Coping with fatherhood: the first year

Fantasy (thinking back to prebaby times) and holidays (going out alone with the wife) are examined here as methods of coping with parenthood for 93 white, first-time fathers. Results suggest that only the holiday coping mechanism is associated with maintaining or improving marital satisfaction. The use of fantasy actually decreases marital satisfaction. These data suggest that the discrepancies in the conclusions of previous "parenthood as crisis" studies may be accounted for through the analysis of coping mechanisms that various fathers utilize.