2-066 - Is it Easier the Second Time? Parenting across the Transition from One Child to Two

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Once the first infant is born and partners become parents, is it the case that parenting is easier with the birth of additional children? Most families in Western countries, and now in China, are having at least two children (~80%). The concerns of second time parents may be different from those of first-time parents, as they must now learn to balance the care of two young children. Few studies exist that address this common family transition. The current symposium was organized to remedy this situation by presenting results from four independent research programs. The first presenter examines change in parental involvement after the birth of the second child in a sample of Dutch families, and finds that when fathers are more involved with the first child, mothers later report better marital relations. The second study of U.S. families examines whether early eagerness (social compliance) to assist the mother predicts later sibling friendliness and is predicted by mothers’ perceptions of coparenting. The third study conducted in China, where the government has recently removed the one-child policy, replicates earlier U.S. findings, showing that firstborn children show an increase in externalizing behaviors after the birth of the second child, and that coparenting attenuates the increase in problem behaviors. Finally, the last paper utilizes data science methods to extract information from posts on one of the most widely used parenting on-line sites, BabyCenter, and reports some of the unique concerns voiced by second-time mothers.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Brenda L Volling, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Child Involvement and Marital Relationship Change when Families Transition to a Second Child - Presenting Author: Judith Semon Dubas, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Anastasia Kurysheva, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Nora Szabo, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Marcel van Aken, Utrecht University

• The Birth of Sibling Friendship: Mothers’ Perceptions of the Co-Parenting Relationship Prior to Siblings’ Arrival - Presenting Author: Jennifer K Chapman, Eckerd College; Non-Presenting Author: Sybil Hart, Texas Tech University

• Firstborn Children’s Externalizing Behaviors and Mothers’ Perceived Coparenting across the Birth of a Second Infant - Presenting Author: Bin-Bin Chen, Fudan University

• Questions and Concerns on BabyCenter about the Transition to the Second Child - Presenting Author: Emma Beyers-Carlson, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Sarita Yardi Schoenebeck, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Brenda L Volling, University of Michigan