Spouses' body image changes during and after pregnancy: a replication and extension

This longitudinal study replicated and extended an investigation of the relation between spouses' strength of identification and similarities in their patterns of change in body image components during and after pregnancy. The sample included 54 married couples. The results did not duplicate previous study findings of similarity in spouses' patterns of change in perceived body space. There were statistically significant changes in wives' perceived body space scores from the third month of pregnancy to the second postpartal month, but no changes in the husbands' perceived body space scores. Results upheld previous study findings of no relationship between spouses' strength of identification and similarities in their patterns of change in perceived body space. No changes were detected in either wives' or husbands' global body attitude scores, nor was there evidence of a relationship between spouses' strength of identification and similarity in their patterns of change in global body attitude.