to once/day" and "twice a month to once a week," respectively (p < .001). The intracorrelation within couples regarding sexual desire was very low (Table 2).

Three-quarters of the mothers (74%) were breastfeeding fully (24%) or partially (50%) six months after delivery. Among the breastfeeding mothers, somewhat less sexual desire, a lower frequency of sexual activity and somewhat less contentment with the sexual life were found compared with the mothers who were not breastfeeding at around six months after delivery (see Table 4). No correlation was found between being too tired for sexuality and breastfeeding among this sample of Swedish mothers.

DISCUSSION

Having a child together can produce a special sense of community, thereby deepening a couple's relationship, especially if the expectations are realistic and the couple is prepared for some kind of change in their intimate relationship. In the present study, most new parents were satisfied with their intimate relationships in general, but the fathers were more satisfied than the mothers. This gender difference is supported by the findings of Kaslow, Hansson, and Lundblad (1994), who reported that men were more satisfied than women in long-lasting relationships. This could be associated with the fact that men benefit from marital status and do not react emotionally unless problems are severe enough to threaten this (Gove, Hughes, & Style, 1983). However, fathers felt more stressed than mothers in the situation, possibly because of time spent working outside home (91%) among the fathers (see Table 1). They may have been striving to fulfill the roles of both professional and father, as some fathers noted in answers to the open-ended questions added to the modified DAS questionnaire, analyzed in a separate study (Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2005).

The results of the present study show that both mothers and fathers were somewhat discontented with the dyadic sexuality. This was also found by Wadsby and Sydsjo (2001), who reported impairment in closeness and sexuality one year after the birth of the first child. In the present study, the mothers found "being too tired for sex" a greater problem than the fathers. It could be that the mothers felt more tired, but also that women in general impose greater demands on the conditions for sexual activity, since they are easily distracted and need more time and energy to mobilize a sexual desire and wish for sexual activity (Levine, 1992). When the parents, and especially the mother, are too tired for sex, they could compensate with sensuality, as some couples did (Ahlborg et al., 2000). However, the results show an association between fatigue and less sensuality and no clear-cut compensation with sensuality when there is a lack of sexuality. Since hugging, kissing and sexual activity were somewhat associated, this could mean that the same couples exchanged both sensuality and sexuality. An exchange of sensuality and sexuality between the partners could, however, have a real impact on the stability of the relationship, since hugging, kissing and caressing are good ways to confirm each other sensually as partners (Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2001; von Sydow, 1999).

Sensuality, through caressing, could be a good way to awaken the sexual desire of the woman, according to a mother's statement in an interview study (Ahlborg et al., 2000), and also described by Levine (1992). This is useful knowledge, since there is an imbalance in sexual desire between the fathers and mothers in the data in the present study, and the stated diversity of sexual desire within the couples can be problematic. In the interview studies (Ahlborg et al., 2000; Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2001), several fathers expressed a need for emotional and sensual confirmation from their partner and said that this was even more important than the sexuality itself. One father said, "it is not the sexuality which is most important; I can handle that myself! No, the important thing is that she sees me and hugs me as her husband, not just as the father of our baby." However, the significance of sexuality cannot be ignored, especially not for men, according to Kohler-Riessman (1990). The risk of infidelity also increases around the time of parenthood (Cowan & Cowan, 2000), making the relationship less stable.

The sensual desire also revealed a gender difference; the fathers wanted to hug and caress more often than the mothers. One explanation of this could be that the mothers exchange more tenderness with the baby while breastfeeding. Besides that, the father simply might like it. Another reason could be that he hopes the sensuality could lead to some sexuality. This could happen if the mother does not feel forced into having sex by the expectations of her husband. This is where the importance of communication comes into the picture, when the tension between sexual desire and the baby for the focus of attention has to be recognized. The situation could be that the partner (often the new mother) does not have any sexual desire and, as a result, she does not dare to show tenderness towards her husband since she is afraid of being misunderstood, which was described by Ahlborg & Strandmark (2001). A non-demanding situation, as a result of respecting the expressed wishes of the mother, may help the new mother to relax and then allow her sexual desire to be awakened.

The sexual situation for many new parents can be illustrated by the low correlation between sexual desire and sexual activity. This could mean that a person feels sexual desire but is not able to turn it into sexual activity as a new parent. The most common frequency of intercourse was once or twice a month among first-time parents. This fact could be passed on in parent groups, for example, since most couples think they are the only ones with such a low level of sexual activity. Among the couples that had resumed sexual activity, the average time for resuming sexual life was at 2.6 months, and this is in accordance with the interview study (Ahlborg et al., 2000) and is also fairly similar to the findings of Barrett et al. (2000), but with a discrepancy in resumption about three weeks later than the parents in Hyde et al. (1996). In Barrett et al. (2000), 89% of the parents had resumed sexual intercourse at six months, while the corresponding figure in the present study was 83%.

The present study revealed some association between breastfeeding and reduced sexual desire, activity and contentment. This is in accordance with the results of Hyde, DeLamater, Plant, and Byrd (1996), where breastfeeding women experienced significantly less sexual desire and sexual activity both one and four months after delivery, and their husbands consequently experienced significantly less sexual satisfaction. This potential association between sexuality and breastfeeding has also been discussed in a study by Glazener (1997) involving 1,075 mothers, where problems related to intercourse were reported by 53% in the first eight weeks and by 49% later during the first year after delivery, reported retrospectively. There was an association with pain during intercourse and current breastfeeding. However, in Glazener's (1997) study, breastfeeding had a significant association with low sexual desire eight weeks after delivery, but not later in the subsequent year. If pain connected to intercourse during breastfeeding is experienced, vaginal lubricants can be used, as proposed by Hyde et al. (1996).

Breastfeeding, which involves physical contact with the nipples, may also produce erotic feelings. Around one third to half the mothers felt breastfeeding was an erotic experience, and a quarter felt guilty feelings due to their sexual excitement, according to von Sydow (1999). We agree with Hyde et al. (1996) that it might be wise to inform parents about the potential sexual effects of breastfeeding, to make new parents understand the source of the problem and not conclude that there is a problem in the relationship. However, for a woman recognizing the capacities of the body, breastfeeding, sensuality and sexuality could be accepted in parallel. From a public health perspective, even though breastfeeding should be promoted, it is important to regard the family as a unit, where the health of the child also depends on the quality of the relationship between the mother and father (Belsky, 1981).

Most of the parents were "very happy" in the situation as new parents when the first baby was around six months of age. This is a positive and an expected result, since new parents with healthy babies generally have a fight to feel very happy. This could be the situation that is described by Umberson and Gove (1989), when the increase in meaningfulness that results from being parents overrides the decline in marital satisfaction. In this context, social desirability may affect survey results when parents answer the question about experiencing happiness. However, some parents did say that they felt a lack of happiness, and the open-ended questions could sometimes explain why (Ahlborg & Strandmark, 2005). The reasons included a lack of time to recover from a traumatic pregnancy or delivery, economic problems, or the partner working too much away from home, leading to less closeness, the feeling that the partners were living in two different worlds, and frustration with the partner's lack of sharing responsibility. When the quality of the intimate relationship was satisfactory, factors like a good social network and the opportunity to be given some relief were mentioned as examples of other factors explaining the variation in the experience of the intimate relationship, which were not covered by the modified DAS questionnaire. According to a longitudinal study by Shapiro, Gottman, and Carrere (2000), factors predicting stable or increased marital satisfaction were the husband's and wife's mutual awareness and the husband's expressions of fondness towards his wife. More than a quarter of the mothers and fathers in the present study thought not showing love and appreciation was a problem. This confirmation is significant for well-being in the relationship. When partners listen to each other, this is also a kind of confirmation, and laughing together as part of good communication and cohesion may increase the dyadic sensuality.

This study shows that most new parents six months after the birth of their first child feel very happy in their relationships. However, both mothers and fathers were less content with dyadic sexuality, and fathers were most dissatisfied with the low level of sexual activity as new parents. The opportunity to compensate for this discontentment with sexual life by exchanging sensuality could be emphasized. Since the variables of communication were associated with most of the dyadic dimensions of the intimate relationship, the ability to communicate with and confirm each other emotionally, as well as sensually and sexually, appears to be important for the experienced quality of the intimate relationship.

The dimension of dyadic communication on the modified DAS appears to be important for the experience of the intimate relationship, as well as more aspects of dyadic sensuality and sexuality. Therefore, this should be included when assessing the intimate relationship of new parents. In a future article, we will evaluate the modified DAS through factor analysis to obtain good internal consistency within the instrument. A new factor structure after psychometrically evaluating the modified DAS could mean that the "kissing your mate" item would fit better in the sensuality dimension, for example, instead of the satisfaction dimension, as in the original DAS. We also plan to conduct a follow-up study of these parents after four years with the validated new measure in order to obtain a picture of how their intimate relationships may be experienced differently after some years of parenting.

Table 1. Description of the Study Sample Six Months After
Delivery of First Child (N = 820)

                 Total study
                 sample            Mothers           Fathers
                 (N = 820)         n = 432 (52.7%)   n = 388 (47.3%)

Age (years)
  M (Md)         31.3 (31.0)       30.3              32.4
  SD              4.9               4.2               5.4
  Range          18-66             18-41             21-66
Employed
  outside home   n = 395 (48.2%)   n = 42 (9.7%)     n = 353 (91.0%)
Unemployed       n = 61 (7.4%)     n = 40 (9.3%)     n = 21 (5.4%)
Enrolled as
  student        n = 64 (7.8%)     n = 40 (9.3%)     n = 24 (6.2%)

Table 2. Means, Standard Deviations, Gender Differences, and
Intracorrelations Within Couples in the Values of Modified DAS Among
Parents, Six Months After Birth of First Child (n = 384 couples)

                                         Mothers          Fathers

Item (abbreviated)                     Mean      SD     Mean      SD

Dyadic Consensus (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 1. Family economy               4.08      .79    4.12      .68
  Item 2. Recreation                   3.80      .85    3.74      .82
  Item 3. Religion                     4.29      .87    4.28      .84
  Item 5. Friends                      4.17      .72    4.16      .68
  Item 7. Correct behaviour            4.01      .77    4.04      .74
  Item 8. Philosophy of life           4.08      .74    4.06      .71
  Item 9. Dealing with parents or
    in-laws                            4.06      .84    4.06      .79
  Item 10. Aims and goals in life      4.22      .75    4.10      .71
  Item 11. Amount of time spent
    together                           4.00      .91    3.84      .83
  Item 12. Making major decisions      4.28      .72    4.23      .75
  Item 13. Household tasks             3.64      .94    3.67      .89
  Item 14. Leisure time activities     3.93      .77    3.86      .79
  Item 15. Career decisions            4.34      .69    4.24      .79
  Item 43. Baby matters (response
    scale 1-2)                         1.95      .21    2.00      .19
Dyadic Satisfaction (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 16. Discussed divorce/
    separation                         4.63      .65    4.59      .70
  Item 17. Leaving house after
    quarrelling                        4.63      .64    4.63      .68
  Item 18. Things going well in
    relationship                       4.02      .64    4.10      .65
  Item 19. Confidence in mate          4.50      .70    4.37      .83
  Item 20. Regretting moving in
    together                           4.70      .59    4.70      .62
  Item 21. How often quarrelling       3.53      .74    3.67      .75
  Item 22. "Get on each other's
    nerves"                            3.58      .79    3.70      .79
  Item 23. Kissing your mate
    (response scale 0-4)               3.38      .92    3.42      .89
  Item 31. Happiness in the
    relationship                       4.15     1.05    4.30     1.03
  Item 32. Future of the
    relationship                       4.13      .81    4.30      .77
Dyadic Cohesion (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 24. Common interests
    (response scale 0-4)               2.57      .67    2.55      .66
  Item 25. Stimulating exchange of
    ideas                              3.34     1.03    3.38     1.01
  Item 26. How often laughing
    together                           4.13      .88    4.33      .82
  Item 27. Calmly discussing
    something                          3.32     1.01    3.42      .94
  Item 28. Working together on
    a task/project                     3.46     1.14    3.69     1.11
Affectional Expression (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 4. Consensus about showing
    feelings                           3.81      .95    3.74      .83
  Item 6. Consensus about sexuality    3.71      .96    3.67      .98
  Item 29. Being too tired for sex
    (response scale 0-1)                .52      .50     .61      .49
  Item 30. Not showing love and
    appreciation (0-1)                  .73      .44     .76      .43
Dyadic Communication (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 33. How often expressing own
    wishes                             4.01      .78    3.69      .92
  Item 34. How often partner
    listening                          3.87      .94    3.86      .92
  Item 35. Misunderstanding one
    another                            3.27      .75    3.29      .77
Dyadic Sensuality (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 36. How often hugging your
    mate                               4.37      .82    4.38      .85
  Item 37. How often feeling
    sensual desire                     4.17      .93    4.30      .86
  Item 38. How often caressing
    last month                         3.75     1.11    3.80     1.15
  Item 39. Sensual contentment
    (response scale l-3)               2.35      .74    2.40      .73
Dyadic Sexuality (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 40. How often feeling sexual
    desire                             2.46      .97    3.53      .94
  Item 41. How often had
    intercourse last month             1.90     1.08    1.91     1.11
  Item 42. Sexual contentment
    (response scale 1-3)               1.88      .77    1.70      .73

                                        Wilcoxon
                                       signed rank      Spearman's
Item (abbreviated)                    test, p-value        rho

Dyadic Consensus (response                            all values ***
    scale 0-5)
  Item 1. Family economy                                   .48
  Item 2. Recreation                                       .49
  Item 3. Religion                                         .44
  Item 5. Friends                                          .33
  Item 7. Correct behaviour                                .32
  Item 8. Philosophy of life                               .40
  Item 9. Dealing with parents or
    in-laws                                                .49
  Item 10. Aims and goals in life        .002 **           .42
  Item 11. Amount of time spent
    together                             .008 **           .47
  Item 12. Making major decisions                          .43
  Item 13. Household tasks                                 .51
  Item 14. Leisure time activities                         .32
  Item 15. Career decisions              .030 *            .32
  Item 43. Baby matters (response
    scale 1-2)                                             .35
Dyadic Satisfaction (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 16. Discussed divorce/
    separation                                             .67
  Item 17. Leaving house after
    quarrelling                                            .43
  Item 18. Things going well in
    relationship                         .040 *            .45
  Item 19. Confidence in mate            .004 **           .23
  Item 20. Regretting moving in
    together                                               .39
  Item 21. How often quarrelling         .000 ***          .54
  Item 22. "Get on each other's
    nerves"                              .004 **           .49
  Item 23. Kissing your mate
    (response scale 0-4)                                   .58
  Item 31. Happiness in the
    relationship                         .004 **           .59
  Item 32. Future of the
    relationship                         .000 ***          .37
Dyadic Cohesion (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 24. Common interests
    (response scale 0-4)                                   .41
  Item 25. Stimulating exchange of
    ideas                                                  .46
  Item 26. How often laughing
    together                             .000 ***          .38
  Item 27. Calmly discussing
    something                                              .33
  Item 28. Working together on
    a task/project                       .000 ***          .33
Affectional Expression (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 4. Consensus about showing
    feelings                                               .44
  Item 6. Consensus about sexuality                        .58
  Item 29. Being too tired for sex
    (response scale 0-1)                 .001 **           .45
  Item 30. Not showing love and
    appreciation (0-1)                                     .54
Dyadic Communication (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 33. How often expressing own
    wishes                               .000 ***          .25
  Item 34. How often partner
    listening                                              .36
  Item 35. Misunderstanding one
    another                                                .45
Dyadic Sensuality (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 36. How often hugging your
    mate                                                   .58
  Item 37. How often feeling
    sensual desire                       .034 *            .33
  Item 38. How often caressing
    last month                                             .47
  Item 39. Sensual contentment
    (response scale l-3)                                   .43
Dyadic Sexuality (response
    scale 0-5)
  Item 40. How often feeling sexual
    desire                               .000 ***          .15
  Item 41. How often had
    intercourse last month                                 .74
  Item 42. Sexual contentment
    (response scale 1-3)                 .000 ***          .39

* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.

Table 3. Correlations (Spearman's rho) for Both Sexes Between
Different Dimensions of the Modified DAS Among Parents, Six
Months After Birth of First Child (n = 384 couples)

                         Mothers

                          Dyadic        Dyadic       Dyadic
Fathers                  Consensus   Satisfaction   Cohesion

Dyadic Consensus                         .61          .45
Dyadic Satisfaction         .66                       .48
Dyadic Cohesion             .36          .43
Affectional Expression      .56          .51          .28
Dyadic Communication        .60          .63          .33
Dyadic Sensuality           .24          .49          .41
Dyadic Sexuality            .24          .26          .28

                         Mothers

                         Affectional      Dyadic
Fathers                  Expression    Communication

Dyadic Consensus             .54            .50
Dyadic Satisfaction          .50            .56
Dyadic Cohesion              .37            .42
Affectional Expression                      .47
Dyadic Communication         .43
Dyadic Sensuality            .36            .32
Dyadic Sexuality             .32            .20

                         Mothers

                           Dyadic      Dyadic
Fathers                  Sensuality   Sexuality

Dyadic Consensus          15             .15
Dyadic Satisfaction         .37          .24
Dyadic Cohesion             .42          .22
Affectional Expression      .25          .30
Dyadic Communication        .20          .16
Dyadic Sensuality                        .38
Dyadic Sexuality            .39

Note. All values are statistically significant (p < 01).

Table 4. Sexual Desire, Activity, and Contentment with
Sexual Life Among Breastfeeding and Non-breastfeeding
Mothers, Six Months after Birth of First Child

                       Breastfeeding     Non-breastfeeding
                     mothers (n = 320)   mothers (n = 109)

                         M     SD             M     SD         p

Sexual desire            2.4    .9           2.7   1.0       .003
Sexual activity          1.8   1.1           2.2   1.0       .001
Sexual contentment       1.8    .7           2.1    .7       .002

Note. Missing data (n = 3).

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Manuscript accepted October 13, 2004

Tone Ahlborg

Nordic School of Public Health

Lars-Gosta Dahlof

Goteborg University

Lillemor R-M. Hallberg

Halmstad University

Address correspondence to Tone Ahlborg, Ph.D.. Nordic School of Public Health, Box 121 33, SE-402 42 G6teborg, Sweden; e-mail: [e-mail].