To study whether there is an association between dyadic consensus, depressive symptoms, and parental stress during early parenthood and marital separation 6-8 years after childbirth, among couples in Sweden.
At baseline, 393 couples were included. The couples answered three questionnaires, including: Dyadic consensus at 1 week post-partum, depressive symptoms at 3 months post-partum and parental stress at 18 months post-partum. The parents' addresses were followed up after 6-8 years, to study the marital separation rate.
We found, 6-8 years after childbirth, that 20% of study couples were separated. Separation was associated with less dyadic consensus (mothers p