The effects of baby bath and massage by fathers on the family system: The sunraysia australia intervention project

Instruction in baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique was given to one-half of our sample of 32 couples who had just had their first child. This brief intervention, given at 4 weeks post-partum, led to beneficial behavioural and psychological effects for the family system when assessed at 12 weeks postpartum. Depression and marital satisfaction were assessed with mothers and fathers at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the birth of their child, and self-esteem was measured at 12 weeks only. The mothers and fathers who were shown baby bathing and massage techniques showed higher degrees of marital satisfaction and self-esteem, as well as lower levels of depression at 12 weeks post-partum, than parents who did not receive instruction. It seems likely that brief interventions which educate new parents concerning functional techniques of baby care may favourably affect their feelings of competence and be of benefit to the entire family system.     

Information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood

The self-definitional processes accompanying the transition to motherhood were examined in this study. A cross-sectional sample of more than 600 women who were planning to get pregnant within 2 years, pregnant, or in the postpartum stage completed extensive questionnaires pertaining to their experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. On the basis of the assumption of the "self-socialization" perspective that individuals actively construct their identities in response to life transitions, our analyses focused on the role of information-seeking in the developing self-definitions of women becoming mothers. As predicted, (a) women actively sought information in anticipation of a first birth, (b) they used this information to construct identities incorporating motherhood, and (c) after the birth the determinants of their self-definitions shifted from indirect sources of information to direct experiences with child care. Hence, consistent with the self-socialization perspective, information-seeking did play an important role in the women's developing self-conceptions during this life transition. Mechanisms by which information gathered may alter self-conception are discussed.     

Transition to motherhood: A longitudinal study

A prospective longitudinal study assessed the development of the mother-child relationship within the context of other important aspects of transition to parenthood. In the prenatal phase, 238 women who were 8 months pregnant with their first child completed a set of questionnaires. At 1 month post-partum, 165 of these women completed a second set of questionnaires, and a subset of 86 were observed for 1 hour at home with their infants. When their child was 2 years old, 62 of the 86 mothers completed questionnaires and were observed in interaction with their toddler in the laboratory. The several hundred individual variables were reduced to internally consistent composite variables, 5 in the prenatal phase, 7 postpartum, and 14 in the toddler phase. Preliminary analyses reported in this paper assessed the structure of relationships among the composite variables within each phase (Pearson correlations) and whether there was significant prediction from one dimension to another across the phases, beyond stability in the predicted dimension (multiple regressions). Causal modeling analyses are still in progress. The results indicate that the development of maternal attachment is a gradual process and that feelings of attachment are related to a number of other measures of women's psychological well-being. Parenting confidence was found to play a central role in adaptation to motherhood within each phase, as well as from the prenatal to postpartum and postpartum to toddler phases.     

Early infant temperament shapes the nature of mother-infant bonding in the first postpartum year

ObjectiveThis study examined longitudinal relations between maternal bonding and infant temperament in the first nine months after birth.DesignOur sample consisted of 281 women, enrolled at five maternity hospitals, who completed questionnaires during the first week (T1), at six weeks (T2) and nine months postpartum (T3). Maternal bonding was assessed using the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale at T1 and T2 and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire at T3. Infant temperament was measured using the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire, completed by the mothers at T2 and T3.ResultsThe results of a path model showed a long-term effect flowing from the child to the mother, with infant temperament at T2 predicting maternal bonding at T3 over and above stability in bonding. At T3, bonding was linked more strongly to child temperament at T2 than to child temperament assessed concurrently at T3. Maternal bonding did predict infant temperament, but this was true only of bonding reported at T1 and infant temperament at T2, that is, not of bonding assessed at T2 and infant temperament at T3.ConclusionOur results indicate that maternal bonding in the first week postpartum may temporarily affect child temperament, but infant’s temperament several weeks after birth – rather than several months postpartum – plays a pervasive role in shaping the long-lasting nature of the mother-child relationship. Our findings thus seem to support the suggestion that the early postpartum weeks represent an important period in the development of maternal bonding.     

First-time parents' expectations about the division of childcare and play

The current study examines violated expectations regarding the division of childcare and play in first-time parents during the initial transition to parenthood. The study's goal was threefold: (a) to compare prenatal expectations with the reported postpartum division of childcare and play, (b) to compare the influence of the reported division versus violated expectations on postpartum relationship satisfaction and depression, and (c) to examine the role of persistent violations of expectations on these outcomes. Couples expecting their first child were interviewed during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 1 and 4 months postpartum. Results indicated both mothers and fathers have unrealistic expectations during pregnancy; interestingly, the direction violation was opposite but converging for mothers and fathers. As found in prior research, mothers experienced unmet expectations with fathers doing less than mothers expected. Fathers, on the other hand, experienced overmet expectations with mothers doing more than fathers expected. Violated expectations were also a stronger predictor of depression and relationship satisfaction than the reported division, although again in opposite directions for mothers and fathers. Unmet expectations were negative for mothers, while overmet expectations with regard to childcare tasks were beneficial for fathers. The one caveat was for fathers' overmet expectations with play; in this case, a mother playing with the baby more than a father expected was related to less relationship satisfaction. A similar pattern of results was found for mothers and fathers with persistent violations. This study highlights the importance of understanding violated expectations in both mothers and fathers, as well as examining play separately from childcare.     

Attachment, Marital Satisfaction, and Divorce During the First Fifteen Years of Parenthood

This study examines two overlapping longitudinal samples of U.S. couples with children, covering a period of 15 years after the first child's birth. The first sample extended from the pregnancy with a first child until that child was 5.5 years old; the second from ages 4.5 to 14.5. Growth curve analyses revealed that marital satisfaction declined over 15 years for both husbands and wives. Attachment security measured in the second sample was associated with greater marital satisfaction, but did not buffer against declines in marital satisfaction over time. Husbands' lower initial level of marital satisfaction measured around the first child's transition to school was the only significant predictor of marital dissolution. The discussion emphasizes theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Stressors, quality of the child-caregiver relationship, and children's mental health problems after parental death: the mediating role of self-system beliefs

Investigated whether three self-system beliefs, fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem, mediated the relations of stressors and caregiver-child relationship quality with concurrent and prospective internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of children who had experienced parental death in the previous 2.5 years. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 340 children ages 7-16 and their surviving parent/current caregiver; the longitudinal analyses employed a subset of this sample that consisted of 100 children and their parents/caregivers who were assessed at three time points. A multirater, multimethod measure of caregiver-child relationship quality and a multirater measure of children's mental health problems were used. The cross-sectional model supported a mediational relation for fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem. The three-wave longitudinal model showed that fear of abandonment at Time 2 mediated the relation between stressors at Time 1 and internalizing and externalizing problems at Time 3. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems in parentally bereaved children and designing interventions for this at-risk group are discussed.     

Hope,Social Support,and Postpartum Depression: Disentangling the Mediating Effects of Negative Affectivity

We examined the potentially mediating effects of negative affectivity (NA) on the hope–depression relationship among a sample of postpartum women. We also assessed the social support reported by these women and examined the possible mediating effects of NA on the social support–postpartum depression relationship. Correlational analyses of data obtained from women (N = 98) who had given birth in the previous 6 months revealed that NA did not mediate either hope or social support in the prediction of postpartum depression. Hope accounted for a significant degree of variance in postpartum depression. These data suggest that hope has palliative effects among women following childbirth and these effects are not nullified or explained by emotional predispositions.     

Violated wishes about division of childcare labor predict early coparenting process during stressful and nonstressful family evaluations

Prior research has indicated that expectant parents overestimate the extent to which fathers will take part in the “work” of parenting, with mothers often becoming disenchanted when these expectations are violated following the baby's arrival. In this study, we examine the role of violated wishes concerning childcare involvement in accounting for variability in maternal and paternal marital satisfaction, and in early coparenting behavior as assessed during family‐interaction sessions. The results indicate possible negative effects of violated wishes on the enacted family process and confirm previous findings regarding the effects of marital satisfaction. In addition, we uncovered differences in the way that violated maternal wishes are related to coparenting during playful and mildly stressful family interactions.     

Changes in the marital relationship after the first baby is born: predicting the impact of expectancy disconfirmation.

A longitudinal study of 50 couples during the transition to first parenthood examined how failure to confirm expectations regarding the sharing of child-care and housekeeping responsibilities influenced postpartum reports of marital satisfaction. On the basis of recent theories of expectancy confirmation processes, 5 variables representing strength and importance were identified as possible moderators. As predicted, disconfirmation of stronger and more important expectations generally led to more negative reports about the marriage. Surprisingly, some subsets of wives showed opposite reactions; less negative feelings when they were doing more than they expected. These findings were interpreted in terms of personal and role traditionality influencing the valence of the reactions to expectancy disconfirmation.     

Stressors, Quality of the Child–Caregiver Relationship, and Children's Mental Health Problems After Parental Death: The Mediating Role of Self-System Beliefs

Investigated whether three self-system beliefs, fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem, mediated the relations of stressors and caregiver–child relationship quality with concurrent and prospective internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of children who had experienced parental death in the previous 2.5 years. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 340 children ages 7–16 and their surviving parent/current caregiver; the longitudinal analyses employed a subset of this sample that consisted of 100 children and their parents/caregivers who were assessed at three time points. A multirater, multimethod measure of caregiver–child relationship quality and a multirater measure of children's mental health problems were used. The cross-sectional model supported a mediational relation for fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem. The three-wave longitudinal model showed that fear of abandonment at Time 2 mediated the relation between stressors at Time 1 and internalizing and externalizing problems at Time 3. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems in parentally bereaved children and designing interventions for this at-risk group are discussed.

The emergent father role

Using data collected before and after birth of a couple's first child, change in each parent's view of men as fathers was investigated in a short-term longitudinal study. Semantic differential scales tapped the man's image of self as father, the woman's image of husband as father, and each parent's rating of the baby's adjustment. Interview questions provided information on circumstances of the birth, the father's early child care activities, and parents' previous child care experience. Men's judgments of their own effectiveness as fathers declined from before the birth to afterward. Wives' judgments of their husbands' effectiveness as fathers also declined over that same period, but wives rated husbands higher than husbands rated themselves at both times. A single-equation multiple regression model, adapted from a structural model, was estimated to explain change in both spouses' ratings of the man's paternal role competence. It revealed that working-class spouses agreed on the basis for their judgments of the father's role performance, in that both judged him mainly in terms of how much he participated in child care. Middle-class spouses disagreed on the basis for their judgments of fathers, however. The middle-class men rated their own performance in the father role mainly in terms of the baby's adjustment; if they judged the baby to be happier, they judged themselves to be more competent as fathers. The middle-class women did not rate fathers on that basis. Instead, the middle-class women's ratings responded to the circumstances of the birth and to the father's participation in child care chores. Findings are discussed in terms of family role theory, social-class differences in the father's role, and recent change in expectations for men's parental role.This research was supported by NIMH Grant No. MH15735 and earlier by NICHD Grant No. HD 13103.     

Trait Forgiveness and Dyadic Adjustment Predict Postnatal Depression

The birth of a first child can be stressful on intimate partner relationships and the women having their first child. Conflict can occur, and hurts might be experienced, which could lead to post-partum depression. Thus, capacity for forgiveness with specific hurts might affect post-partum depression. We investigated women having their first child (N?=?52), and examined whether dyadic adjustment, trait forgiveness, and situational forgiving during pregnancy predicted postpartum depression. This study found that marital forgiveness predicted lower levels of depression above and beyond the effects of general dyadic adjustment. Dyadic adjustment and trait forgiveness predicted postpartum depression while situational forgiving was mixed. Postpartum depression researchers are encouraged to consider the inclusion of positive psychology variables, such as forgiveness, in future research studies.     

Father locus of control and child emotional and behavioral outcomes: a prospective study

In a prospective longitudinal study the authors examined the associations between parent locus of control of reinforcement (LOCR), measured before the birth of a child, and behavioral-emotional outcomes in that child at age 7 years. A total of 307 couples completed questionnaires regarding their emotional status and LOCR at their first prenatal care appointment. When their children turned 7 years old, teachers completed questionnaires regarding each participating child's behavior. Findings indicate significant associations between fathers' prenatal LOCR and child outcomes, particularly hyperactivity in sons. Hyperactivity and behavioral-emotional problems in girls, in contrast, were better predicted by maternal prenatal emotional distress. Results provide evidence that paternal and maternal characteristics that predate the birth of a child relate to later behavioral outcomes in that child. Implications for prevention of child psychopathology are discussed.     

Neighborhood Collective Efficacy Moderates the Association between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Marital Conflict

In a socio‐demographically diverse sample of 501 caregivers participating in a longitudinal birth cohort study during the childbearing years, we examined whether neighborhood collective efficacy moderated the association between maternal adverse childhood experience (ACEs) and marital conflict. Maternal ACEs were assessed via retrospective reports. Neighborhood collective efficacy was measured via maternal and paternal reports at 2 months, and maternal reports of marital conflict were collected at infant age 2 and 18 months. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that maternal ACEs were associated with increased marital conflict. Neighborhood collective efficacy moderated the association between early maternal ACEs and marital conflict, such that mothers experiencing ACEs had lower levels of marital conflict when exposed to high levels of neighborhood collective efficacy. Results suggest that extra‐familial sources of social support and control, such as feelings of security, trust, order, and connectedness with others, may buffer the effects of early adversity on marital discord.     

Parenting and marital trust in Japan

This study examined the relationship between marital trust, mothers' parenting stress and maladjusted parenting behavior in Japan. The participants consisted of 327 Japanese mothers who reside in the greater Tokyo area and whose children go to kindergarten or nursery school (the children's ages range from 3 to 6 years. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their family structure (nuclear or extended family), demographic information about their child (sex, age, birth order. etc.), marital trust, parenting stress, and maladjusted childrearing behavior. Analysis indicated that the relationship between marital trust, mothers' parenting stress and maladjusted childrearing behavior was different depending on the family structure. More specifically, for mothers in nuclear families, marital trust, especially the sense of being trusted by the husband, was associated with parenting behavior directly as well as indirectly via parenting stress. In contrast, for mothers in an extended family marital trust was not associated with maternal parenting behavior. The results were discussed in terms of the differences in the availability of social support in a nuclear family compared to the extended family.     

Intergenerational transmission of marital quality across the transition to parenthood

One of the most frequently reported changes across the transition to parenthood is a decline in marital quality after the birth of a first baby. Experiences in the family of origin may influence the trajectory of marital quality. Our study aimed to investigate the impact of recollections of family-of-origin marriage on marital quality (self-reports and clinical evaluation) from pregnancy to 1 year after the birth of a first child. A total of 62 first-time parents completed questionnaires (self-reported marital satisfaction) and clinical interviews (clinical evaluation of couples' dialogue quality). Although self-reported marital satisfaction and observed dialogue quality were highly associated, only self-reported marital satisfaction declined from pregnancy to 1 year after birth. This decrease was partly due to very high marital satisfaction during pregnancy. Different trajectories for self-reported marital satisfaction and observed dialogue quality were found for participants with recollections of low-, average-, and high-quality family-of-origin marriage. A structural equation model showed that participants who recollected a negative quality in their parents' relationship reported more negative changes in the quality of their own marriages. There seems to be an intergenerational transmission of marital quality that comes to light when couples are challenged by the birth and rearing of a baby.     

TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD AND MENTAL HEALTH IN FIRST‐TIME PARENTS

This study aimed to examine the transition to parenthood and mental health in first‐time parents in detail and explore any differences in this transition in the context of parental gender and postpartum mental health. Semistructured clinical interviews (Birmingham Interview for Maternal Mental Health) were carried out with 46 women and 40 men, 5 months after birth. Parents were assessed on pre‐ and postpartum anxiety, depression, and postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a range of adjustment and relationship variables. One fourth of the men and women reported anxiety in pregnancy, reducing to 21% of women and 8% of men after birth. Pregnancy and postpartum depression rates were roughly equal, with 11% of women and 8% of men reporting depression. Postpartum PTSD was experienced by 5% of parents. Postpartum mental health problems were significantly associated with postpartum sleep deprivation (odds ratio [OR] = 7.5), complications in labor (OR = 5.1), lack of postpartum partner support (OR = 8.0), feelings of parental unworthiness (OR = 8.3), and anger toward the infant (OR = 4.4). Few gender differences were found for these variables. This study thus highlights the importance of focusing interventions on strengthening the couple's relationship and avoiding postnatal sleep deprivation, and to address parents’ feelings of parental unworthiness and feelings of anger toward their baby.     

Stability and predictability of quality of women's marital relationships and demoralization

This longitudinal study was motivated by cross-sectional, clinical, and survey research on marital relationships and individual well-being. Perceptions of husbands' behavior toward themselves and self-reports of demoralization were collected from 51 low-income women during their children's kindergarten year and 3 years later. Longitudinal correlations of specific components and aggregated scores of perceptions of husbands' behavior and of demoralization revealed significant stability. Both initial and later marital relationship scores had higher correlations with later than with initial demoralization scores. Longitudinal correlations and multiple regression analysis supported the hypothesis that initial marital relationship would predict later demoralization. Quality of perceived marital relationship apparently has different immediate and long-term effects on components of individual adjustment. Integrated longitudinal studies of relationships and personality and their intercorrelations are needed to understand stability and change in adult personality and well-being.     

The Impact of the Birth of a Baby on the Time Structure and Social Mixture of a Couple's Daily Life and Its Consequences for Well-Being1

In order to investigate the temporal disruption and social dislocation resulting from the birth of a child, 37 couples were studied at 4 time points: pre-birth (second trimester), and at 1, 4, and 12 months postpartum. A diary-based instrument (the Social Rhythm Metric-SRM) was used to evaluate the habitual times at which 17 events during the day took place, the proportion of events done alone, as a couple only, and with nonfamily members. Also evaluated were perceptions of the quality of the marriage relationship, feelings of depressive symptoms, and feelings of anger. The baby's birth had a major effect on the timing with which daily events were done, and on differences between mothers' and fathers' habitual times, especially in the morning. There were also dramatic differences (50–80% reductions) in the proportion of events done alone, as a couple only, and with nonfamily members. However, these effects were much more marked in mothers than in fathers and were attenuated when there were prior children. Changes in marital quality and mood were also observed. The birth was associated particularly with a decline in marital quality and in the levels of anger and depressive symptoms felt by parents at 1 month postpartum, although these effects interacted with gender and prior parental experience. Furthermore, the changes in well-being were related to changes in SRM indices, though differentially for mothers and fathers.