The transition to parenthood: I. The rating of prenatal marital competence.

This article is the first of three that will present data from the Timberlawn Psychiatric Research Foundation Young Family Project, a study of the development over time of competent family systems. The Project is briefly described and findings are presented from the initial data collection period. The operational definitions of marital competence and the Continuum of Marital Competence are presented, and the data are interpreted to suggest that the spouses' levels of individual psychological health, their agreement on values, and their socioeconomic status are related to the level of marital competence. The level of prenatal marital competence at Time 1 is used as an independent variable with which to predict both changes in marital structure and incorporation of the child into the family system at 3 months and 1 year postpartum. The results of these analyses will be presented in two subsequent articles.