The early years of marriage are a time of significant personal and relational changes as partners adjust to their new roles, but the specific ways that spouses' personalities may change in early marriage and how these changes are associated with spouses' marital satisfaction trajectories have been overlooked. Using 3 waves of data collected over the first 18 months of marriage (N = 338 spouses, or 169 heterosexual newlywed marriages), we examined changes in spouses' self-reported Big 5 personality traits over time and the association between initial levels and changes in personality and spouses' concurrent marital satisfaction trajectories. Results indicated significant changes in personality over time, including declines in agreeableness for husbands and for wives, declines in extraversion for husbands, declines in openness and neuroticism for wives, and increases in conscientiousness for husbands. These results did not differ by spouses' age, demographics, relationship length prior to marriage, cohabitation prior to marriage, initial marital satisfaction, or parenthood status. Initial levels of personality as well as changes in personality over time were associated with spouses' marital satisfaction trajectories. Taken together, these findings indicate that newlywed spouses' personalities undergo meaningful changes during the newlywed years and these changes are associated with changes in spouses' marital satisfaction. Further research is needed to understand the processes underlying changes in personality early in marriage and to examine the mechanisms linking changes in personality and changes in marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Open Science Movement (OSM) emphasizes increased transparency at many of the steps in the scientific process and has improved psychological science. In the present article, we discuss whether such transparency should find its way into the review process. We discuss a priori thoughts and intuitions about the costs and benefits of signing reviews. In terms of benefits, these include greater alignment with OSM and greater accountability leading to increases in civility, care, and thoughtfulness of reviews. The most obvious cost is potential retaliation for negative reviews. To check these intuitions, we surveyed a sample of 358 faculty members about their experience and views on signing reviews. Results both underscored and extended the initial intuitions. Results suggest there are many benefits to increasing the incidence of reviewers signing their reviews. Fears of retaliation seem to be somewhat exaggerated. We discuss possible means of reducing the possibility of retaliation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Despite narcissism's relation with interpersonal dysfunction, surprisingly little empirical research has been devoted to understanding narcissism's effect on intimate relationships in general or marital relationships in particular. The current study addressed this gap using longitudinal data from a community sample of 146 newlywed couples assessed 6 times over the first 4 years of marriage. First, we examined partner characteristics associated with higher levels of narcissism to determine the degree to which couples were matched on narcissism and related traits. Second, we examined how narcissism predicted the trajectory of marital quality over time, testing narcissism's association with initial levels of relationship functioning (the intercept) and changes in relationship functioning (the slope). Results indicated a small degree of homophily but otherwise no clear pattern of partner characteristics for individuals higher in narcissism. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that wives' total narcissism and entitlement/exploitativeness scores predicted the slope of marital quality over time, including steeper declines in marital satisfaction and steeper increases in marital problems. Husbands' narcissism scores generally had few effects on their own marital quality or that of their wives. These findings are notable in indicating that the effects of personality characteristics on marital functioning may take some time to manifest themselves, even if they were present from early in the marriage. Future research into the mediating psychological and interpersonal processes that link wives' narcissism with poorer marital functioning over time would be valuable.

Food insecurity (FI) is an understudied risk factor for depression among perinatal women in sub-Saharan Africa. We therefore explored the longitudinal relationship between FI and depressive symptoms among a cohort of perinatal women of mixed HIV status (n = 371) in Kenya (NCT02974972, NCT02979418). Using longitudinal linear and logistic regressions with random effects, we assessed bivariate and adjusted associations between maternal FI and depressive symptoms. HIV status was also assessed as a potential effect modifier. At baseline, 58% of pregnant women had probable depression (CES-D score > 16) and 84% were severely food insecure. In adjusted analyses, severely food-insecure women had 5.90 greater odds (95% CI 2.32, 15.02, p < 0.001) of having probable depression and scored 4.58 points higher on the CES-D scale (SE: 1.04, p < 0.001) relative to food-secure women. HIV status did not modify the association between FI and depressive symptoms. Interventions to reduce FI may reduce perinatal depression, benefiting mothers and their infants.

Background/objectives

Body composition changes markedly during reproduction. In sub-Saharan Africa, impacts of HIV infection on body composition across pregnancy and lactation in the context of Option B+ antiretroviral therapy are unknown. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the role of HIV infection on body composition during pregnancy and lactation among Kenyan women.

Subjects/methods

A cohort of pregnant women (n = 333; 50.5% HIV+, receiving ART) were enrolled at seven clinics in western Kenya. Two prenatal (mean ± SD: 23.6 ± 4.4 and 33.4 ± 2.0 weeks gestation) and three postpartum (6, 14, and 36 weeks) measurements included: individual-level food insecurity, height, weight, fat mass (FM), and fat-free mass (FFM) by bioimpedance analysis (BIA), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and triceps skinfold (TSF), allowing for AMA (arm muscle area) and AFA (arm fat area) derivation. Multivariable longitudinal regression models were used to relate HIV to body composition changes.

Results

In longitudinal models, HIV-infected women had lower weight (ß = -3.0 kg, p = 0.003), fat mass (ß = -1.5 kg, p = 0.02), fat-free mass (ß = -1.5 kg, p = 0.01), TSF (ß = -2.6 mm, p < 0.001), AFA (ß = -3.9 cm³, p < 0.001), and MUAC (ß = -1.0 cm, p = 0.001), but not AMA (p = 0.34), across all observations. Food insecurity was inversely associated with AMA and MUAC postpartum (AMA ß-range = -0.47 to -0.92 cm³; MUAC ß-range = -0.09 to -0.15 cm, all p < 0.05).

Conclusions

HIV infection was associated with lower weight, fat mass, fat-free mass, TSF, AFA, and MUAC values during pregnancy and lactation, while food insecurity was intermittently associated with body composition. This suggests that pregnant and lactating women living with HIV and food insecurity could benefit from nutritional support.

Background

Household food insecurity (FI) and water insecurity (WI) are prevalent public health issues that can co-occur. Few studies have concurrently assessed their associations with health outcomes, particularly among people living with HIV.

Objectives

We aimed to investigate the associations between FI and WI and how they relate to physical and mental health.

Methods

Food-insecure adult smallholder farmers living with HIV in western Kenya were recruited to participate in a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a multisectoral agricultural and asset loan intervention. We used baseline data on experiences of FI (using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, range: 0-27) and WI (using a modified scale developed for this region, range: 0-51) in the prior month (n = 716). Outcomes included probable depression (using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist), fatigue and diarrhea in the prior month, and overall mental and physical health (using the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey, range: 0-100). We first assessed Pearson correlations between FI, WI, and sociodemographic characteristics. We then developed 3 regressions for each health outcome (control variables and FI; control variables and WI; control variables, FI, and WI) and compared model fit indexes.

Results

Correlations between household FI, WI, and wealth were low, meaning they measure distinct constructs. FI and WI were associated with numerous physical and mental health outcomes; accounting for both resource insecurities typically provided the best model fit. For instance, when controlling for FI, each 10-point higher WI score was associated with a 6.42-point lower physical health score (P < 0.001) and 2.92 times greater odds of probable depression (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Assessing both FI and WI is important for correctly estimating their relation with health outcomes. Interventions that address food- and water-related issues among persons living with HIV concurrently will likely be more effective at improving health than those addressing a single resource insecurity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02815579.

Food insecurity (FI), low social support, and low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are associated with self-reported nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among postpartum women, but these relationships have not been evaluated using objective adherence indicators. Hair samples were therefore analyzed among 83 postpartum Kenyan women living with HIV on efavirenz and nevirapine ART drug regimens in an observational cohort (NCT02974972). FI (0-27), social support (0-40), and HRQoL (8-40) in the prior month were also assessed. In multivariable models, each point increase in FI and decrease in HRQoL were associated with a 45.1% (95% CI: -64.3%, -15.6%) and 10.5% decrease (95% CI: 1.0%, 22.1%) in hair ART drug concentrations respectively, when social support was held constant. A significant interaction between social support and FI (β = 0.02, p = 0.017) indicated that greater social support was predicted to mitigate the negative impacts of FI on ART adherence. Addressing these modifiable barriers could improve ART adherence during this critical period.

Stress and food insecurity (FI) are associated with poor perinatal and HIV outcomes. We hypothesized that FI would increase postpartum stress among women in Kenya, and that the impact would be greater in women with HIV. Among 371 pregnant women, we identified latent FI trajectories across the perinatal period, and estimated their association with postpartum stress. Stress metrics included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and hair cortisol concentrations (HCC). We identified two FI trajectories: persistent moderate FI and persistent mild FI. Moderate FI (vs. mild) was associated with higher PSS; this association was stronger among HIV-negative women. We observed a trend towards higher HCC associated with moderate FI, which did not differ by HIV status. HCC and PSS were not correlated. In summary, moderate FI (vs. mild) was associated with increased stress. The lack of PSS-HCC correlation could reflect different physiological pathways. Interventions to mitigate FI could alleviate postpartum stress.