Mothers’ and Fathers’ Loneliness During Pregnancy, Infancy, and Toddlerhood.

Abstract

This study aimed to confirm the social and emotional factors of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980) evaluating mothers’ and fathers’ loneliness and to study the stability of parents’ loneliness during pregnancy, child’s infancy, and toddlerhood. The findings of the longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized social and emotional dimensions of loneliness and indicated strong stability of loneliness during the study period. The effect of mothers´ and fathers´ stable loneliness to the socio-emotional well-being of their children is discussed.

Full text

Development and Aging
Intercorrelations and developmental pathways of mothers’ and fathers’
loneliness during pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood –STEPS study
NIINA JUNTTILA,
1,2,3
SARI AHLQVIST-BJ
€
ORKROTH,
3,4
MINNA AROMAA,
3,5
P
€
AIVI RAUTAVA,
3,6
JORMA PIHA
3,7
and HANNELE R
€
AIH
€
A
3,4
1
Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Finland
2
Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku, Finland
3
Turku Institute for Child and Youth Research, University of Turku, Finland
4
Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland
5
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Finland
6
Clinical Research Centre in Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Finland
7
Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Finland
Junttila, N., Ahlqvist-Bj€
orkroth, S., Aromaa, M., Rautava, P., Piha, J. & R€
aih€
a, H. (2015). Intercorrelations and developmental pathways of mothers’and
fathers’loneliness during pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood –STEPS study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56,482–488.
Our aim was to study the inter-correlations and developmental pathways of mothers’and fathers’social and emotional loneliness during pregnancy (20th
pregnancy week), infancy (child aged 8 months), and early childhood (child aged 18 months). Moreover, we aimed to study whether mothers and fathers
who have different developmental profiles (identified by latent growth curve mixture models) differ in their experiences of marital dissatisfaction (RDAS),
social phobia (SPIN) and depression (BDI) during pregnancy. Both mothers’social and emotional loneliness and fathers’social and emotional loneliness
were highly stable, and within individuals these loneliness factors were strongly correlated. However, the correlations between mothers’loneliness
experiences and fathers’loneliness experiences were weaker than expected. Separate latent growth curve groups were identified, which differed in feelings
of marital dissatisfaction, social phobia, and depression. These groupings revealed that the higher the loneliness was, the more the parents experience these
other psychosocial problems.
Key words: Social loneliness, emotional loneliness, latent growth curve mixture modeling, transition to parenthood, marital dissatisfaction, social phobia,
depressive symptoms.
Niina Junttila,Turku Institute for Advanced Studies / Centre for Learning Research,University of Turku,FIN-20014 University of Turku,Finland.
E-mail: Niina.Junttila@utu.fi.
INTRODUCTION
Loneliness is defined as subjective feelings of being without the
type of relationships that are desired –a discrepancy between
one’s real and desired relationships (Rotenberg, 1999). Since
loneliness relies on one’s subjective perception of unsatisfied
social relationships, it may be relatively independent from the
actual number of social contacts or amount of solitude. In other
words, being alone does not necessarily imply feeling lonely.
Similarly, being involved in a marital or coupled relationship does
not necessarily imply not feeling lonely.
Loneliness consists of two basic dimensions, social loneliness
and emotional loneliness (Junttila, Ahlqvist-Bj€
orkroth, Aromaa
et al., 2013; Weiss, 1973). The commonly accepted definition of
social loneliness is the absence of a social network or the feeling
that one is not part of a group. Emotional loneliness, in turn,
refers to the lack of a close, intimate attachment to another
person. Based on the existing research, chronic loneliness has
serious concomitants with a person’s psychosocial well-being,
such as non-active coping strategies, anxiety, social phobia,
depression, and suicide attempts/realization (Heinrich & Gullone,
2006; Junttila, 2012). Independent risk factors of loneliness
have been previously identified, including male gender, physical
health symptoms, chronic work and/or social stress, small social
networks, lack of a spousal confidant, and poor-quality social
relationships (Dykstra & Fokkema, 2007).
Research on loneliness during a life span has focused mostly
on the adolescence, middle, and older ages (e.g., Rokach, 2007a).
Only a few studies have focused on women’s and men’s
loneliness during the transition to parenthood (e.g., Rokach,
2007b). Geller (2004) found a positive association between
mothers’age and increasing loneliness during pregnancy that was
not seen in a non-pregnant group. The quality of the couple
relationship seems to be one of the predictors of loneliness during
pregnancy (Feldman, Nash & Aschenbrenner, 1983). A positive
marital (or couple) relationship offers protection against loneliness
(Hawkley, Hughes, Waite, Masi, Thisted & Cacioppo, 2008). In
terms of marital status, non-married men seem to show higher
levels of loneliness than non-married women (Pinquart, 2003).
According to Dykstra (2004), men’s close social networks are
smaller compared to those of women, and men suffer from social
loneliness more than women. In addition, men without a partner
appeared to be emotionally lonelier compared to women who did
not have a partner (Dykstra & Fokkema, 2007). However, married
women were more emotionally lonely compared to married men
(Dykstra & Fokkema, 2007). With both partners, emotional
loneliness explained about 40% of the variance in marital quality
and also predicted the length of a marital relationship (Knoke,
© 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2015, 56, 482–488 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12241

Burau & Roehrle, 2010). Rokach (2012) summarized in his
review that loneliness exists in the family context regardless of
one’s marital status or family cohesion, but where familial support
is available loneliness is less frequent and easier to bear.
Many investigations have linked loneliness to anxiety and
depression (see, e.g. the review by Heinrich & Gullone, 2006).
Further, loneliness has been found to be more strongly involved
in depressive symptoms than in anxious symptoms (Chang,
Hirsch, Sanna, Jeglic & Fabian, 2011). There is evidence of an
association between emotional loneliness and anxiety as well as
social loneliness and depression (e.g., Schwab, Scalise, Ginter &
Whipple, 1998). In a large Danish cohort study of parents during
the perinatal period (Flensborg-Madsen, Tolstrup, Jelling, Sørensen
& Mortensen, 2012), the risk of admission for anxiety disorders
was significantly associated with previous discontentedness with
partner status, loneliness, self-rated low intelligence, not feeling
part of a whole, unhappiness, low quality of life, and low
meaningfulness.
In sum, previous research has argued for the need to study
chronic loneliness, especially divided into the specific dimensions
of social and emotional loneliness (e.g. Junttila, 2012; Junttila,
et al., 2013), as well as the developmental interaction between
loneliness and other psychosocial problems, such as relationship
dissatisfaction, social phobia, and depression (e.g. Heinrich &
Gullone, 2006). Still, there is lack of research on these areas,
especially during the periods of pregnancy and early parenthood.
Therefore, we aimed to study the longitudinal developmental
pathways of mothers’and fathers’social and emotional loneliness
during these periods of life as well as whether co-existing marital
dissatisfaction, social phobia, and/or depression during pregnancy
predicts the later developmental path of social and emotional
loneliness. The study design was chosen in order to be able to
follow the longitudinal paths of both mothers’and fathers’social
and emotional loneliness and to connect these paths with their
feelings of marital satisfaction, social phobia, and depression
during pregnancy.
AIMS OF THE STUDY
Our first aim was to analyze the inter-correlations of mothers’and
fathers’social and emotional loneliness during pregnancy (20th
pregnancy week), infancy (child aged 8 months), and early
childhood (child aged 18 months). Second, using latent growth
curve mixture modeling, we aimed to investigate whether different
developmental pathways (in terms of initial levels and growth
trends) exist among the parents’social and emotional loneliness
during the study period, and if so, whether these groups differ in
marital dissatisfaction, social phobia, and/or depressive symptoms
self-evaluated during pregnancy.
METHOD
Participants
This study is based on data from children and their parents participating in
a longitudinal cohort, Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-being
of Children (the STEPS study), which has been described earlier in detail
(Lagstr€
om, Rautava, Kaljonen et al., 2012). All mothers who delivered a
living child between January 1st 2008 and April 31st 2010 in the Hospital
District of Southwest Finland area formed the cohort population (9,811
mothers and 9,936 children). Of this cohort, a total of 1,797 mothers,
1,827 children, and 1,658 partners volunteered as participants for the
intensive follow-up group of the STEPS study. Families were recruited
during the first trimester of pregnancy (1,387 mothers) or after delivery at
the delivery wards (410 mothers). The data for the present study was
collected using detailed questionnaires answered by mothers and fathers
during the 20th gestation week (mothers n =1,234, fathers n =1,132),
when the children were 8 months old (mothers n =1,273, fathers
n=1,194), and when the children were 18 months old (mothers n =995,
fathers n =879).
Mothers’mean age was 30.8 years, 54.3% of them had their first baby,
42.7% were living in urban area, 59.2% were married, and 22.8% had an
occupational class of at least professional. Among children 52.2% were
boys, 5.3% were born premature, and their mean Apgar-points were 9.0.
Ethical issues
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ethics Committee of the
Hospital District of Southwest Finland have approved the STEPS Study
(2007-02-27). The parents gave written informed consent. They were
informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any point. The
description of the scientific data file is formulated according to the standards
given by the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman. The data are
securely stored in computers at the Turku Institute for Child and Youth
Research (CYRI), University of Turku.
Measures
Russell, Peplau and Cutrona’s (1980) Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale
is widely used and has well-established reliability and validity in
different contexts (see e.g. Hojat, 1982; McWhirter, 1990; Pretorius,
1993). The scale was validated within the present research project to
consist of factors of social and emotional loneliness (Junttila et al.,
2013). The minimum score for both factors was 6 and maximum
(estimating most feelings of loneliness) 24. The Cronbach’s reliability
estimates for the scale globally were 0.90 for mothers and 0.89 for
fathers within the first measurement point, 0.90 and 0.90 for the
second point, and 0.93 and 0.92 for the third measurement point.
For separate factors the estimates were: social loneliness for mothers
0.79 / 0.80 / 0.84 and for fathers 0.77 / 0.79 / 0.81; and emo-
tional loneliness for mothers 0.78 / 0.78 / 0.84, and for fathers 0.76 /
0.78 / 0.81.
To assess parents’satisfaction in their current relationship, we used
Busby, Cristensen, Grane, and Larson’s (1995) Revised Dyadic Adjustment
Scale (RDAS). The RDAS is effective in distinguishing marital satisfaction
vs. dissatisfaction (Busby et al., 1995; White, Stahmann & Furrow, 1994).
The minimum score, estimating the best possible marital satisfaction, was
14 and the maximum, estimating high dis-satisfaction, was 84. Cronbach’s
alpha was 0.80 for mothers and 0.80 for fathers.
Parents’social phobia was assessed by The Social Phobia Inventory
(SPIN) which is a self-report questionnaire for measuring fear, avoidance
behaviors, and physiological discomfort in performance or social situations
(Connor, Davidson, Churchill, Sherwood, Foa & Weisler, 2000). The SPIN
has been previously validated with Finnish data (Ranta, 2008). The
minimum score, estimating the least social phobia, was 0 and the
maximum, estimating high social phobia, was 68. Cronbach’s alpha was
0.91 for mothers and 0.91 for fathers.
To assess mothers’and fathers’depressive symptoms, Beck’s
Depression Inventory, BDI-II (Beck, Brown & Steer, 1996) was adopted.
The Finnish version of BDI-II that includes 21 items each rated on a four-
point scale was used. The sum scores of items range from 0 (no
depressive symptoms) to 63 (severe symptoms of depression). Cronbach’s
alpha was 0.83 for mothers and 0.84 for fathers.
© 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Mothers’and fathers’loneliness 483Scand J Psychol 56 (2015)

Procedure and statistical analyses
Both mothers and fathers filled in the questionnaires at home and returned
them to the research center. Research assistants coded the answers into
data matrixes using identification codes. To explore different latent
trajectories in mothers’and fathers’social and emotional loneliness, we
used the latent growth curve mixture modeling method within the
structural equation modeling framework. The parents recruited after
deliveries were not include into these analyses. Latent growth curve
mixture modeling is a generalization of conventional growth curve
modeling that defines the average change in scores over time. The primary
purpose is to identify relatively homogeneous groups (latent classes) of
individuals using their scores on one or more observed variables measured
at different time points (Muth
en, 2001). The analyses were run in Mplus
software, version 7 (Muth
en & Muth
en, 2013). To compare the resultant
latent classes, we used the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and the
Bayesian information criterion (BIC). The AIC and BIC estimate guides to
choosing between competing statistical models such that the smaller the
value, the more parsimonious the model is indicated to be (Akaike, 1987).
Additionally, we used the entropy value (which varies between 0 and 1)
since a value closer to 1 indicates a clearer classification and the
probability estimates of cases belonging to each class (Vermunt &
Magidson, 2002; Wang & Bodner, 2007). The differences in mothers’and
fathers’marital satisfaction, social phobia and depression between the
resultant latent classes were tested using ANOVAs.
RESULTS
The inter- and intra-correlations of mothers’and fathers’social
and emotional loneliness are presented in Table 1. The test-retest
reliability correlations between consecutive measurement points
were at least moderate indicating that both mothers’and fathers’
social and emotional loneliness were stable during the study
period. The correlations between parents’social and emotional
loneliness were also quite strong, varying between 0.651 and
0.741. However, comparing mothers’vs. fathers’loneliness
within measurement points revealed only low, but statistically
significant, correlations. For social loneliness, the concurrent
correlations were 0.218, 0.192, and 0.222. For emotional
loneliness they were 0.220, 0.207 and 0.237. For a comparison,
we calculated the correlations between mothers’and fathers’
marital dissatisfaction, social phobia, and depressive symptoms
during pregnancy, which were 0.581, 0.220, and 0.190
respectively.
Identification of different developmental pathways of mothers’
and fathers’loneliness
For the datasets of mothers’and fathers’social and emotional
loneliness, a basic latent growth curve was first fitted, and
then the mixture analysis was used to find a suitable number
of groups. The BIC, AIC, and entropy estimates and the class
probabilities are presented in Table 2. Based on the estimates,
the three class solutions were chosen as most appropriate for
the sample (Fig. 1).
To investigate whether these three classes differed in marital
satisfaction, social phobia, and/or depressive symptoms, we
predicted the classes with these three (RDAS, SPIN, BDI)
covariate variables. The mean values for each class are presented
in Fig. 1.
Description of the three social loneliness classes
Concerning mothers’social loneliness, the largest class (78.2%;
stable non-lonely) consisted of mothers with a very low and
stable feeling of loneliness (means 8.7, 8.8, 8.8). Their marital
dissatisfaction (30.0), social phobia (7.9), and depressive
symptoms (7.3) were significantly lower than those of the other
classes. The second class of mothers (16.8%; stable lonely) had
stable feelings of social loneliness and the highest mean scores
(14.1, 14.0, 14.0). In addition, this class’s marital dissatisfaction
(34.9), social phobia (16.5), and depressive symptoms (13.8) were
higher than those in the stable non-lonely class (30.0, 7.9, 7.3);
Table 1. Correlations between and within mothers’and fathers’social and emotional loneliness during pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood
Social loneliness Emotional loneliness
Mothers’Fathers’Mothers’Fathers’
Preg. Inf. Todd. Preg. Inf. Todd. Preg. Inf. Todd. Preg. Inf.
Mothers’social loneliness
Pregnancy
Infancy 0.710
Toddlerhood 0.657 0.729
Fathers’social loneliness
Pregnancy 0.218 0.201 0.190
Infancy 0.185 0.192 0.173 0.693
Toddlerhood 0.176 0.149 0.222 0.633 0.724
Mothers’emotional loneliness
Pregnancy 0.684 0.487 0.493 0.188 0.141 0.153
Infancy 0.576 0.688 0.593 0.158 0.157 0.147 0.666
Toddlerhood 0.561 0.617 0.741 0.198 0.177 0.219 0.653 0.745
Fathers’emotional loneliness
Pregnancy 0.221 0.175 0.229 0.651 0.544 0.513 0.220 0.201 0.238
Infancy 0.158 0.168 0.161 0.516 0.708 0.542 0.169 0.207 0.199 0.650
Toddlerhood 0.179 0.172 0.225 0.463 0.579 0.741 0.185 0.197 0.237 0.613 0.674
Note: All the correlations are statistically significant at p-level 0.01.
© 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
484 N.Junttila et al. Scand J Psychol 56 (2015)

however, the difference between them and the next, highly
increasing class was not statistically significant. The third class of
mothers (5.0%; increasingly lonely) had highly increasing feelings
of social loneliness (means 9.4, 13.1, 16.9) during their child’s
infancy and toddlerhood. This class’s marital dissatisfaction
(33.7), social phobia (12.9), and depressive symptoms (10.1) were
statistically significantly higher than those of the stable non-lonely
mothers but not statistically significantly lower than those of the
stable lonely mothers.
Concerning fathers’social loneliness, similarly to mothers, the
largest class (62.8%; decreasing non-lonely) consisted of fathers
with very low and even continuously decreasing (p=0.005)
feelings of loneliness (means 8.2, 8.0, 7.8). Their marital
dissatisfaction (29.0), social phobia (6.0), and depressive
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
123
mothers 5.8%, RDAS 36.0, SPIN 16.4, BDI 14.0
mothers 8.7%, RDAS 34.2, SPIN 14.1, BDI 11.7
mothers 85.5%, RDAS 30.4, SPIN 8.7, BDI 7.8
fathers 8.0%, RDAS 34.5, SPIN 20.3, BDI 12.2
fathers 32.6%, RDAS 32.2, SPIN 12.9, BDI 6.6
fathers 59.4%, RDAS 28.5, SPIN 6.0, BDI 2.9
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
123
mothers 16.8%, RDAS 34.9, SPIN 16.5, BDI 13.8
mothers 5.0%, RDAS 33.7, SPIN 12.9, BDI 10.1
mothers 78.2%, RDAS 30.0, SPIN 7.9, BDI 7.3
fathers 6.5%, RDAS 33.5, SPIN 22.4, BDI 11.6
fathers 30.5%, RDAS 31.7, SPIN 13.5, BDI 7.1
fathers 62.8%, RDAS 29.0, SPIN 6.0, BDI 3.0
Fig. 1. Latent classes of mothers’and fathers’social (on left) and emotional (on right) loneliness during pregnancy (Time 1), infancy (Time 2) and
toddlerhood (Time 3), with the class proportions and mean scores of marital dissatisfaction (RDAS), social phobia (SPIN), and depression (BDI) of
each class.
Table 2. Fit statistics for latent growth curve mixture models with one, two, three, and four classes
nof classes BIC / Change in BIC
a
AIC / Change in AIC
a
Entropy Class probabilities
b
Mothers’social loneliness 1 13306.220 13265.058 1.000 1.000
2202.288 217.723 0.831 0.874 / 0.965
379.558 94.994 0.834 0.950 / 0.831 / 0.844
435.122 50.558 0.820 0.823 / 0.847 / 0.930 / 0.827
Fathers’social loneliness 1 11983.984 11943.331 1.000 1.000
2165.884 181.13 0.808 0.837 / 0.964
35208.627 5238.261 0.874 0.902 / 0.959 / 0.959
4 5178.484 5177.628 0.874 0.850 / 0.791 / 0.000 / 0.955
Mothers’emotional loneliness 1 12643.025 12601.851 1.000 1.000
2300.091 315.531 0.930 0.908 / 0.988
33017.06 3040.832 0.918 0.980 / 0.869 / 0.90
4 2749.424 2742.315 0.861 0.942 / 0.903 / 0.822 / 0.873
Fathers’emotional loneliness 1 11882.986 11842.353 1.000 1.000
2218.371 233.609 0.862 0.901 / 0.972
35052.844 5082.506 0.775 0.930 / 0.917 / 0.856
4 4978.057 4977.244 0.813 0.746 / 0.814 / 0.934 / 0.768
Notes:
a
For the models with two, three, and four classes, the estimate is presented as a change to the prior BIC or AIC. The more negative the change
value, the better the model fits the data.
b
Average latent class probabilities for most likely latent class membership.
© 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Mothers’and fathers’loneliness 485Scand J Psychol 56 (2015)

symptoms (3.08) were statistically significantly lower than those
of the two other classes. The other class of fathers (30.5%;
increasing average lonely) had average and slightly increasing
(p=0.024) feelings of loneliness (means 10.9, 11.3, 11.7). Their
marital dissatisfaction (31.7), social phobia (13.5), and depressive
symptoms (7.1) were significantly higher than those of the class
of non-lonely fathers but significantly lower than those of the
highly lonely fathers. The third class of fathers (6.5%; increasing,
lonely) had strong and even slightly increasing (p=0.034)
feelings of social loneliness (means 14.8, 15.5, 16.3). The fathers’
marital dissatisfaction (33.5), social phobia (22.4), and depressive
symptoms (11.6) were statistically significantly higher than those
of the two other classes.
Description of the three emotional loneliness classes
Concerning mothers’emotional loneliness, the largest class
(85.5%; stable non-lonely) consisted of mothers with very low
and stable feelings of emotional loneliness (means 8.2, 8.3, 8.3).
The mothers’marital dissatisfaction (30.4), social phobia (8.7),
and depressive symptoms (7.8) were significantly lower than
those of the stable non-lonely class. The second class of mothers
(5.8%; stable lonely) had stable feelings of emotional loneliness
and the highest mean scores (14.7, 14.3, 13.9) of all mothers.
Moreover, this class’s marital dissatisfaction (36.0), social phobia
(16.4), and depressive symptoms (13.9) were significantly higher
than those of the two other classes. The third class of mothers
(8.7%; increasingly lonely) had highly increasing feelings of
emotional loneliness (means 10.0, 12.8, 15.6) during the periods
of their child’s infancy and toddlerhood. This class’s marital
dissatisfaction (34.2), social phobia (14.1), and depressive
symptoms (11.7) were significantly higher than those of the stable
non-lonely class of mothers but not significantly lower than those
of the stable lonely class of mothers.
Concerning fathers’emotional loneliness, the largest class
(59.4%; decreasing,non-lonely) consisted of fathers with very
low and even slightly decreasing feelings of loneliness (means
8.2, 8.0, 7.8). This class’s marital dissatisfaction (28.5), social
phobia (6.0), and depressive symptoms (2.98) were significantly
lower than those of the two other classes. The other class of
fathers (32.6%; stable,average lonely) had stable and average
feelings of emotional loneliness (means 10.3, 10.5, 10.6). This
class’s marital dissatisfaction (32.2), social phobia (12.9), and
depressive symptoms (6.6) were significantly higher than those of
the class of stable non-lonely fathers but significantly lower than
those of the class of highly lonely fathers.
The third class of fathers (8.0%; stable lonely) had strong and
stable feelings of emotional loneliness (means 13.9, 14.4, 14.9).
The fathers’marital dissatisfaction (34.5), social phobia (20.3), and
depressive symptoms (12.2) were significantly higher than those of
the two other classes, except for marital dissatisfaction. There was
no significant difference between these stable lonely and the stable,
average lonely fathers in terms of marital dissatisfaction.
DISCUSSION
The correlations between parents’self-evaluations of their social
and emotional loneliness correlated quite strongly, yet since the
amount of parents belonging to each latent classes of social and
emotional loneliness varied, these dimensions were clearly two
separate aspects of one’s loneliness. The correlations between
couples’loneliness varied between 0.190 and 0.237. The level of
these is close to the levels of correlations between couples’self-
evaluated social phobia and depressive symptoms, yet much
lower than the correlation between couples’marital dissatisfaction
which can be seen more as a shared feeling between partners.
This supports the idea that a significant relationship per se does
not protect individuals from the feelings of loneliness (cf. Rokach,
2012).
The majority of mothers had very low and stable feelings of
loneliness. To a lesser degree, this was also true for fathers.
However 7% of fathers felt extremely high and even increasing
social loneliness, and 8% felt very high and stable emotional
loneliness.
As there was strong stability of mothers’loneliness from
pregnancy to their child’s toddler age, our results do not support
Geller’s (2004) findings about increase of loneliness during the
course of pregnancy. However we had only one measurement
point during pregnancy, so we cannot be sure whether there has
been a short peak in mothers’loneliness during the final period of
their pregnancy.
Although clinical experience often shows us that mothers
suffer from loneliness during the infancy period (because of
the demanding child care, lack of sleep, etc.), our results do not
support this. Mothers’loneliness seemed to decrease after
childbirth, while already being relatively low during the
pregnancy. One explanation may be that becoming a mother is an
emotionally rewarding phase, during which the social network is
also widening, for example, with other families with babies. The
clinical experience is partly true when it comes to fathers: fathers’
loneliness increased slightly after the childbirth and a small group
of fathers suffered from social and emotional loneliness. Because
there are only a few studies focusing on mothers’and fathers’
loneliness in this period of life more research is needed to confirm
our results.
We were interested in how different loneliness profiles for
mothers and fathers are associated with other psychosocial
factors, specifically, marital satisfaction, social phobia, and
depressive symptoms. In line with previous research (see Heinrich
& Gullone, 2006), our results indicate a strong accumulation of
social and emotional loneliness, marital dissatisfaction, social
phobia, and depressive symptoms. In general, the outcomes were
positive in the sense that the majority of the parents seemed to
cope with this major change in their lives well. However, the
lonelier the parents, the more problems they had in their couple
relationship, social functioning, and mental well-being.
The mothers belonging to the groups of increasingly socially
and emotionally lonely differed significantly from the mothers
belonging to the stable non-lonely groups by having higher
marital dissatisfaction, more feelings of social fears and a higher
amount of depressive symptoms. This combination of risk factors
may make the mothers especially vulnerable for increasing social
and emotional loneliness during the early phase of motherhood.
During this period of adaptation to motherhood and caretaking of
the infant, the support from one’s own partner and from other
women is shown to be essential (Stern, 1995). At the same time,
© 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
486 N.Junttila et al. Scand J Psychol 56 (2015)

higher marital dissatisfaction decreases support from the partner.
A higher amount of depressive symptoms and social phobia,
in turn, may lower mothers’capacity to continue or initiate
new contacts outside of the home. This group of mothers
with increasing loneliness during early motherhood may also
be at risk for later severe problems with the mother-child
relationship.
The fathers who belonged in the groups of increasing social
and stable emotional loneliness had a higher amount of problems
in couple relationship, more social phobia, and depressive
symptoms than the fathers in the groups of decreasing loneliness.
This is in accordance with previous findings. Fathers’higher
levels of distress during pregnancy was related to lower marital
satisfaction, lack of adequate social network, and poor personality
functions (Boyce, Condon, Barton & Corkindale, 2007).
In conclusion, becoming a parent may increase both mothers’
as well as fathers’feelings of social and emotional loneliness
and these phenomena are highly associated with lower levels of
marital satisfactions and higher levels of social phobia and
depression. Since all of these variables have found to have
negative effects on the healthy development of the child, these
phenomena should be paid more attention by maternity and child
health care clinics.
Limitations and future directions
Like always there are some limitations to this study. First, the
drop-out rate was more than two hundred mothers and fathers
during the two-year study period. Second, we now modeled only
the developmental pathways of mothers’and fathers’social and
emotional loneliness and compared these resultant latent classes
concerning their self-evaluated marital satisfaction, social phobia
and depressive symptoms during pregnancy. However, it would
have been important to model the developmental interactions
within all of these phenomena during the whole study period.
Third, the obvious outcome of parents’psychosocial well- or
ill-being during this period of life is the optimal well-being and
development of their children. Therefore, from the developmental
point of view extending the follow-up and focusing more on the
outcomes of the children is an essential task for further studies.
In particular, it would be interesting to see if the small groups
of mothers with increasing social and emotional loneliness re-
establish their satisfying social relationships and/or whether their
severe feelings of loneliness have an impact on their child’s
socio-emotional development.
Based on previous research, an important mediator between
parents’mental health and a child’s positive outcome seems to
be parenting (or parental) self-efficacy, defined as parents’
self-referent estimations of competence in the parental role or as
parents’perceptions of their ability to positively influence the
behavior and development of their children (Coleman & Karraker,
1998; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Junttila & Vauras, 2009; Junttila
et al., 2007; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). Based on the research on
school-aged children and their parents, we also know that a strong
predictor for both mothers’and fathers’poor parental self-efficacy
is her/his own feelings of social and emotional loneliness (e.g.
Junttila et al., 2007). Therefore it would be important to follow
the developmental pathways of parents’loneliness and its effects
on and interactions with their developing parental self-efficacy
already during the early years of their child’s life. Wide-ranging,
longitudinal, and multidisciplinary research on the dynamics,
interactions, and contexts of families’well-being would provide
opportunities for early interventions.
The authors are grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the
midwives for their help in recruiting them and the whole STEPS Study
team. The main funding for the study comes from the University of Turku,
Abo Akademi University, and the Turku University Hospital. This
publication is the work of the authors and Junttila, Ahlqvist-Bj€
orkroth,
Aromaa, Rautava, Piha, and R€
aih€
a will serve as guarantors for the
contents of this paper.
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Received 6 May 2014, accepted 27 May 2015
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