What It Feels Like to Be a Mother: Variations by Children's Developmental Stages

Autor/inn/en	Luthar, Suniya S.; Ciciolla, Lucia
Titel	What It Feels Like to Be a Mother: Variations by Children's Developmental Stages
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 52 (2016) 1, S.143-154 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/dev0000062
Schlagwörter	Mothers; Adjustment (to Environment); Child Development; Developmental Stages; Influences; Well Being; Child Rearing; Parent Attitudes; Age Differences; Effect Size; Gender Differences; Educational Attainment; Parent Background; Online Surveys; Individual Characteristics; Psychological Patterns; Anxiety; Depression (Psychology); Stress Variables; Rating Scales; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Likert Scales; Questionnaires; Statistical Analysis; Multivariate Analysis; Markov Processes; Monte Carlo Methods; UCLA Loneliness Scale; Zung Self Rating Depression Scale + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mother; Mutter; Kindesentwicklung; Influence; Einfluss; Einflussfaktor; Well-being; Wellness; Wohlbefinden; Kindererziehung; Elternverhalten; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Geschlechterkonflikt; Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; Elternhaus; Personality characteristic; Personality traits; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Angst; Rating-Skala; Likert-Skala; Fragebogen; Statistische Analyse; Multivariate Analyse; Markowscher Prozess; Monte-Carlo-Methode
Abstract	The central question we addressed was whether mothers' adjustment might vary systematically by the developmental stages of their children. In an Internet-based study of over 2,200 mostly well-educated mothers with children ranging from infants to adults, we examined multiple aspects of mothers' personal well-being, parenting, and perceptions of their children. Uniformly, adjustment indices showed curvilinear patterns across children's developmental stages, with mothers of middle-schoolers faring the most poorly, and mothers of adult children and infants faring the best. Findings based on children in mutually exclusive age groups--for example, mothers with only (1 or more) infants, preschoolers, and so forth--had larger effect sizes than those based on the age of the mothers' oldest child. In contrast to the recurrent findings based on children's developmental stages, mothers' adjustment dimensions showed few variations by their children's gender. Collectively, results of this study suggest that there is value in preventive interventions involving mothers not just in their children's infancy and preschool years, but also as their children traverse the developmentally challenging years surrounding puberty. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01