The transition to cohabitation in young adults couples

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2024.1.41549

Keywords:

Marital relations, Couple dynamics, Young adults, Qualitative research

Abstract

The aim of this study was to comprehend how young adult couples first transitioned to cohabitation. To accomplish that, four young adult couples in cohabitation, without children, living in a Brazilian capital, were interviewed. Collected data was submitted to reflexive thematic analysis, which generated three themes. Results revealed how the decision process for cohabitation and adaptation to co-residence occurred, marked by challenges and tasks, as well as individual and relational growth. The experience of leaving the family of origin home before cohabiting, and of previous relationships were perceived as facilitators for the transition to cohabitation. In conclusion, although this stage was challenging, it provided individual growth, being descripted as a positive experience.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Giovania Mitie Maesima, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

Master in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Clinical Psychologist in private practice.

Angélica Paula Neumann, Integrated Regional University of Alto Uruguai and Missões (URI), Erechim, RS, Brazil.

PhD in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; with a post-doctorate in Psychology from the same institution. Professor at the Regional Integrated University of Alto Uruguai and Missões (URI), in Erechim, RS, Brazil. Clinical Psychologist in private practice.

Adriana Wagner, Integrated Regional University of Alto Uruguai and Missões (URI), Erechim, RS, Brazil.

PhD in Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), in Madrid, Spain; with a postdoctoral degree at the Institute for Research in Quality of Life (IRQV) at the University of Girona, Spain. Visiting professor of the Postgraduate Program in Psychology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil and coordinator of the Center for Research on the Dynamics of Family Relationships.

References

Abreu, R. L. M., & Almeida, L. S. (2015). Posicionamentos de homens em uma relação de coabitação. Memorandum, 29, 153-167.

Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N., & Terry, G. (2019). Thematic analysis. In P. Liamputtong (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in health social sciences (pp. 843-860). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_103

Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (2016). Transições familiares normativas, qualidade da relação do casal e desenvolvimento sadio dos filhos. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Processos normativos da família: diversidade e complexidade (4. ed., pp. 497-521). Artmed.

Delatorre, M. Z., & Wagner, A. (2021). A relação conjugal na perspectiva de casais. Ciências Psicológicas, 15(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v15i2.2355

Duarte, J. P., & Rocha-Coutinho, M. L. (2011). “Namorido”: uma forma contemporânea de conjugalidade? Psicologia Clínica, 23(2), 117-135. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-56652011000200008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-56652011000200008

Espínola, I. S., Cambranis, A. O., Salazar, M. A. M., & Esteves, C. G. (2017). Aproximación al concepto de pareja. Psicologia Para América Latina, 29, 7-22.

Féres-Carneiro, T. (1998). Casamento contemporâneo: o difícil convívio da individualidade com a conjugalidade. Psicologia: Reflexão e Critica, 11(2), 379-394. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79721998000200014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79721998000200014

Fonseca, S. R. A., & Duarte, C. M. N. (2014). Do namoro ao casamento: significados, expectativas, conflito e amor. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 30(2), 135-143. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-37722014000200002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-37722014000200002

Fontanella, B. J. B., Ricas, J., & Turato, E. R. (2008). Amostragem por saturação em pesquisas qualitativas em saúde: contribuições teóricas. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 24(1), 17-27. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-311x2008000100003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2008000100003

Heckler, V. I., & Mosmann, C. (2014). Casais de dupla carreira nos anos iniciais do casamento: compreendendo a formação do casal, papéis, trabalho e projetos de vida. Barbarói, 41(1), 119-147.

Huang, P. M., Smock, P. J., Manning, W. D., & Bergstrom-Lynch, C. A. (2011). He says, she says: gender and cohabitation. Journal of Family Issues, 32(7), 876-905. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X10397601 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X10397601

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2018). Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua 2016-2017: Educação 2017.

Karney, B. R., & Bradbury, T. N. (1995). The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: a review of theory, method, and research. Psychological Bulletin, 118(1), 3-34. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.118.1.3

Kroeger, R. A., & Smock, P. J. (2014). Cohabitation: recent research and implications. In J. Treas, J. Scott, & M. Richards (Eds.), The wiley-blackwell companion to the sociology of families (2. ed., pp. 217-235). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118374085 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118374085.ch11

Manning, W. D. (2020). Young adulthood relationships in an era of uncertainty: a case for cohabitation. Demography, 57(3), 799-819. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-020-00881-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-020-00881-9

Manning, W. D., & Smock, P. J. (2005). Measuring and modeling cohabitation: new perspectives from qualitative data. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4), 989-1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00189.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00189.x

Manning, W. D., Smock, P. J., & Fettro, M. N. (2019). Cohabitation and marital expectations among single millennials in the U.S. Population Research and Policy Review, 38(3), 327-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-018-09509-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-018-09509-8

McGoldrick, M. (2016). Becoming a couple: the joining of families. In M. McGoldrick, N. G. Preto, & B. Carter (Eds.). The expanding family life cycle: individual, family, and social perspectives (5. ed., pp. 259-279). Pearson.

McGoldrick, M., & Shibusawa, T. (2016). O ciclo vital familiar. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Processos normativos da família: diversidade e complexidade (4. ed., pp. 375-398). Artmed.

Menezes, C. C., & Lopes, R. de C. S. (2007). A transição para o casamento em casais coabitantes e em casais não-coabitantes. Rev Bras Crescimento Desenvolv Hum, 17(1), 52-63. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.19814 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.19814

Miller, A. J., & Carlson, D. L. (2016). Great Expectations? Working- and middle-class cohabitors’ expected and actual divisions of housework. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2), 346-363. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12276 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12276

Minuchin, S. (1982). Um modelo familiar. In Famílias: funcionamento e tratamento (pp. 52-69). Artes Médicas.

Neumann, A. P., Wagner, A., & Remor, E. (2018). Couple relationship education program “Living as Partners”: evaluation of effects on marital quality and conflict. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 31(26). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0106-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0106-z

Perelli-Harris, B., & Lyons-Amos, M. (2015). Changes in partnership patterns across the life course: an examination of 14 countries in europe and the United States. Demographic Research, 33(1), 145-178. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.6

Perelli-Harris, B., Mynarska, M., Berrington, A., Berghammer, C., Evans, A., Isupova, O., Keizer, R., Klärner, A., Lappegard, T, & Vignoli, D. (2014). Towards a new understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia. Demographic Research, 31(1), 1043-1078. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.34

Ramm, A., & Salinas, V. (2019). Beyond the second demographic transition: Cohabitation in Chile. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 50(1), 75-97. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.041-2017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.041-2017

Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J. (2012). The impact of the transition to cohabitation on relationship functioning: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(3), 348-358. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028316 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028316

Ríos-González, J. A. (2011). Los ciclos vitales de la familia y la pareja ¿Crisis u oportunidades? (2. ed.). Editorial CCS.

Sassler, S., & Lichter, D. T. (2020). Cohabitation and marriage: complexity and diversity in union-formation patterns. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 35-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12617 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12617

Wagner, A., & Delatorre, M. Z. (2018). A conjugalidade e suas transformações nos diferentes estágios do ciclo vital. In M. A. dos Santos, D. Bartholomeu, & J. M. Montiel (Eds.), Relações interpessoais no ciclo vital: conceitos e contextos (pp. 271-284). Vetor.

Downloads

Published

2024-12-06

How to Cite

Mitie Maesima, G., Paula Neumann, A., & Wagner, A. (2024). The transition to cohabitation in young adults couples. Psico, 55(1), e41549. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2024.1.41549

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 1 (2024): Single Volume - Continuous flow

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Psico

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright

The submission of originals to Psico implies the transfer by the authors of the right for publication. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. If the authors wish to include the same data into another publication, they must cite Psico as the site of original publication.

Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise specified, material published in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is correctly cited.