Thoughts of spouses toward parenting together and consciousness of their marital relationship in the child-rearing stage

Abstract

Objective

We studied 14 people comprising 7 couples with the aim of clarifying spouses' consciousness of their marital relationship in the child-rearing stage and their thoughts on parenting together, which involves the interplay between their cooperative relationships and adjustments to these.

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews with husbands and wives separately during home visits, qualitatively analyzed their narratives, and extracted subcategories and categories from codes.

Results

The participating couples lived in A Prefecture. Mean ages of the wives and husbands were 38.9 and 41.1 years, respectively, and they had been married for a mean of 8.7 years. Wives held that [there is something supporting my child-rearing] from responses such as “I can appreciate the feelings I have during child-rearing” and “I feel my husband growing.” They also had [thoughts on my involvement with my child] from responses such as “my involvement with my child is not wrong” and “I am conscious of the environment in which I am.” While some conducted an [objective analysis of my husband] from responses such as “I am conscious of my communication with my husband,” and “I have some minor complaints about my husband,” some had [a sense of satisfaction toward the partnership with my husband] according to responses such as “I feel as if things are going well with my husband,” “I have a sense of gratitude toward my husband,” and “I have trust and understanding toward my husband.” In contrast, husbands held that [I have my own ideas regarding my wife and child] according to responses such as “I have a stance on cooperation between spouses” and “I face my child.” While some made [efforts to help my wife in child-rearing] according to responses such as “I make compromises with my wife,” and “It's natural for my wife and I to help each other,” some had [a sense of satisfaction toward the partnership with my wife] according to responses such as “I have trust and gratitude toward my wife” and “I am satisfied with the relationship with my wife.”

Conclusion

Married couples who supported one another and had feelings of gratitude and a mutually trusting relationship also had a sense of satisfaction toward their relationship with one another. Relationships between husband and wife were maintained and adjusted through thoughts of husbands who indicated they wanted to support their wives and who in reality were also supported by their wives for the purposes of child-rearing. These marital relationships maintained favorable thoughts on parenting together.