Predictors of family functioning eight months following birth

A theoretical causal model was tested to determine the effects of stress on family functioning for four groups of parents at 8 months postpartum. High-risk women who had been hospitalized during pregnancy, their partners, low-risk women, and their partners were tested to find how predictors might differ by gender and risk-status. The proposed theoretical model had low predictive power among the four groups (20% to 24%); however, the exploratory, empirical models had moderate to strong explanatory power (33% to 58%). Depression had direct effects on family functioning among all four groups in the theoretical model, but the respecified models had direct effects only among the two groups of women. Antepartal stress in the form of negative life events stress had indirect effects on women's family functioning, as was hypothesized, but not for men. High-risk men's partners' pregnancy risk had direct effects on family functioning at 8 months, indicating long-term effects on the family of a high-risk pregnancy.