Transition to parenthood: the dynamics of family.

1.Introduction The transition to parenthood is a time when the partners in a couple develop the representative and interactive foundations that prepare them for the encounter with the child and for the construction of their relationship with him/her. Right from pregnancy, the partners reactivate a complex representative world – in relation to themselves, to the other and to their interactive history with reference figures from their childhood – which will make up the basis of parental investment and the behavioural system of caring for the child (Stern, 1995; Fivaz-Depeursinge, Corboz-Warnery, 1999; Fivaz-Depeursinge, Corboz-Warnery, Carneiro, Wasem, 2002). An important aspect of this transition, which is already under way from the pre-natal stage, is the progressive change from dyadic to triadic functioning – brought out by the Lausanne Triadic Play observational procedure, which simulates an encounter with the child in a play situation before the actual birth of the child (Fivaz-Depeursinge, Corboz-Warnery, Carneiro, Wasem, 2002). At the same time, both members of the couple need to reshape their representative and interactive patterns relative to the relationship with their partner in their role as spouse and parent. The quality of the marital relationship is one of the determining factors of parental investment (Belsky, 1997). Therefore, the aim of this work is to highlight the connection between the quality of the familial triadic interaction and the perception of the couple’s adjustment, starting from the pre-natal stage until the infant is 18 months old, at which time the quality of the infant’s bond with the parent is consolidated. Here, we will present the data relative to the pre-natal stage in particular. 2. Methodology The participants are 20 couples who are expecting their first child, all of whom belong to the Italian population and who were recruited during their 7th month of pregnancy at ante-natal classes. - The research instruments used are as follows: - Spanier’s Dyadic Adjustment Scale, translated and validated in Italy by Gentili, Contreras, Cassaniti, D’Artista (2002) in order to evaluate the perception of the couple’s Adjustment by each partner; - the pre-natal Lausanne Triadic Play (Carneiro, Corboz-Waernery, Fivaz-Depeursinge, 2002) to evaluate the quality of triadic interactions before the birth of the child. Analysis of the data is via appropriate statistical procedures.