POSTPARTUM PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS - THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AND MARITAL SATISFACTION IN THE SPOUSES

The authors examined mental health and marital quality in an index gro up of spouses of women with postpartum psychiatric disorders and a con trol group of men whose wives had recently given birth but had no such disorders. At 6 to 9 weeks postpartum, couples underwent a psychiatri c interview and completed self-report measures of psychological sympto ms, marital satisfaction, and changes in couple and family functioning since the birth. Index spouses reported more symptoms and had lower G lobal Assessment of Functioning (R. L. Spitzer, J. B. W. Williams, M. Gibbon, & M. B. First, 1990) scores than controls. Index men reported greater marital dissatisfaction and more change in household routines, recreation, and intimacy with their partners than controls.