Fathers’ Parenting Expectations and Experiences and Their Longitudinal Links to Postnatal Depressive Symptomatology
(2017) PSYP01 20161Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- Despite increasing focus on the role of fathers in the face of changing societal norms, we still do not understand men’s transition to fatherhood and how it may be related to his and other family members’ well-being. Given evidence of an association between psychological parameters of this transition and postnatal depressive symptoms, we explored longitudinal paths between expectant fathers’ parenting expectations (anticipated parenting satisfaction) in the third trimester of pregnancy (T1) and their actual parenting experiences (experienced parenting satisfaction and parental stress and burden) three months after birth (T2), and studied associations with marital satisfaction and attachment security throughout the transitioning period.... (More)
- Despite increasing focus on the role of fathers in the face of changing societal norms, we still do not understand men’s transition to fatherhood and how it may be related to his and other family members’ well-being. Given evidence of an association between psychological parameters of this transition and postnatal depressive symptoms, we explored longitudinal paths between expectant fathers’ parenting expectations (anticipated parenting satisfaction) in the third trimester of pregnancy (T1) and their actual parenting experiences (experienced parenting satisfaction and parental stress and burden) three months after birth (T2), and studied associations with marital satisfaction and attachment security throughout the transitioning period. Participants (N = 182) were mostly between 30 and 39 years old (n = 68, 55.8%), were employed or studied (n = 149, 94.3%), and worked an average of 39 hours per week. Most were expecting their first child (n = 121, 77.1%). Results revealed that avoidant attachment predicts formation of less positive expectations, (p < .01), whereas negatively violated expectations in the father are strongly linked to depressive symptomatology postnatally (p < .001). Furthermore, fathers anticipated parenting satisfaction was significantly higher than experienced parenting satisfaction and relationship quality significantly declined after the birth of the child, but only when fathers were expecting their first child. Despite difficulties in determining the causal direction in some of these relationships, results highlight the importance of specific psychological features for transitioning fathers’ wellbeing and for preventive work concerning perinatal paternal depression. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8900562
- author
- Wullenkord, Marlis LU
- supervisor
-
- Elia Psouni LU
- organization
- course
- PSYP01 20161
- year
- 2017
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Parenthood, Parental Stress, Fathers, Attachment, Postnatal Depressive Symptoms, Violated Expectations, Transition
- language
- English
- id
- 8900562
- date added to LUP
- 2017-01-23 13:30:49
- date last changed
- 2017-01-23 13:30:49
@misc{8900562,
abstract = {{Despite increasing focus on the role of fathers in the face of changing societal norms, we still do not understand men’s transition to fatherhood and how it may be related to his and other family members’ well-being. Given evidence of an association between psychological parameters of this transition and postnatal depressive symptoms, we explored longitudinal paths between expectant fathers’ parenting expectations (anticipated parenting satisfaction) in the third trimester of pregnancy (T1) and their actual parenting experiences (experienced parenting satisfaction and parental stress and burden) three months after birth (T2), and studied associations with marital satisfaction and attachment security throughout the transitioning period. Participants (N = 182) were mostly between 30 and 39 years old (n = 68, 55.8%), were employed or studied (n = 149, 94.3%), and worked an average of 39 hours per week. Most were expecting their first child (n = 121, 77.1%). Results revealed that avoidant attachment predicts formation of less positive expectations, (p < .01), whereas negatively violated expectations in the father are strongly linked to depressive symptomatology postnatally (p < .001). Furthermore, fathers anticipated parenting satisfaction was significantly higher than experienced parenting satisfaction and relationship quality significantly declined after the birth of the child, but only when fathers were expecting their first child. Despite difficulties in determining the causal direction in some of these relationships, results highlight the importance of specific psychological features for transitioning fathers’ wellbeing and for preventive work concerning perinatal paternal depression.}},
author = {{Wullenkord, Marlis}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Fathers’ Parenting Expectations and Experiences and Their Longitudinal Links to Postnatal Depressive Symptomatology}},
year = {{2017}},
}