新奇事件簿 无孩是婚姻幸福秘诀

A new study has found that having a child can make a couple less happy with each other. Researchers from the University of Denver conducted an eight-year study of 218 sets of parents. Their report is called “The effect of the transition to parenthood on relationship quality”. It is published in the March 2009 edition of the ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’. The psychologists examined how happy couples were in the eight years after the birth of their first child. They concluded that the first baby put a lot of stress and pressure on a marriage. Ninety percent of couples experienced a decrease in marital¹ bliss² immediately following the birth of their first child. Unmarried couples experienced bigger problems.

据最新研究表明，有孩子会降低夫妻幸福感。丹佛大学对218对父母进行了研究，时间长达8年之久。该报告名为“父母身份转变后的夫妻关系”。2009年3月，该报告刊登在了《人格与社会心理学》杂志上。孩子降临后，心理学家对夫妻在未来8年的幸福状况进行了研究。发现孩子对婚姻产生了巨大压力。在第一个孩子出生后，有90%的父母婚姻幸福指数下滑。未婚夫妇经历的问题更大。

It’s not all bad news for would-be parents. Some couples in the research said their relationship was stronger after their baby was born. Parents who were married for a long time before starting a family were happier. Couples on higher incomes also seemed to have fewer problems. Researcher Scott Stanley said his team’s findings did not mean children bring unhappiness in life. He said that parents may be happier as part of a family than as a childless couple. He noted³ that “this type of happiness can be powerful and positive”. Stanley also pointed⁴ out that couples who did not have children also became unhappier with each other over time. However, he said parenthood accelerated levels of unhappiness.

对于准父母而言也不都是坏消息。在该项研究中，许多夫妻称孩子让他们的联系更为紧密。无孩“老夫妻”会感到更幸福。高收入夫妻似乎问题较少。斯科特·斯坦利研究员表示，此项研究并不意味着孩子会带来不幸福感。称比起丁克家庭而言，有孩父母会感到更幸福。他称这类幸福感充满正能量。斯坦利还指出，丁克一族也会随着时间的流逝而感到不悦。但称为人父母后这种情感会加剧。

1 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

2 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。