Abstract
Mothers’ experiences with their firstborn child may be relevant for understanding the further growth of families. Dutch women (N = 795) reported on motherhood experiences during pregnancy and the first year. Direct effect models of mood symptoms, birth expectations, and child negative reactivity, and indirect effect models via parenting self-efficacy were tested to discriminate mothers who had, wanted, were undecided, and did not want a second child at a 2-year follow-up. Results indicated that mothers with two children had higher prenatal parenting self-efficacy and less postnatal trait anxiety compared with those who wanted a second child. There was no evidence for indirect effects of mood symptoms, birth expectations, or negative reactivity on having a second child via parenting self-efficacy. Also, mothers who did not want a second child had more unmet expectations regarding childbirth and, surprisingly, reported less child negative reactivity than other mothers. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 555-578 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Journal of Family Issues |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2018 |
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant from the foundation Stichting tot Steun Nederland and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (400-09-123).
Funders | Funder number |
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Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research | 400-09-123 |
foundation Stichting tot Steun Nederland |
Keywords
- childbirth
- first-time motherhood
- mood symptoms
- parenting self-efficacy
- second child