Transition to parenting: International experiences of new parent well-being, co-parenting and relationships

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Becoming a parent is major life transition that presents challenges to individual well-being and relationships. Parental well-being, perceived support, and environmental stressors have been established as key predictors of the quality of caregiving, parent-child relationships, and child outcomes. However, this literature on caregiving has focused primarily on mothers' wellbeing, caregiving and associated child outcomes. Addressing this gap, we present research on fathers' and mothers' experiences of early parenthood and examine parental resilience and the role of family structures, culture and individual life contexts during this life transition. Our first paper examines the associations between new parents’ relationship quality, depression and their observed sensitivity towards their first-born infants. The results highlight different factors that impact mothers’ and fathers’ adjustment to parenthood. Paper two demonstrates that fathers face systemic inequalities in perinatal mental health information and provision. This research highlights a lack of comparability in information, resources and provision available for parents on paternal and maternal postnatal depression, stress, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, paper two examined factors that impact new parents’ resilience during the pandemic. Paper three presents ethnographic research on well-being and the transition to fatherhood among men in two ethnic groups in the northern Republic of Congo, specifically the BaYaka and Bondongo. This research indicates that culture and individual differences play important roles in shaping men’s approaches to becoming a father. Our chair will reflect on the need for a broader perspective to understanding the transition to parenting as well as translating evidence into policy and practice.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Tanya Broesch, Simon Fraser University

Individual Presentations

• Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd? Maternal and Paternal Talk About Their Infant Differs in Associations with Wellbeing, Couple Relationship Quality and Caregiving Sensitivity - Presenting Author: Sarah Foley, University of Cambridge

• Culture, Well-being and the Transition to Fatherhood in a Congolese Village - Presenting Author: Adam Howell Boyette, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

• Impact of gender/caregiver role on experiences of becoming parents, mental health and parenting quality. - Presenting Author: Kate Ellis-Davies, Swansea University