JuliAnna Z. Smith

Stigma, Social Context, and Mental Health: Lesbian and Gay Couples Across the Transition to Adoptive Parenthood

This is the first study to examine change in depression and anxiety across the first year of adoptive parenthood in same-sex couples (90 couples: 52 lesbian, 38 gay male). Given that sexual minorities uniquely contend with sexual orientation-related stigma, this study examined how both internalized and enacted forms of stigma affect the mental health of lesbians and gay men during the transition to parenthood. In addition, the role of contextual support was examined. Higher perceived workplace support, family support, and relationship quality were related to lower depressive and anxious symptoms at the time of the adoption, and higher perceived friend support was related to lower anxiety symptoms. Lower internalized homophobia and higher perceived neighborhood gay-friendliness were related to lower depressive symptoms. Finally, individuals with high internalized homophobia who lived in states with unfavorable legal climates regarding gay adoption experienced the steepest increases in depressive and anxious symptoms. Findings have important implications for counselors working with sexual minorities, especially those experiencing the transition to parenthood.

Preadoptive Factors Predicting Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples' Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Adoptive Parenthood

The authors examined preadoptive factors as predictors of relationship quality (love, ambivalence, and conflict) among 125 couples (44 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 51 heterosexual couples) across the 1st year of adoptive parenthood. On average, all new parents experienced declines in their relationship quality across the 1st year of parenthood regardless of sexual orientation, with women experiencing steeper declines in love. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of avoidant coping, lower levels of relationship maintenance behaviors, and less satisfaction with their adoption agencies reported lower relationship quality at the time of the adoption. The effect of avoidant coping on relationship quality varied by gender. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of confrontative coping, and higher levels of relationship maintenance behaviors reported greater declines in relationship quality. These findings have implications for professionals who work with adoptive parents both pre- and postadoption.

Psychological resilience predicts depressive symptoms among spouses of persons with Alzheimer disease over time

This study examines the three facets of psychological resilience (i.e., perceived control, commitment to living, challenge versus stability) as predictors of depressive symptoms over time among spousal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer disease; these resilience factors were considered over and above dementia-related and socio-demographic control variables. A sample of 105 cohabiting spouses of persons diagnosed with probable or possible Alzheimer disease was recruited for this study. Multilevel modeling enabled us to examine baseline resilience, and the direction and magnitude of change in resilience over time, as distinct predictors of depressive symptoms one year later, and change in depressive symptoms between points of measurement. Both Time 1 control and challenge predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms one year later; furthermore, an increase in challenge over this interval predicted lower Time 2 depressive symptoms. In contrast, commitment did not emerge as a statistically significant predictor of caregiver depression. Findings of this study provide general support for the stress process model of caregiving; in particular, the central role of intra-psychic factors as significant predictors of depressive symptoms over time.

Perceived Parenting Skill Across the Transition to Adoptive Parenthood Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples

Little research has examined change in perceived parenting skill across the transition to parenthood or predictors of change in perceived skill. The current study used an ecological framework to examine predictors of self-perceived parenting skill among 47 lesbian, 31 gay, and 56 heterosexual couples who were adopting their first child. Findings revealed that, on average, all new parents perceived themselves as becoming more skilled, although gay men increased the most and lesbians the least. Participants who were female, reported fewer depressive symptoms, expected to do more child care, and reported higher job autonomy viewed themselves as more skilled pre-adoption. With regard to change, parents who reported more relational conflict and parents who expected to do more child care experienced lesser increases in perceived skill. These findings suggest that regardless of gender, sexual orientation, and route to parenthood, new parents experience similar, positive changes in perceived skill, thereby broadening our understanding of parenting skill in diverse groups. The findings also highlight the importance of examining how gender, sexual orientation, and the family context may shape perceived skill across the transition to parenthood.

Personality traits and marital satisfaction within enduring relationships: An intra-couple discrepancy approach

In this study of 125 heterosexual long-wed couples, we examined both spouses’ personality traits and relative differences in partner perceptions of personality as predictors of marital satisfaction, simultaneously for both husbands and wives. As hypothesized, each of the Big Five personality traits emerged as significantly associated with marital satisfaction though significant between-trait and between-sex differences were observed. Most notably, trait levels predicted marital satisfaction less consistently than positive reporting discrepancies (i.e., comparatively greater extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and lower neuroticism reported by spouses vis-à-vis their partners’ self-descriptions). While previous research points to a central role of neuroticism, our findings suggest that conscientiousness is the trait most broadly associated with marital satisfaction in this sample of long-wed couples. These differences between study findings may reflect change over the course of married life, the degree to which neuroticism determines divorce, overreliance on younger samples in previous marital research, or some combination of these three.

Fathers’ Involvement in Child Care and Perceptions of Parenting Skill Over the Transition to Parenthood:

This study explored first-time fathers’ perceived child care skill over the transition to parenthood, based on face-to-face interviews of 152 working-class, dual-earner couples. Analyses examined the associations among fathers’ perceived skill and prenatal perception of skill, child care involvement, mothers’ breastfeeding, maternal gatekeeping, mothers’ work hours, fathers’ depressive symptoms, and fathers’ beliefs about responding to a crying child. Involvement was also examined as a potential mediator between some predictors and perceived skill. Findings suggest that breastfeeding and depressive symptoms were not related to involvement or perceived skill. Maternal gatekeeping was unrelated to skill yet had a negative relationship with involvement, if only at 1-month postpartum. Early father involvement mediated the relationship between perceived skill before and after the birth only for fathers who supported prompt response to a crying child. Finally, involvement at 1 year mediated the positive relationship between mothers’ work hours and perceived skill at the same age.

Personality trait levels within older couples and between-spouse trait differences as predictors of marital satisfaction

In this study of 125 older couples married for an average of 34 years, multilevel models were computed to simultaneously examine intra-couple personality trait averages and between-spouse trait similarity as predictors of marital satisfaction. Our findings suggest that higher intra-couple levels of extraversion predict marital satisfaction, both husbands and wives. In addition, between-spouse similarity in openness to experience appears associated with higher levels of marital satisfaction as reported by husbands; concomitantly, between-spouse similarity in agreeableness predicts wives’ marital satisfaction. With respect to openness (husbands) and agreeableness (wives), it did not matter which spouse within couples reported higher or lower trait levels. The most notable finding to emerge from this study is that neuroticism is not associated with marital satisfaction, neither husbands nor wives. This result stands in contrast to previously reported findings – the vast majority of prior research conducted with dating and newlywed couples. Conflicting results may reflect the degree to which neuroticism determines divorce within the first years of married life, adaptation to the foibles of ones spouse over time, overreliance on younger samples in marriage and family research, or some combination of these alternate explanations.

Multilevel Modeling Approaches to the Study of LGBT-Parent Families: Methods for Dyadic Data Analysis

While obtaining information from multiple members of a family can enhance researchers’ understanding of families, it can also present complications when trying to analyze the data, as most traditional statistical methods assume that data originate from independent sources. An additional problem arises when examining data from partners in same-sex couples, which are often “indistinguishable” as they cannot be distinguished on the basis of some characteristic (e.g., gender) meaningful to the analysis. This chapter introduces approaches to analyzing data from “indistinguishable” partners using multilevel modeling for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. It also discusses ways to examine data from multiple informants—for instance, when both mothers in lesbian-parent families report on their child’s well-being. Examples are drawn from the authors’ recent projects to illustrate the statistical concepts and difficulties.

Marital idealization as an enduring buffer to distress among spouses of persons with Alzheimer disease

Few disease processes affect the dynamics of marital relationships like neurodegenerative disorders. Illnesses such as Alzheimer disease strip older adults of a lifetime of memories and, in the latter stages, even the ability to recognize one’s spouse and children. In cross-sectional research, marital idealization (or the propensity to idealize one’s spouse and relationship) has emerged as significantly associated with the absence of distress among those caring for a spouse with Alzheimer disease. To extend prior findings, multilevel models were computed for the current study to demonstrate that marital idealization predicts both life satisfaction and the relative absence of caregiver burden one year later; moreover, change in marital idealization reflects a corresponding change in the psychological well-being of spouses over this same period (N = 90). Results of this study are discussed relative to the distinct demands of caring for a spouse with a dementing disorder, the health benefits of positive illusions, and demographic trends suggesting that family caregiving will become increasingly prevalent in coming years.

Knowing me-knowing you: Reported personality and trait discrepancies as predictors of marital idealization between long-wed spouses.

In previous research, marital idealization has emerged as a significant predictor of adaptation to widowhood, the psychological well-being of spouses of persons with dementia, and the physical health of older married adults over time. Despite the adaptive value of marital idealization, conceptual confusion regarding this phenomenon persists. To this end, the present study examines the degree to which marital idealization is predicted by personality traits relative to partner perceptions of their spouses personality, and discrepancies between self- vs. spousal reports for both husbands and wives. Multilevel models were computed on the basis of responses from 125 couples married an average of 34 years. Marital idealization by husbands was predicted by his personality (i.e., lower neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and higher conscientiousness). In contrast, marital idealization by wives was predicted by trait discrepancies (i.e., being seen, and seeing ones spouse, more positively than she or he sees him- or herself). Conscientiousness emerged as the trait for which between-sex differences were most pronounced, whereas both conscientiousness and agreeableness were the traits most broadly associated with marital idealization by both spouses (intracouple trait averages and discrepancies between spousal reports). These results are discussed in relation to gender socialization and between-sex differences.