Interpartner Concordance on Relationship Quality and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Young Pregnant and Parenting Couples

A Study About How Interpartner Concordance Affects STI Transmission

Background

Are You and Your Partner on the Same Page?

A Study About How Interpartner Concordance Affects STI Transmission

Adolescents and young adults account for 25% of the US population yet comprise ~50% of the 20 million STIs reported annually. 200 AYA couples completed surveys on relationship quality, covering satisfaction, cohesion, consensus and affectional expression as well as STI diagnosis.

What we did:

We looked at relationship satisfaction of both members of a couple to see how different combinations (one partner satisfied and one not; both satisfied, both not satisfied with the relationship) influence an individual getting an STI

Findings suggest that when a person is satisfied with their relationship but their partner is not, they may be at increased risk for an STI. Read more

This study examined agreement between partners on perceptions of relationship quality and how it affected later STI diagnosis in a sample of young, pregnant couples.

Methods

Two hundred ninety-six AYA couples completed structured surveys on relationship quality (satisfaction, cohesion, consensus, affectional expression) and STI diagnosis. An actor-partner interdependence model was used to assess actor effects (whether an individual’s perceived relationship quality influenced their getting STI), partner effects (whether a partner’s perceived relationship quality influenced the individual getting an STI), and interactive effects (whether an individual’s perceived relationship quality interacted with a partner’s perceived relationship quality and influenced in the individual getting an STI).

Results

No significant actor or partner effects were observed for positive STI screen. However, there was a significant interaction between actor and partner satisfaction (B = -0.47, exp(B) = 0.63 [95% confidence interval, 0.43–0.93], P = 0.020). When actor satisfaction was high, greater partner satisfaction was associated with lower odds of a positive STI screen at 12 months. A significant interaction between actor and partner affectional expression was also found (B = -4.40, exp(B) = 0.01 [95% confidence interval, 0.00–0.87], P = 0.043). When partner affectional expression was high, greater actor affectional expression was associated with lower odds of a positive STI screen at 12 months.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that concordant reports of relationship satisfaction and affectional expression are protective against future STI risk. Strengthening romantic relationships may be a promising strategy for preventing STIs in pregnant/parenting AYA couples.

A study of adolescent and young adult pregnant/parenting couples found that when both partners reported high relationship satisfaction and affectional expression, their odds of having a future sexually transmitted infection significantly decreased.