• 114-01 Links Between Reasons for Cohabitation and Relational Outcomes
  Presented by: Ari Bond, BreeAnne Madsen, Brian Willoughby
• 114-02 Attachment and Relational Quality for Unmarried, Pregnant Cohabitors
  Presented by: Alicia Ernsky, Shannon Corkery, Melissa Curran
• 114-03 Searching for Stability: Cohabitation and Coparenting in Unmarried Couples
  Presented by: Tyler Jamison, Lawrence Ganong, Christine Proulx
• 114-04 “Stayover Couples”: Are They a Unique Couple Type?
  Presented by: BreeAnne Madsen, Ari Bond, Brian Willoughby, Jason Carroll, Dean Busby

Abstracts

Links between Reasons for Cohabitation and Relational Outcomes

Presented by: Ari Bond, BreeAnne Madsen, Brian Willoughby

The purpose of this study is to examine how the reason why one chooses to cohabit influences relational outcomes. For this study, we used a national sample of 649 cohabiters who took the RELATE assessment. Participants selected one of four reasons why they chose to cohabit. Few background characteristics predicted why individuals chose to cohabit. Results indicated that those who choose to cohabit as the next step toward marriage tended to indicate the best relationship outcomes. The implications of these findings for understanding and delineated sub-group differences among cohabiters are discussed.

Attachment and Relational Quality for Unmarried, Pregnant Cohabitors

Presented by: Alicia Ernsky, Shannon Corkery, Melissa Curran

Individuals develop internal working models based on early interactions with caregivers, which they then use to navigate relationships over time. We examine how attachment avoidance and anxiety are related to positive and negative relationship quality for pregnant, unmarried cohabitors (N = 121), a population growing in prevalence in the U.S., and who struggle relationally. Results show that higher attachment avoidance, in particular, was associated with considerably more negative relational attributes (i.e., lower satisfaction, commitment, love, maintenance, and more conflict and ambivalence). Findings suggest that attachment avoidance may be particularly central in understanding relational struggles for individuals in already precarious relationships.

Searching for Stability: Cohabitation and Coparenting in Unmarried Couples

Presented by: Tyler Jamison, Lawrence Ganong, Christine Proulx

Although unmarried parents may be coupled or apart, cohabiting or living separately, unmarried individuals rarely parent alone. The purpose of this grounded theory study of 13 unmarried couples was to explore the influence of cohabitation on coparenting in unmarried families. When couples cohabited continuously, they managed the stress associated with living in poverty better than couples that cohabited intermittently. Greater stability allowed continuous cohabitors to coparent based on their beliefs about how children should be raised (i.e., proactive coparenting), while intermittent cohabitors struggled to manage stress and therefore coparented in response to issues as they came up (i.e., reactive coparenting).

“Stayover Couples”: Are They a Unique Couple Type?

Presented by: BreeAnne Madsen, Ari Bond, Brian Willoughby, Jason Carroll, Dean Busby

Recently scholars have argued for a new, unique type of couple. These couples are often labeled "stayover" relationships, or couples who are not living together but spend multiple nights sharing a bed. The present study seeks to know more about these relationships by utilizing data from a national sample of 1,499 individuals in premarital dating relationships. The results indicated that although couples who spent four to seven nights per week together had meaningful differences from other groups, the most consistent differences (typically negative) were found between cohabitating couples and other couple groups.