Marital Satisfaction and Family Functioning in Families with Toddlers: Evidence For a Single Construct? Phillip R. Sevi

1. Marital Satisfaction and Family Functioning in Families with Toddlers: Evidence For a Single Construct? Phillip R. Sevigny, M. A. & Lynn Loutzenhiser, Ph. D. Child and Family Research Group, University of Regina Methods • Results • Moderate correlations were found between depression and marital satisfaction as well as depression and family functioning. (Table 1.) • Very strong correlations were found between marital satisfaction and family functioning. • The correlation between depression and marital satisfaction was significantly different from the correlation between family functioning and marital satisfaction for both mothers, t = 4.92, p < .001, and fathers, t = 2.84, p < .01. • To examine whether the measures of family functioning and marital satisfaction were tapping unique variables, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the total scores of each instrument for mothers and fathers (Costello & Osborne, 2005). • KMO measure of sampling adequacy = .72; determinant = .07. • A single factor emerged (eigenvalue = 3.02) accounting for 75.4% of the variance. • Introduction • The family is an important agent of socialization, particularly for young children, and has been shown to influence child developmental outcome in a number of ways (e.g., Flouri, 2005; Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003). • According to family systems theory, the family can be divided into different subsystems or levels of organization: the individual, the marital dyad, and the whole family unit (Dickstein et al., 1998). • From this perspective, measuring functioning at the individual, dyadic and family-unit levels can provide a comprehensive understanding of how the family is functioning overall. • Transitions within the family provide an opportunity to examine how adaptations to change influence both family and child development (Cowan & Cowan, 2003). • The toddler period is an understudied time of family change. Toddler’s abilities expand rapidly and parents are challenged to increase their repertoire of skills to keep pace with their child’s changing needs (Coleman & Karakker, 2003). • In this exploratory study, we examined the relationships among measures of individual, dyadic and family-unit in families with toddlers. • Research Question • What are the associations between individual, dyadic and family-unit functioning in families with toddlers? • This research was supported by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the first author • Discussion • The moderate correlation between the individual variable and both the marital and family variables as well as the significant difference between these correlations suggests that measuring individual functioning provides unique information about functioning within the family-unit. • The results of the EFA suggests that in this sample of well functioning, two parent families of toddlers, measures of marital satisfaction and family functioning may be tapping a single underlying construct. • Thus it remains unclear whether instruments designed to assess the marital and family unit actually correspond to different levels of the family system. • Prior investigations have demonstrated a strong correlation between these two constructs in both clinical and non-clinical samples (Akister & Stevenson-Hinde, 1991; Hayden et al., 1998). Since the magnitude of the correlation has varied, it is possible that the strength of this relationship may be different in clinical families. • Few studies however have explicitly explored the relationship between marital and family unit variables in families with preschool age children (Demo & Cox, 2000). • It may be that the constructs of marital satisfaction and family functioning are redundant during the early childhood years but begin to differentiate when children are older than toddlers. • While the current investigation indicates that these may be one construct, it is not clear what level of the family system it corresponds to. It is possible, for example, that these instruments are both assessing aspects of marital harmony. • Thus, future research needs to establish the level validity of the DAS and the FAD using procedures outlined by Cook and Kenny (2006). • Procedures • This investigation is part of a larger study exploring family life during the toddler period. • Cohabiting couples whose first-born child was between the ages of 18 – 36 months were recruited from daycares, parent-child recreational programmes and a trade fair aimed at parents of young children. • Mothers and fathers independently completed questionnaires assessing the level of the individual (depressive symptoms), the marital dyad (marital satisfaction) and the level of the family unit (family functioning). • Measures • Depression: Beck Depression Inventory - II (Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996). • Marital satisfaction: Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976). • Family functioning: Family Assessment Device, General Functioning subscale (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). • Participants • Mothers age: 20 – 43 years (M = 32.4, SD = 54.5); fathers age: 22 – 47 years (M = 34.5, SD = 4.82). • N = 62 couples; 85.5% legally married. • The couples were well educated (80% had some post-secondary education), and had moderate to high levels of family income (70% > $60 000). Table 1. Correlations Among Study Variables