The influence of family unions and parenthood transitions on self-development

The role of self-esteem on fear of childbirth and birth experience

OBJECTIVE

Fear of childbirth (FOC), also referred to as tokophobia, can have detrimental consequences for a woman's well-being during pregnancy and for their subjective birth experience. However, it is unknown what role self-esteem plays in the relationship between FOC and the experience of childbirth. This study investigates the relation between FOC and the birth experience, and the role of self-esteem in that relation.

METHODS

We studied 125 nulliparous and parous Finnish women from their third trimester of pregnancy to 4-8 weeks postpartum. Path analysis with MLR estimation was conducted using MPlus to predict the childbirth experience according to prior self-esteem and fear of childbirth as well as their interaction. Also, age and parity were included as predictors of the birth experience, as well as their interactions with self-esteem. FOC was measured with the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire - version A (W-DEQ-A), self-esteem with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and birthing experience with the Delivery Satisfaction Scale (DSS).

RESULTS

We found that self-esteem moderated the association between fear of childbirth and the subjective birth experience: the lower the self-esteem, the stronger the negative connection between FOC and the birth experience; and, reversely, the higher the self-esteem, the weaker the connection between FOC and the birth experience.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlight intra-group differences between fearful women and contribute to theory formation. They can be used in clinical practice and when planning interventions to reduce negative birth experiences.

Maternal parentification history impacts evaluative cognitions about self, parenting, and child

Parentification occurs when children are unfairly charged with fulfilling parental instrumental and emotional needs. Parentification is associated with risk to evaluative self cognitions from childhood to emerging adulthood, but this association has not yet been studied among parents. The transition to parenthood is typically characterized by declines in self-esteem, suggesting it is a critical period for understanding the risk parentification history poses to evaluative self-cognitions and evaluative cognitions about children. The present study addresses these gaps using longitudinal data (N = 374 first-time mothers) to examine the influence of maternal parentification history domains (emotional and instrumental caregiving, role unfairness) on trajectories of maternal evaluative cognitions about the self (self-esteem, parenting self-efficacy) and about the child (difficult child temperament, dissatisfaction with child contributions to relationships) in early parenthood. A spillover model was also examined such that evaluative cognitions about the self were examined as potential mediators between parentification history and evaluative cognitions about children. Results support associations between the role unfairness domain of parentification and each domain of maternal evaluative cognitions and a significant indirect effect of unfairness on risk to maternal evaluative cognitions about child contributions via parenting self-efficacy. Implications for mother-child relationships and processes of intergenerational transmission of parentification are discussed.

How Good It Would Be to Turn Back Time: Adult Attachment and Perfectionism in Mothers and Their Relationships with the Processes of Parental Identity Formation

Parental identity formation may be a factor of the utmost importance in helping us to understand the mechanisms of adaptation to parenthood. However, our knowledge regarding the processes involved in the development of parental identity is very limited. In the present study the relationships between three dimensions of parental identity (commitment, in-depth exploration, reconsideration of commitment), and two trait-like characteristics that determine the quality of family life, i.e. romantic adult attachment and perfectionism were analyzed. 206 mothers aged 22 to 40 participated in the study (M = 33.33, SD = 3.68). The results revealed that a high level in anxious attachment, avoidant attachment and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism (other-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism) positively correlate with a low level of parental identity commitment and a high level of reconsideration of parental commitment. Regression analysis revealed that especially attachment-related anxiety and other-oriented perfectionism can be treated as independent, specific predictors of an increased crisis of parental identity.

Self-esteem change during the transition from university to work

Objective

The current study examined whether the transition from university to work, a major developmental milestone in young adulthood, was related to stability and change in self‐esteem.

Method

Self‐esteem was assessed in the last year of their master's program (T1) of 163 27‐year old students and 14 months later, when they had graduated and half of them had started a full‐time job (T2). Daily diaries were used to assess the occurrence of achievement‐ and affiliation‐related experiences on 14 consecutive days at T1 and T2. We compared the full‐time job beginners and a comparison group without a full‐time job with regard to their mean‐level change, rank‐order stability and correlated change of self‐esteem and daily experiences.

Results

First, job beginners increased in self‐esteem, but the difference to the mean‐level change of the comparison group was only small. Second, self‐esteem was less stable among job beginners than among the comparison group. Third, the changes in achievement‐related daily experiences and self‐esteem correlated positively in the job‐beginner group but not in the comparison group.

Conclusions

The findings underline the role of daily experiences during life transitions for individual differences in self‐esteem change. The discussion calls for accounting for unique transition experiences to advance theory and research on self‐esteem development.