Interparental conflict and relational attitudes within romantic relationships: The mediating role of attachment orientations

Early experiences and childhood perceptions of interparental conflict (IPC) have consistently been shown to have detrimental consequences for future psychological adjustment, in particular for attachment and couple relationships during adolescence and adulthood. We hypothesized that 1. IPC would predict anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and three relational attitudes associated with couple relationships: sense of relational entitlement, pathological concern, and authenticity; and 2. Attachment style would mediate the associations between IPC and these three relational attitudes. Measures of perceived IPC, attachment orientations, relational entitlement, pathological concern, and authenticity in romantic relationships were completed online by 280 young adults aged 19–32. IPC was positively correlated with anxious and avoidant attachment styles, restricted and inflated sense of entitlement, and pathological concern and negatively with authenticity. A structural equations model showed that IPC predicted avoidant and anxious attachment styles, which positively predicted an inflated and restricted sense of relational entitlement and pathological concern and negatively predicted authenticity. Attachment styles fully mediated the relationships between IPC and the relational attitudes. IPC therefore seems to be related to imbalanced attitudes in romantic relationships, due in part to a propensity toward insecure attachment orientations. Children with insecure attachment who are exposed to significant levels of IPC may be at high risk for relationship problems later in life because of difficulties exposing their vulnerability, assessing need fulfillment realistically, and caring for themselves as well as others. They should therefore be helped to communicate their relational needs to significant others, in particular to their partners.

Digital Tools as Parental Support—A Study Protocol Describing Prospective Development and Exploration of Two Digital Tools for Parents

Background: The access to digital tools for parents is increasing, and further exploration is needed to gain knowledge about parents' experiences in using such tools, for example, when preparing for childbirth and parenthood. This study protocol describes a prospective study that will explore serious games as digital tools for parental support, and both parents' and healthcare professionals' views will be included. The objectives of the prospective study are to explore two different serious games: (1) Childbirth Journey (Swedish: Förlossningsresan), relating to pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood; and (2) Interplay (Swedish: Samspel), relating to parental couple relationships and parenthood.Methods: An intervention study will be conducted. The study will include four different sub-studies (A–D) with both qualitative and quantitative methods and a longitudinal design. Both parents (A, B and D) and healthcare professionals (C) will be included, and data will be collected through interviews (A–C) and repeated web-based questionnaires (D). Data will be analysed using phenomenography and qualitative content analysis (A–C), and descriptive and analytical analyses will be performed for comparisons and associations (D).Discussion: The value of monitoring and reporting on developments and trends in digital innovation for public health has been stipulated by the World Health Organization. The prospective study will contribute further knowledge about multidisciplinary development of digital tools as professional support for parents, as well as knowledge about parents' and healthcare professionals' experiences using digital tools concerning pregnancy, labour, parenthood and parental couple relationships.Trial Registration: This study was retrospectively registered (02/10/2020) within the ISRCTN with ID: ISRCTN18017741. http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN18017741.

Income, ethnic diversity and family life in East London during the first wave of the pandemic: An assets approach

Objective: This paper reports first results from a survey of 992 parents and parents to be living in an ethnically diverse and socio-economically unequal borough of East London during the coronavirus pandemic that reduced mobility, closed services and threatened public health. Background: Little is known about the place based impacts of the pandemic on families with young children. We describe the living circumstances of families with children under five or expecting a baby living in Tower Hamlets during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and then examine the relative importance of household characteristics such as ethnicity and household income for adverse impacts on survey respondents, as seen in mental health outcomes. Method: a community survey sample recruited with support from the local council comprised 75% mothers/pregnant women, 25% fathers/partners of pregnant women. Reflecting the borough population, 35 percent were White British or Irish and 36 percent were Bangladeshi, and the remainder were from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Adopting an assets based approach, we describe material, familial and community assets using three household income bands and seven ethnic groups. We then use regressions to identify which assets were most important in mitigating adversity. Results: We find that material assets (income, employment, food insecurity, housing quality) were often insecure and in decline but familial assets (home caring practices, couple relationships) were largely sustained. Community assets (informal support, service provision) were less available or means of access had changed. Our analyses find that while descriptively ethnicity structured adverse impacts of the pandemic related changes to family life, income and couple relationships were the most important assets for mitigating adversity as seen in mental health status. Conclusion: Supporting family assets will require close attention to generating local and decent work as well as enhancing access to community assets.

Psychosocial aspects of choosing a couple partner

We often meet in couple relationships imaginary or real people who are found between the two partners and who leave a significant influence on the evolution and quality of the couple's relationship. This aspect has been addressed by specialists in socio-psychology, who have looked at how couples who establish an ideal in their current or future partners are affected, so that now these studies have become theoretical information that brings a clarification on the ideals and idealization in couple relationships. Thus, several theories have been crystallized that explain these phenomenon.