Family stressors and motivation to have a child as related to mothers’ parental stress
pdf

Keywords

parental stress
motivation to have a child
self-determination theory
family stressors
mothers

How to Cite

Lachowska, B., & Waluda, M. (2023). Family stressors and motivation to have a child as related to mothers’ parental stress. Quarterly Journal Fides Et Ratio, 55(3), 99-107. https://doi.org/10.34766/fetr.v55i3.1194
Keywords

Abstract

Introduction: Mothers differ greatly in their psychological adjustment to parenting, with some mothers being more stressed than others. This study aimed to investigate the role of family life stressors related to the relationship with children and spouse, and the motivation to have children in predicting parenting stress for mothers. The project is based on the parental stress theory and the SDT self-determination theory. We examined whether motivation to have children plays a mediating role in the relationship between family stressors and mothers’ parental stress. Method: Parental stress was measured using The Parental Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 1995). Motivation to have a child was measured using the Motivation to Have a Child Scale (MCS) (Brenning, Soenens, & Vansteenkiste, 2015). The intensity of difficult experiences in the relationship with the child and with the spouse (family stressors) was assessed using the Family Stressors Scale. The study involved 99 mothers who are in a relationship and have at least one child up to 7 years of age. The families of the surveyed mothers had from one to seven children. Statistical analyzes were performed using SEM structural equation modeling. Results: It was found that difficult situations in relationships with children and spouse increase mothers' parental stress. Intrinsic motivation and amotivation mediate the effect that difficult situations in family relationships have on parental stress. Difficult situations in family relationships are negatively related to intrinsic motivation and positively related to amotivation. Intrinsic motivation to have a child is negatively related to parental stress, while amotivation is positively related to parental stress. There was no relationship between external, identified and introjected motivation, neither with parental stress nor with difficult situations in family relationships (family stressors). Conclusions: In confrontation with stressors, the intrinsic motivation to have a child plays a protective role against experiencing parental stress by mothers, while amotivation intensifies this stress. The implications of the results for future research and clinical interventions are discussedThe implications of the results for future research and clinical interventions are discussed

https://doi.org/10.34766/fetr.v55i3.1194
pdf

References

Arbuckle, J.L. (2019). IBM SPSS AMOS 26 User’s Guide. Amos Development Corporation. (from:) https: //www.ibm.com/docs/en/SSLVMB_26.0.0/pdf/amos/IBM_SPSS_Amos_User_Guide.pdf (access: 12.05.2023).

Baldoni, F., Giannotti, M., Casu, G., Luperini, V., Spelzini, F. (2020). A dyadic study on perceived stress and couple adjustment during pregnancy: The mediating role of depressive symptoms. Journal of Family Issues, 41(11), 1935–1955. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20934834

Berry, J.O., Jones, W.H. (1995). The Pranetal Stress Scale: Initial psychometric evidence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationship, 12(3), 463-472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407595123009

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Mabbe, E., Vansteenkiste, M. (2019). Ups and downs in the joy of motherhood: Maternal well-being as a function of psychological needs, personality, and infant temperament. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 20(1), 229–250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9936-0

Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M. (2015). What’s your motivation to be pregnant?: Relations between motives for parenthood and women’s prenatal functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(5), 755–765. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000110

Brown, S.M., Doom, J.R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S.E., Koppels, T. (2020). Stress and Parenting during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic. Child Abuse and Neglect, 110(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699

Brzeziński, J. (2019). Metodologia badań psychologicznych. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.

Chung, G., Lanier, P., Wong, P.Y.J. (2020). Mediating effects of parental stress on harsh parenting and parent-child relationship during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Singapore. Journal of family violence, 37(5), 801-812. http s://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00200-1

Cowan, C., Cowan, P. (2000). When partners become parents: The big life change for couples. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Crnic, K.A., Gaze, C., Hoffman, C. (2005). Cumulative parenting stress across the preschool period: Relations to maternal parenting and child behaviour at age 5. Infant and Child Development, 14(2), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.384

Deater-Deckard, K. (2014). Parenting Stress: Current Perspectives in Psychology, New Haven: Yale University Press.

Garthus-Niegel, S., Horsch, A., Handtke, E., von Soest, T., Ayers, S., Weidner, K., Eberhard-Gran, M. (2018). The Impact of Postpartum Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Symptoms on Couples’ Relationship Satisfaction: A Population-Based Prospective Study. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1728. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01728

Gillison, F.B., Rouse, P., Standage, M., Sebire, S.J., Ryan, R.M. (2019). A meta-analysis of techniques to promote motivation for health behaviour change from a self-determination theory perspective. Health Psychology Review, 13(1), 110–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2018.1534071

Gugliandolo, M.C., Cuzzocrea, F., Costa, S., Soenens, B., Liga, F. (2021). Social support and motivation for parenthood as resources against prenatal parental distress. Social Development, 30(4), 1131–1151. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12521

Holly, L.E., Fenley, A.R., Kritikos, T.K., Merson, R.A., Abidin, R.R., & Langer, D.A. (2019). Evidence-Base Update for Parenting Stress Measures in Clinical Samples, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 48(5), 685-705.

Jazłowska, A., Przybyła-Basista, H. (2019). Doświadczanie stresu i odnajdywanie pozytywnych aspektów rodzicielstwa w kontekście wychowywania dziecka z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną. Dziecko Krzywdzone. Teoria, badania, praktyka. 18 (2), 76-105.

Lachowska, B. (2021). The threat of coronavirus perceived by the mother and her experiences related to the pandemic versus her relationship with the child. Quarterly Journal Fides et Ratio, 3(47), 476-492. https://doi.org/10.34766/fetr.v47i3.919

Louie, A.D., Cromer, L.D., Berry, J.O. (2017). Assessing parenting stress: Review of the use and interpretation of the Parental Stress Scale. The Family Journal, 25(4), 359–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/106648071773134

Li, S., Xu, Q., Xie, J., Wang, L., Li, H., Ma, L., Xia, R. (2022). Associations of parenting daily hassles with parents’ mental health during the COVID-19 school closure. Social Science & Medicine, 311, 115301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115301

McGoron, L., Riley, M.R., Scaramella, L.V. (2020). Cumulative socio-contextual risk and child abuse potential in parents of young children: Can social support buffer the impact?. Child and Family Social Work, 25(4), 865-874. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12771

Matuszczak-Świgoń, J., Bakiera, L., (2023). Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version of the Parental Stress Scale. Annals of Psychology, 26(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.18290/rpsych2023.0002

Nachoum, R., Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2018). Spouses’ prenatal autonomous motivation to have a child and postpartum depression symptoms. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(10), 1808–1819. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22630

Nachoum, R., Moed, A., Madjar, N., Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2021). Prenatal childbearing motivations, parenting styles, and child adjustment: A longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(6), 715–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000826

Nachoum, R., Moed, A., Madjar, N., Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2023). Parents’ childbearing motivations, parenting, and child adjustment: From pregnancy to 20-months postpartum. Journal of Marriage and Family, 85(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12917

Nelson, S.K., Kushlev, K., Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The pains and pleasures of parenting: When, why, and how is parenthood associated with more or less well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 846-895. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035444

Nielsen, T., Pontoppidan, M., Rayce, S.B. (2020). The Parental Stress Scale revisited: Rasch-based construct validity for Danish parents of children 2–18 years old with and without behavioral problems. Health Qual Life Outcomes, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-020-01495-w

Ntoumanis, N., Ng, J.Y.Y., Prestwich, A., Quested, E., Hancox, J.E., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M., Lonsdale, C., Williams, G.C. (2021). A meta-analysis of self-determination theory-informed intervention studies in the health domain: Effects on motivation, health behavior, physical, and psychological health. Health Psychology Review, 15(2), 214–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2020.1718529

Pągowska, M. (2014). Indywidualny dramat trudnego rodzicielstwa: Przebieg, objawy i radzenie sobie z wypalaniem sił u rodziców dzieci z autyzmem. Człowiek-Niepełnosprawność-Społeczeństwo, 2(24), 47-59. http://doi.org/10.5604/17345537.1126282

Piotrowski, K., Bojanowska, A., Szczygieł, D., Mikolajczak, M., Roskam, I. (2023). Parental burnout at different stages of parenthood: Links with temperament, Big Five traits, and parental identity. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1087977. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1087977

Pisula, E., Barańczuk, U. (2020). Psychometric Properties of a Polish Version of the Parental Stress Index III (PSI III). Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 32, 455–475.

Qian, G., Mei, J., Tian, L., & Dou, G. (2021). Assessing Mothers’ Parenting Stress: Differences Between One- and Two-Child Families in China. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 609715. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.609715

Rayce, S.B., Pontoppidan, M., Nielsen, T. (2020). Concordance within parent couples’ perception of parental stress symptoms among parents to 1-18-year-olds with physical or mental health problems. Plos One, 15(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244212

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being. The American Psychologist, 55, 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York: Guilford Publishing.

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2019). Brick by brick: The origins, development, and future of self-determination theory. (In:) A.J. Elliot (red.), Advances in Motivation Science: Volume 6, (111–156). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adms.2019.01.001

Ryan, R.M., Ryan, W.S., Di Domenico, S.I., Deci, E.L. (2019). The nature and the conditions of human autonomy and flourishing: Self-determination theory and basic psychological needs. (In:) R.M. Ryan (red.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation, 2nd ed., (89–110). New York: Oxford University Press.

Szymańska, A., Aranowska, E. (2019). The child’s „difficult” temperament and its relation with parental stress in groups of parents bringing up boys and girls. Psychiatria Polska, 53(2), 399-417. https://doi.org/10.12740/PP/94381

Taraban, L., Shaw, D.S. (2018). Parenting in context: Revisiting Belsky’s classic process of parenting model in early childhood. Developmental Review, 48, 55–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2018.03.006

Van Der Kaap-Deeder, J., Soenens, B., Mabbe, E., Dieleman, L., Mouratidis, A., Campbell, R., Vansteenkiste, M. (2019). From daily need experiences to autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting via psychological availability and stress. Parenting: Science and Practice, 19(3), 177–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2019.1615791

Vansteenkiste, M., Aelterman, A., De Muynck, G.J., Haerens, L., Patall, E., Reeve, J. (2018). Fostering personal meaning and self-relevance: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization. Journal of Experimental Education, 86(1), 30–49. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/00220973.2017.1381067

Więsyk, S., Lachowska, B. (2020). Współpraca rodzicielska: Komunikacja pomiędzy rodzicami. Kwartalnik Naukowy Fides et Ratio, 2(42), 114-123. https://doi.org/10.34766/fetr.v42i2.246

Woolf, B., Sallis, H.M., Munafò, M.R. (2023). Exploring the lifetime effect of children on wellbeing using two-sample mendelian randomisation. Genes, 14(3), 716. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14030716

Xia, Y., Yang, Y. (2019). RMSEA, CFI, and TLI in structural equation modeling with ordered categorical data: The story they tell depends on the estimation methods. Behavior Research Methods, 51, 409–428. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-018-1055-2

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.