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Becoming a Mother: The Influence of Motherhood on Women's Identity Development
Abstract
This qualitative analysis investigated women's experiences of identity change in the process of becoming mothers. Thirty semistructured interviews were completed and the analysis was conducted through a grounded theory framework. The analytic process yielded results that grouped into three overarching themes. The first of these relates to the ways in which women lost themselves for a time while incorporating their children into their identities and reforming their identities. The second theme explores the expansion of the self insofar as women incorporated children into their identities and self-boundaries. The third theme explores ways that women felt that mothering and the close relationships with their children intensified their personalities and identities. Implications for future research are explored.
... Becoming a mother is one of the most important developmental transitions in womens' lives and is accompanied by unique challenges for identity development (Laney, et al., 2015;Martsin, 2018). This "profoundly transformative experience" for women (Millward, 2006, p. 3017) often results in a shift in values and priorities (Moffett, 2018). ...
... Stern and Bruschweiler-Stern (1998) noted that transitioning into the "motherhood mindset" is a time of "psychological turbulence" (p. 28); becoming a mother is an important developmental transition in womens' lives and brings with it challenges for the continuing development of a woman's identity (Laney, et al., 2015;Martsin, 2018). Highly educated, stay-at-home mothers often struggle to reclaim their self-esteem feelings of self-worth that they once had (Rubin & Wooten, 2007;Vejar, Madison-Colmore, & Ter Maat, 2006). ...
... During this second rupture, working mothers are still constructing their new identity as a mother while also repositioning themselves as an employee (Martsin, 2018). Motherhood fractures a woman's identity, causing them to initially lose their sense of self and identity to make space for their new identity; only after some time and negotiation, previously held views of one's self become recreated into a renewed sense of identity (Laney, et al., 2015;Martsin, 2018 Based upon the strong scientific foundation provided by the literature review, six themes were identified as relevant to this study and were thoroughly explored to provide legitimacy to the study as well as to answer the research questions. The six themes are: a) the transition to motherhood and the subsequent decision to either opt-out of the workforce or return to the workforce, b) the impact of opt-out mothers on organizations and organizations response, c) the transition from mother to working mother, d) identity ...
This study was used to explore the experiences of working mothers in the financial services industry in the United States and the influence of mentorship on their feelings of identity and self-efficacy after an extended child-rearing leave. Women in male-dominated industries are one of the marginalized groups most susceptible to experiences that could lead to declining performance, motivation, and engagement, all of which can exacerbate the gender inequality that already exists (Cortland, 2019). Through purposeful mentorship, financial organizations can better support women returning after an extended childrearing leave and their feelings of identity and self-efficacy. The COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-2021 exacerbated the issues women in the workforce have endured through the generations and have forced organizations to reevaluate the support they provide working mothers. Although the pandemic has spared no one, working women have felt the brunt of the impact. In the financial services sector, 29% of women left their job during the pandemic, either temporarily or permanently, and 34% who haven’t left are considering leaving (Accenture, 2021). The pandemic, by shining a light on the issues working mothers face, has forced organizations to take a closer look at how they support working mothers. Fixing the places where women work instead of fixing women at work has become a rallying cry (Tulshyan & Burey, 2021).
... Learning about neurobehavioral development through practical demonstrations and explanations appear as an important basis for establishing rapport (Håkstad et al., 2016;Øberg et al., 2019), but the synthesis demonstrates how the perception of further comprehensive parental attachment was primarily augmented by first-hand bodily experiences. Active parental involvement illuminates the resonance between meaningful engagement and the construction of parental identity (Laney et al., 2015). What the synthesis shows regarding the interactions between the parent and the child, provides insights into how their bodily processes involving cognitive and sensorimotor experiences, contribute to connecting the dyad through both expressions and the perceptions of expressive behavior of the other. ...
... Consequently, self-confidence may affect and enhance the parental identity (Laney et al., 2015). The findings demonstrate that taking part in the interventions by direct involvement with the infant, transformed the parents' identity in relationship to becoming a parent as they became more confident in reinforcing nurturing infant interaction and play. ...
... In this regard parents appear to incorporate parenthood into their identities and who they perceive themselves in the role as a parent. Thus, based on the analysis and in line with a previous report of the influence of motherhood on women's identity development (Laney et al., 2015), becoming a parent of an infant born preterm seem to be related to an expansion of the self, which includes parents incorporating their infants into their identities, self-possibilities, and boundaries. If so, parents will likely attend to issues and engage in meaningful interactions they perceive as relevant and significant regarding the infant and her wellbeing and development, while ignoring other things. ...
Early intervention programs involving both the parent and the infant born preterm have demonstrated positive effects on developmental outcomes for the children. However, studies have also shown that parental engagement and adherence when implementing intervention programs can be challenging. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive description and new insights into key messages gleaned from the parent reports on participating in early intervention with their infant born preterm; knowledge vital to facilitate implementation of early interventions into clinical practice when using a model of direct parent involvement. Early intervention is broadly defined as a multi-interdisciplinary field provided to children from birth to five years of age to foster child health, wellbeing, development, adapting parenting and family function. For this systematic synthesis we define early intervention as programs with specific activities completed with the infant during the first year after birth. We assembled qualitative interview studies on parents’ experiences with participation in early intervention and applied Malterud’s qualitative systematic meta-synthesis to synthesize and translate the original findings across studies. In the analysis we applied enactive concepts of embodiment, autonomy, participatory sensemaking, and agency. 10 qualitative studies were identified and included. The systematic synthesis reveals how parents’ successful and meaningful participation in early intervention programs were facilitated by their “active embodied doing.” The “embodied doing” appeared as the basis for the parents’ sense-making processes, development of confidence, and the ability for parents to see new possibilities for actions within themselves, with and in the child. In that respect, a perception of mutuality in the interaction between parent, infant and interventionist was central. Consequently, an important consideration when implementing early intervention into clinical practice is to promote embodied parent–infant interactions as well as trust between the parent and the interventionist.
... Complicating this shift in relationship dynamics, women must also contend with a shift in personal identity when they become mothers (Hennekam, 2016;Laney et al., 2015), particularly as they try to navigate the pressure of 'good' motherhood. Motherhood is a demanding long-term role and one characterised by having someone almost completely dependent on you (Laney et al., 2015). ...
... Complicating this shift in relationship dynamics, women must also contend with a shift in personal identity when they become mothers (Hennekam, 2016;Laney et al., 2015), particularly as they try to navigate the pressure of 'good' motherhood. Motherhood is a demanding long-term role and one characterised by having someone almost completely dependent on you (Laney et al., 2015). As these changes occur, mothers experience a temporary loss of their sense of self, which may include their self as a partner, due to the level and urgency of newborns needs, which are often placed above their own and their partner's needs (Laney et al., 2014). ...
... As these changes occur, mothers experience a temporary loss of their sense of self, which may include their self as a partner, due to the level and urgency of newborns needs, which are often placed above their own and their partner's needs (Laney et al., 2014). Further complicating this transformation of mothers' identity is the juxtaposition between women's ideals of motherhood and the reality of becoming a mother (Laney et al., 2015). This juxtaposition is often associated with shame and guilt, which negatively impacts a mother's sense of competence in her parenting ability and acceptance of their new identity (Choi et al., 2005). ...
Unlabelled:
Good mother ideology refers to beliefs that women are only 'good' mothers if they adhere to the tenets of dominant parenting discourse, such as intensive mothering ideology, which prioritizes children's needs and child-raising above all else. Undergirded by this ideology, mothers' attempts to navigate the transition to motherhood are fraught with pressures, and the transition is associated with negative health outcomes for mothers and children; yet existing research gives little attention to the quality or dynamics of the partner relationship as part of this transition. The current study examined motherhood pressure and the impact on partner relationships through individual, semi-structured interviews with 19 mothers living in Australia who were 18 years or older in a heterosexual relationship with at least one child under the age of five. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: discourses on motherhood: criticisms of mothers and internalised guilt; transformation of identity; entrenchment of gender roles through childrearing; and positive relationship dynamics: supportive fathers and challenging gender roles. This study contributes to the larger body of literature highlighting the complexity of dominant mothering ideology and its entanglement with and impact on partner relationships. Further, this study includes mothers' perceptions of how they navigate these pressures within the relationship with their partner and the family unit. These findings have implications for programs to support mothers and other caregivers, as well as challenge unrealistic standards for motherhood.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-022-01345-7.
... Motherhood is universally perceived as a key component of women's identity. An abundance of research exists on the transition to motherhood and on how this process affects women's identity (Greenberg et al., 2016;Laney et al., 2015;Mercer, 2004;Prinds et al., 2014). The literature on motherhood mainly refers to women's identity development in the context of relationships and to how to engage in a new type of relationship characterized by dependency (Gilligan, 1982;Laney et al., 2015). ...
... An abundance of research exists on the transition to motherhood and on how this process affects women's identity (Greenberg et al., 2016;Laney et al., 2015;Mercer, 2004;Prinds et al., 2014). The literature on motherhood mainly refers to women's identity development in the context of relationships and to how to engage in a new type of relationship characterized by dependency (Gilligan, 1982;Laney et al., 2015). In the motherhood literature, dependency ...
Background
Although motherhood plays a meaningful role in the formation of a woman’s identity, most studies have focused on the process of identity transformation in the transition to motherhood among non-disabled women; less is known about this process among women with physical disabilities who become mothers.
Objective
The present study aimed to understand and describe the subjective experiences of Israeli women with lifelong physical disabilities in their motherhood journey from the perspective of the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities, and from the disability studies approach.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Israeli mothers with visible lifelong physical disabilities who live in the community and raise their children.
Results
Three themes emerged from the interviews: (1) the decision to become a mother: Coping with the disability identity for the first time; (2) The FIRST 3 years: Depending on others as limiting their motherhood identity; (3) after age three: Balancing the motherhood and disability identities.
Conclusion
The transition to motherhood led to identity transformation among women with physical disabilities. Becoming a mother increased the tension between dependence and independence in the context of disability, which also influenced the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities and their wellbeing. Practitioners should provide emotional support to mothers with disabilities and help them embrace the positive aspects of each identity and strike a balance between them.
... One example is the 'Good Mother' ideology (10). It is the integration of these personalised and internalised societal ideals and the woman's actual experiences of being a mother that happens during the formation of the 'motherhood identity' (4,11,12). ...
Introduction
Pregnancy and the postnatal period represent a time of heightened risk for women to experience mental health difficulties. Some mothers may require specialist inpatient psychiatric support made available through Mother and Baby units (MBUs). Although there is evidence of the therapeutic benefits of MBUs, many studies have utilised methodologies vulnerable to interviewer and social desirability biases. The repertory grid technique (RGT), derived from personal construct theory (PCT), has been successfully used to explore how the way in which a person thinks about and defines the self (i.e., self-construal) changes following therapeutic intervention in samples of people experiencing mental health conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to explore change in maternal self-construal following MBU admission, utilising the RGT, thereby enhancing our understanding for the therapeutic role of MBU admissions in women’s mental health recoveries.
Methods
Participants were recruited from two MBUs in England. RGT was undertaken with participants shortly after admission and again at discharge, allowing for comparisons between grids to assess change in how a mother viewed herself in relation to certain aspects of the self (e.g., ideal self) and other people, a concept referred to as construing in PCT. Data were analysed using principal component analysis, Slater analysis, and content analysis.
Results
There were 12 participants who completed repertory grids at admission, with eight (66.67%) participants also completing discharge grids. Most of the eight participants demonstrated improvements in overall self-esteem and self-esteem as a mother, a shift towards a more positive self-perception, and increased construed similarity between the self and positively construed others, and construing became more varied. Conversely, a few participants displayed a reduction in self-esteem, particularly in the maternal role and increased construed similarity between the self and negatively construed others, and construing became more rigid.
Conclusions
All participants exhibited changes to construing during their MBU admission, with most participants displaying positive changes to self-esteem and self-perception and a more adaptive process of construing. Potential implications are offered for service users, families, clinicians, and stakeholders. Recommendations for future research are also provided.
... The postpartum period for women is accompanied by negative outcomes, including body changes, sexual functioning challenges (Laney et al., 2015;Rallis et al., 2007), depression, and self-criticism (Brassel et al., 2020). Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), and the few studies on self-objectification and pregnant or postpartum women, show that self-objectification is relevant for women during these periods, including associations with body shame, depression, disordered eating, and negative breastfeeding attitudes (see Donati Beech et al., 2020). ...
Objectification of women is heightened during the reproductive years and is associated with a myriad of adverse outcomes. Yet, little research has examined the impact of self-objectification among postpartum women and whether potential effects can be ameliorated. The current study investigated the association between self-objectification and well-being among women who had given birth in the last three years, and whether self-compassion moderated or mediated the link. As hypothesized, women (N = 162) higher in self-objectification reported greater body shame, appearance anxiety, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating, and lower life satisfaction, self-esteem, and more negative experience being a mother, whereas women higher in self-compassion reported more positive outcomes on these measures. Self-compassion mediated the association between self-objectification and poorer well-being on most outcomes. Unexpectedly, neither self-objectification nor self-compassion were associated with sexual dysfunction or breastfeeding confidence. The findings suggest that although women might be prone to self-objectification and body shame during the postpartum period, self-compassion explains this relation and potentially holds promise for disrupting negative experiences during the transition to motherhood.
... The experience of transitioning into parenthood often elicits an overwhelming feeling [e.g. 2], through which parents may encounter an intricate transformation of their identity [3]. Achieving a balance between their parental obligations, roles as partners, and individual identities presents a difficult challenge [4]. ...
Background: Social media have become extremely popular among parents to seek for parenting information. Despite the rising academic attention for the topic, studies are scattered across various disciplines. Therefore, the current study broadens the scope of the existing reviews by transcending narrow academic subdomains and including all relevant research insights related to parents' information seeking on social media and its’ consequent effects.
Objective: The aim of this systematic literature review is to (1) identify influential journals and scholars in the field, (2) examine the thematic evolution of research on parenting and social media, and (3) pinpoint research gaps, providing recommendations for future exploration.
Methods: Based on the criteria of Kraus and colleagues [1] we selected 338 studies in this systematic literature review. We adopted a bibliometric analysis combined with a content thematic analysis to get data-driven insights with a profound understanding of the predominant themes in the realm of parenting and social media.
Results: The analysis reveals a significant increase in research on parenting and social media since 2015, especially in the medical domain. The studies in our scope spanned across 232 different research fields, and the most prolific journal is ‘Pediatrics and Parenting. The thematic analysis identified four emerging research themes in the studies: parenting motivations to seek information, nature of parenting content on social media, impact of parenting content, and interventions for parents on social media.
Conclusion: This study provides critical insights into the current research landscape of parenting and social media. The identified themes, research gaps, and future research recommendations provide a foundation for future studies, guiding researchers towards valuable areas for exploration.
... Self-concept relates to the way a person recognizes and characterizes themselves, while the maternal self relates to the mother's self-perception of the thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and ideas relating to raising a child (Laney et al., 2015). These perceptions are expressed in her relations with her child, which are reflected in mutual expectations and methods of communication that are influenced by numerous aspects, such as the experience of the mother from the child and the mother's past experiences (Johnston et al., 2008). ...
Mothers of children on the autism spectrum cope with numerous difficulties associated with raising a child with a complex disability. Religious belief is perceived as a resource for coping with the difficulty. This study examined the uniqueness of the perception of motherhood among Israeli national-religious and Haredi mothers of children on the autism spectrum ages 10–19 with various levels of function, using 12 semistructured interviews which were analyzed by a full content analysis according to grounded theory. The interviews revealed that the mothers perceived their motherhood as an ongoing process that is accompanied by a journey of self-awareness. The transition from feelings of helplessness, frustration, and guilt to feelings of growth and development from the crisis, as well as movement from total motherhood and attentive motherhood, reflect this process. A dichotomous distinction of motherhood emerged between how the participants related to other mothers of children on the autism spectrum and to mothers of typically developing children. The religious beliefs expressed by the participants touched on coming to terms with reality, belief as an anchor, belief that life invites inner progress, belief in future reward, and belief that their situation is a test from God or, alternatively, a punishment from God. The study contributes to knowledge of perceptions of motherhood by mothers of children on the autism spectrum, unique to national-religious and Haredi mothers in Israel.
... The child's needs, abilities, and experiences can also reciprocally shape the development of motherhood and its role in a woman's identity. 39 Therefore, it can be thought that limitations in the functioning of the child with DLD might increase the dependence on motherhood. However, other factors may also contribute to the characteristics of motherhood, such as the woman's autonomy as an adult, 39 woman's personal history, 40 paternal factors 41 or socio/cultural factors. ...
Background
Based on previous studies reporting language disorders associated with maternal overload and changes in parenting practices, this study aimed to investigate maternal gatekeeping and overprotectiveness in developmental language disorder (DLD).
Methods
Forty-five children with DLD and 46 children with typical language development (TLD) children were included in this study. To assess the level of maternal gatekeeping and overprotectiveness, we employed Maternal Gatekeeping Scale (MGS) and Parent Attitude Scale (PAS). Additionally, participant’s language abilities were evaluated using Test of Early Language Development-3 (TELD-3), and their overall developmental status was assessed using Denver Development Screening Test-2 (DDST-II). Immitance-metric assessment and auto-acoustic emission testing were also used to assess hearing functions.
Results
Mean PAS-overprotection (34.1 ± 8.4, 24.3 ± 5.9, P < .001) and MGS total scores (141.7 ± 24.1, 115.7 ± 20.5, P < .001) in children with DLD were significantly higher than those of the TLD. Factors affecting MGS scores were investigated using Multiple linear regression analysis. DLD diagnosis (β = 14.195, P = .029), PAS-overprotection (β = 1.158, P = .001) and family income level (β = 9.643, P = .045) were found as significantly associated with MGS scores. In addition, PAS-overprotective obtained to have a partial mediating role in the relationship between DLD diagnosis and MGS scores (β = .391, P < .001).
Conclusion
Present study reveals that maternal gatekeeping is associated with DLD and overprotection. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating motherhood practices and fostering independency supportive attitudes in the care for children with DLD.
... In the context of parenthood, having a history of childhood adversity predicts decreases in mothers' mental health (Racine et al., 2022); abuse in childhood especially hinders mothers' ability to provide nurturing, consistent parenting (Martinez-Torteya et al., 2018;Zalewski et al., 2013). Specifically, the transition to parenthood (TTP) is a key context of vulnerability for many adults and is a notoriously challenging and critical period for the interparental relationship (e.g., Doss & Rhoades, 2017;Laney et al., 2015;Matthey et al., 2000). Parents navigating this transition with a history of childhood maltreatment are likely at an even greater risk for relationship strain and decreased social adjustment (e.g., Racine et al., 2022); however, studies on the effects of childhood maltreatment on fathers' relationships over the transition to parenthood are extremely limited. ...
Study of fathers has gained significant traction over recent decades. However, the experience for men over the transition to parenthood remains focused on high‐socioeconomic and socially advantaged fathers. Researchers have yet to thoroughly investigate how fathers may uniquely experience this transition period with a history of childhood maltreatment, given that childhood abuse is known to impact several components of development and relationship functioning into adulthood. The current study endeavored to fill this gap by evaluating the associations between fathers' childhood experiences of physical and emotional abuse and their relationship functioning over the transition to parenthood in terms of both the couple relationship and social adjustment in relationships with others. Using data from 399 fathers who participated in a randomized control trial during pregnancy, the results from stepwise regressions indicate fathers with a history of emotional abuse experience particular declines in their external relationships (reductions in social support and increases in social stress) from prenatal (Wave 1) to postpartum (Wave 2) reports. However, no significant association emerged between fathers' history of maltreatment and their relationship functioning with their partners. These results underscore the importance of investigating the impact of different types of abuse on men in fatherhood. Moreover, we emphasize the need to study further fathers' social adjustment over the transition to parenthood beyond the couple relationship and broad social support to address the needs of men with a history of maltreatment in their new role as fathers.
... The empirical section proposed some important corroborations about these ma ers and offered new insights and applications related to the specific target it deals with. Women's experiences of identity change in the process of becoming mothers have been widely explored, implying different experiences, such as the perception of losing or expanding themselves for a time while incorporating their children into their identities, as well as the feeling that the new relationships with their children intensified their personalities and identities [3]. The feelings of joy and fulfillment can be accompanied by a general dissatisfaction with motherhood [4], mainly related to (a) physical changes and recovery from pregnancy and birth itself [5], with eventual adjustments needed in case of problematic birth [6]; (b) development of new caregiving skills and interpersonal/social roles, framed in new family constellations and social networks [7,8], even implying role conflicts and feelings of resentment [9]; (c) stressful emotional activation, connected to insecurities and depressive, anxious, or hostile states [10]. ...
Online mothering is an arising and multifaceted phenomenon as the online world offers unique opportunities and risks in a particularly challenging period. The overall aim of this work is to investigate the features of the hashtag movement #itcouldbeme, which was born after a terrible news event concerning a newborn’s death, specifically concerning (a) the e-activation levels; (b) the emotional arousal; (c) the potential presence of deconstruction of stereotypes concerning intensive mothering. To investigate positioning, reactions, and emotions, a database of 394 online posts gathered from popular Italian social networks was created, manually codified, and analyzed through the chi-square test. The results enabled us to deepen the associations among these variables, thus revealing the opportunities for empowerment offered by the socio-cultural positioning, different emotional pathways, and adhesion to this online movement. Finally, implications for professionals and public health issues are discussed.
... The transition to motherhood is a momentous event in a woman's life, with far-reaching implications for self-definition and lifestyle (Bailey, 1999;Laney et al., 2015). A shift in focus becomes apparent after childbirth, as women, following the observations by Zdolska-Wawrzkiewicz and co-authors (2020), concentrate less on themselves and more on cultivating their relationship with the child. ...
This longitudinal study delves into the meanings of work for women during a transitional life stage. While the topics of opting out and opting in have garnered considerable attention, certain aspects of career development after childbirth remain underexplored. Existing literature often dichotomizes women into two primary groups, and some theories propose a three-group classification. However, such divisions may be overly simplistic and not universally applicable to all women. The objective of this study is to enhance the understanding of women’s career aspirations. In order to achieve this objective, two waves of individual semi-structured interviews with ten women at two specific time points were conducted: during pregnancy and four to six months postpartum. The results of the study demonstrate that the meaning of work for the research participants varied both during pregnancy and after childbirth. Additionally, some participants had alteredtheir career aspirations after they became mothers. The salience of the new identity as a mother is discussed as a possible precursor explaining adjustments in the career aspirations. This research enriches the discourse on work–life balance preferences by offering valuable insights into how early motherhood shapes women’s career goals, decisions, and expectations.
... ). The complex identity changes a woman has to go through to become a mother makes it a challenging transitional period (Beeck et al., 2022;Laney et al., 2015). The theory of the transition to parenthood by Stern (1995Stern ( , 2004 proposes that when a woman becomes a mother she creates a 'motherhood constellation', a new identity regarding the baby and herself as well as expectations, anxieties, and goals regarding this role. ...
Background
The complex identity changes women have to go through to become mothers makes it a challenging transitional period. Especially, mothers who have experienced childhood adversity (ACEs) may be vulnerable to poor adjustment to motherhood. However, support from a partner, family and friends can act as a buffer to cope with this challenging transitional period. Therefore, the aim was to study whether ACEs and experienced social support (partners, family, and friends) were related to the adjustment to motherhood or ‘motherhood constellation’ of women after the birth of their first child.
Method
Data were collected via an online questionnaire among first-time mothers from June–September 2020. Motherhood constellation was measured with four items based on the descriptions by (Stern, 1995) about the motherhood constellation, i.e. worries about Life/Growth, Emotional Engagement, Support Systems, Identity Organisation. Multiple regression analyses with pairwise deletion were conducted.
Results
ACEs were related to all four themes of motherhood constellation, indicating that the more frequent these adverse experiences occurred in the past the more concerns, both about the child and herself, the mother had. Moreover, after controlling for ACEs and other forms of support, only support from friends was related to the use of support systems and identity organisation. Finally, statistically significant interactions were found between ACES and support from friends with life/growth and between ACES and support from family with identity organisation. These interactions indicated that contrary to the expectation the positive association between mother’s ACEs and worries was stronger for mothers who experienced more support.
Conclusion
The consequences of ACEs seemed to show up in the transition to motherhood, indicating that interventions targeting first-time mothers should address the motherhood constellation that may arise from earlier adverse life experiences. Moreover, especially support from friends seemed to be associated with less worries among mothers. Social support has no buffering effect for the negative consequences of ACEs on the themes of motherhood constellation. Further research is clearly needed to get more insight into these themes and to understand the meaning of different types of social support during the transition to motherhood.
... The domain of social comparisons and the outcomes importantly vary between individuals and groups, with individuals making more intense comparisons if the object of comparison is of greater emotional significance. Given the very emotive nature of motherhood (Laney et al., 2015), mothers are more likely to make social comparisons. Further, given the importance of mothers to offspring survival (Broad et al., 2006), to ensure one is engaging in suitable behavior that would allow social inclusion, and/or to facilitate more subtle competition through potential social status movement, mothers must engage in social comparison. ...
Maternal competitiveness requires that mothers engage in a process of social comparison, and social media may facilitate this competition. However, social media may also perpetuate an unrealistic ideology about motherhood, which can have negative effects on well-being when mothers inevitably fail to stack up. To date, however, these relationships have not been explored. To test these relationships, participants consisting of 252 mothers (Mage = 31.50, primarily from Australia) completed an online survey. We found maternal competitiveness increased social comparison tendencies which subsequently increased investment in Instagram as well as internalization of intensive mothering ideology. Social comparison had both direct and indirect effects on well-being. Internalization of an intensive mothering ideology does not appear to be dependent on investment in social media, specifically. Overall, these results have theoretical implications for our understanding of the role of maternal competitiveness in social comparison, social media use, and maternal well-being.
... This has been found in previous studies too, where first-time mothers have described experiencing an imbalance between the occupations they want to engage in versus those they feel obligated to fulfil as mothers (Horne et al., 2005). Transitioning into new, unfamiliar roles involves a phase of discomfort and dissatisfaction and puts individuals at risk of losing confidence and selfesteem (Laney et al., 2015). This reinforces the need for comprehensive screening of occupational needs to ensure referral to occupational therapists when needed to support women during matrescence. ...
Introduction
Transitioning into the role of a mother encompasses many physical and psychosocial changes, affecting the way a woman may function. Maternal health is an emerging area of practice for occupational therapists, and therefore, screening and assessment tools to support work in this area are needed. The Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning (BIMF) is a quantitative outcome measure that is used by health professionals to assess maternal functioning. Currently, its ability to measure occupational performance is unclear.
Methods
Utilising a mixed methods design, this study analysed the extent to which the BIMF assesses maternal function from an occupational perspective. Thirteen first‐time mothers with a baby 12 months of age or younger participated in the study. Results from the BIMF were compared with themes developed from semi‐structured qualitative interviews that explored the occupational experiences of first‐time mothers.
Findings
Seven themes were developed from the interviews. The BIMF addressed three themes, including changes to engagement in basic activities of daily living and leisure, transitioning into motherhood, emotions, self‐efficacy, and social support. However, four themes were not captured by the BIMF, including changes to partner relationships, identity shift, influence of ‘person’ factors, and changes to social experiences in early motherhood.
Conclusion
Findings suggest that a new tool with a holistic perspective of mothers as occupational beings is needed to be able to identify occupational performance issues and the potential need for occupational therapy support. This study identified key experiences of occupational performance for new mothers.
... The experience of transitioning into parenthood often elicits an overwhelming feeling [e.g. 2], through which parents may encounter an intricate transformation of their identity [3]. Achieving a balance between their parental obligations, roles as partners, and individual identities presents a difficult challenge [4]. ...
BACKGROUND
Social media have become extremely popular among parents to seek for parenting information. Despite the rising academic attention for the topic, studies are scattered across various disciplines. Therefore, the current study broadens the scope of the existing reviews by transcending narrow academic subdomains and including all relevant research insights related to parents' information seeking on social media and its’ consequent effects.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this systematic literature review is to (1) identify influential journals and scholars in the field, (2) examine the thematic evolution of research on parenting and social media, and (3) pinpoint research gaps, providing recommendations for future exploration.
METHODS
Based on the criteria of Kraus and colleagues1 we selected 338 studies in this systematic literature review. We adopted a bibliometric analysis combined with a content thematic analysis to get data-driven insights with a profound understanding of the predominant themes in the realm of parenting and social media.
RESULTS
The analysis reveals a significant increase in research on parenting and social media since 2015, especially in the medical domain. The studies in our scope spanned across 232 different research fields and the most prolific journal is ‘Pediatrics and parenting. The thematic analysis identified four emerging research themes in the studies: parenting motivations to seek information, nature of parenting content on social media, impact of parenting content, and interventions for parents on social media.
CONCLUSIONS
This study provides critical insights into the current research landscape of parenting and social media. The identified themes, research gaps and future research recommendations provide a foundation for future studies, guiding researchers towards valuable areas for exploration.
... The complex and extended identity of motherhood was reflected in each participant's discussions of daily routines and how they viewed challenges introduced or exacerbated by COVID-19. The process of becoming a mother involves reforming and expanding identities with their children (Laney et al., 2015). Each mother wanted to feel needed and know they were a proficient provider, teacher, and caretaker as they expanded their motherhood identity. ...
This study explored the experiences of mothers experiencing homelessness amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were completed with nine mothers and analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes uncovered during the interviews highlighted sources of motivation and perseverance, additional and ongoing impacts of COVID-19, sources of further mental anguish, and unmet needs challenging roles and routines. Notably, the identity of being a mother and the value placed on that role significantly influenced their daily routines and engagement in meaningful occupations. Occupational therapy practitioners can utilize these findings to deliver contextually sensitive care tailored to the unique circumstances and immediate requirements of this population.
... Keywords: social media influencers, momfluencers, breastfeeding, entertainment education, social marketing campaigns Inleiding Sociale media spelen vandaag de dag een cruciale rol in het leven van kersverse ouders. Ouders ondergaan een complexe identiteitsverandering (Laney et al., 2015) en tijdens deze turbulente periode in hun leven gaan ouders sterk op zoek naar informatie en steun op sociale media (Frey et al., 2022;Moon et al., 2019). Vooral moeders hechten veel belang aan de informatie en steun die ze krijgen en teruggeven aan hun online netwerk (Duggan et al., 2015). ...
... This article follows the theoretical debates on the social construction of the gendered self accomplished by everyday interactions and practices (West & Zimmerman, 1987) as well as the play of power in the construction of the gendered identity (Butler, 1990). Women transform their identities as mothers in their processes of becoming mothers, and they develop their maternal identities in their relationships as mothers (Laney et al., 2015). To mothers of disabled children, parental advocacy affects their identity changes by opening new relationships. ...
This study explores how mothers of children who are young adults with developmental disabilities in South Korea experience identity strain and tension when they engage in advocacy on behalf of their children. Based on in‐depth interviews with 20 mothers in Korea who are members of parents’ advocacy groups, this article found that women experienced feelings of tension that arose when they deviated from normative understandings of what it means to be “devoted mothers.” Furthermore, they created two alternative versions of maternal roles—professional “I” mothers and professional “WE” mothers—that supported their identities as “disability advocates” in order to alleviate their emotional experiences. Such differences led them to practice different styles of advocacy in their interactions with disability welfare services. Based on these findings, this article discusses identity strain that emerges during the mothers’ political engagement on behalf of their disabled children. In doing so, it contributes to expanding current attention to parental advocacy activities in order to more deeply understand women's agential power to force social change and to act against existing state policies and power.
... Changes in self-concept and processes of identity work Some literature suggests that women change their identities in various ways when they become mothers. According to Laney et al. (2015), in the transition to motherhood, women face a complex process that may involve a period of self-loss and identity reconfiguration. More than in any other type of relationship, in motherhood, women often expand their identities to include another person within the limits of the self and consciousness. ...
Introduction: Breastfeeding is much more than a biological event. It is a social construction, full of cultural meanings and framed by social structures. Being, simultaneously, a natural event and a social practice, breastfeeding poses challenges to feminist approaches in the sense it may be acknowledged as an empowering practice for women and/or as a setback in the process of women's social emancipation. Often focused on the product, i.e., the milk and its beneficial properties for the infant's health, the dominant discourse on breastfeeding makes it a trait of good mothering, withdrawing the understanding of the particular (but also structural) contexts in which this practice occurs.
Methods: Based on results from a focus group with five mothers of a first child, this paper addresses first-person testimonies about breastfeeding and transition to motherhood, aiming to capture eventual self-concept dilemmas, impacts of social judgments, difficulties related to the work-family balance, as well as negotiation processes taking place within couples and early-parents.
Results and discussion: Despite being subject to tensions and sometimes stressful adaptation processes, motherhood and breastfeeding tend to be ultimately described by women as experiences that enhance welcome changes in personal trajectories, life priorities and identities.
... In addition, the concept of stigma, and specifically the stigmatized "unfit" maternal identity, was prevalent across nearly all studies as either a guiding construct or in themes arising from the data. As such, both maternal identity theory (Laney et al., 2015;Nichols et al., 2022) and stigma theory (Goffman, 1963) were used to define our terms and iteratively guide the analysis and synthesis of results. ...
... In addition, unlike dependency due to long-term disability, dependency due to immaturity in children is usually a temporary rather than an existential state. 31 For empirical work on this, see for instance, McMahon (1995), Smith (1999), Habib (2012), Laney et al., (2015). 32 Which, in turn, are mediated by socio-economic status, ethnicity, culture-and religion-specific norms. ...
Assessing what counts as infertility has practical implications: access to (state-funded) fertility treatment is usually premised on meeting the criteria that constitute the chosen definition of infertility. In this paper, I argue that we should adopt the expression "involuntary childlessness" to discuss the normative dimensions of people's inability to conceive. Once this conceptualization is adopted, it becomes clear that there exists a mismatch between those who experience involuntary childlessness and those that are currently able to access fertility treatment. My concern in this article is explaining why such a mismatch deserves attention and what reasons can be advanced to justify addressing it. My case rests on a three-part argument: that there are good reasons to address the suffering associated with involuntary childlessness; that people would decide to insure against it; and that involuntary childlessness is characterized by a prima facie exceptional kind of desire.
... There are different perspectives on how identity is formed. Theorists such as Cattell (1943), Erickson (1950), andFreud (1961) believe that individuals function as a completely independent entity and that their identities are naturally formed individually and independent of others, whereas theorists such as Chodorow (1978), Gilligan (1982) and Josselson (1987) believe that the identity of individuals, and especially women, is formed in relation to others (Laney, Hall, Anderson & Willingham, 2015). Hull and Zacher (2007) also believe that a person's identity is formed in the course of their life and in relation to the identity of other important people in their life. ...
... Motherhood is a powerful female role identity comprising attributes of caring and nurturing (Arendell, 2000), as well as being involved, giving love, and guiding and teaching (Simon, 1997). When women become parents, their self-identities expand to incorporate the mother role (Ladge & Greenberg, 2015;Laney et al., 2015). The attributes and activities of this new identity are reinforced by a dominant standard of intensive mothering requiring engagement that is "child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, and financially expensive" (Hays, 1998, p. 8). ...
It is well documented that motherhood influences gendered outcomes in work institutions. However, how paid work influences women's private sphere and sense of self remains unclear and could vary across societies. This article focuses on identity construction among 28 college‐educated stay‐at‐home mothers in Shanghai. The findings from semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews reveal tension negotiation and reconciliation within these mothers' multiple self‐identities. Despite choosing to voluntarily leave their paid jobs and become stay‐at‐home mothers, participants differentiated between their maternal identity and their stay‐at‐home mother identity; in particular, they perceived motherhood as more valuable and socially acceptable than the choice to be a stay‐at‐home mother (i.e., participants readily identified as mothers but hesitated to describe themselves as stay‐at‐home mothers). To avoid this tension and protect their self‐image, participants incorporated aspects of their previous working identity into their stay‐at‐home mother identity, such as taking part‐time jobs and framing their childrearing experience as a future career asset. The results help explain how the notion of work shapes women's self‐image, even when they leave the labor market. Overall, the findings reinforce mothering imperatives and identities and the need to understand them from a cross‐cultural perspective in relation to societal prevailing gender norms.
... It is hardly a new idea that mothering involves transformation. The birth of a child is accompanied by intensive care that shapes motherly subjectivity (Laney et al., 2015). In contrast to studies that associate motherly transformation with the birth of a child, the current study demonstrates that mothers of transgender children experience their mothering as an ongoing process of transformation. ...
Matters of parenting transgender children are ascendant on the cultural landscape. Based on interviews with Israeli mothers of transgender children between the ages of 8–24 I explore how the process of the child's gender affirmation intersects with maternal subjectivities, and how mothers internalize the morally‐loaded narratives of good mothering in contemporary Israel. I illustrate that when children undergo gender affirmation, mothers experience their mothering as challenged and transformed. This transformative process can be conceptualized in terms of political becoming and ethical self‐formation (Foucault 1997). However, such a conceptualization does not fully encompass the complexity of mothers' daily carework. An anthropological approach, in particular the concept of "moral moods" (Throop 2014), can best capture the spontaneity and ambiguity of mothers' moral lives. This concept can be a valuable theoretical tool to grasp the diffused affective states and moral concerns of those who are constantly subjected to the critical gaze.
... However, this chapter focuses on the extraordinary inner changes needed as a girl transitions to being a mother via the process of matresence. Many changes occur in the transition to motherhood, as a new identity and self-concept emerge within the mothering role [28,30]. In line with this, the client expresses a number of issues about her change to motherhood through the imagery as individualized within this depiction of the Snow White fairy tale and its variations. ...
The transition to becoming a mother carries challenges to role, identity, and self-image. Myths and archetypes related to motherhood connect societal and personal expectations with individual experiences. The fairy tale "Snow White" emerged within a single session of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) therapy for a young mother in the postpartum phase. Although previously written up as a clinical case report, this example is now explored as a research case study, which is seen as a unique case with intrinsic qualities and explored via an explanatory approach. The systematic methodology developed for this research case study follows a typology of eight key elements of the Snow White fairy tale, comparing this pattern to the individualized narrative of this young mother. In doing so, variations to the original tale are explored in light of Jungian interpretations, which inform the experience of motherhood. In doing so, this contributes to a further understanding of the changes in role, identity, and self-image experienced by the new mother undergoing both outer and inner change, where the new mother works to fully reframe themselves into their new motherhood role. By understanding this change, additional support can be offered broadly to women during this important transition, and in turn, influence the experiences of current and future generations.
... Selama tahapan perkembangan menjadi ibu, terjadi berbagai tahapan yang mengisi perkembangan tersebut. Penguatan identitas seorang ibu mempengaruhi keberhasilan pemberian ASI (Laney et al., 2015). Hasil kajian lainnya menyatakan bahwa pendidikan ibu, semakin tinggi tingkat pendidikan maka baik efikasi diri menyusui pada ibu (Chincuanco, 2014). ...
Menyusui masih menjadi kendala pada beberapa ibu yang memiliki neonatus sakit yang sedang mendapatkan perawatan di Rumah Sakit. Efikasi diri menyusui berhubungan dengan durasi menyusui yang berdampak pada keberhasilan ibu dalam menyusui minimal secara eksklusif. Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu teridentifikasinya faktor yang berhubungan dengan efikasi diri menyusui pada ibu dari neonatus sakit yang dirawat di ruang perawatan neonatus. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain Cross sectional, pada 88 ibu yang direkrut dengan metode consecutive sampling, alat ukur kuesioner BSE-SF (cronbach’s alpha 0,872) dan EPDS (cronbach’s alpha 0,87) versi bahasa Indonesia serta kuesioner yang peneliti kembangkan yaitu dukungan suami (cronbach’s alpha 0,815), dukungan keluarga (cronbach’s alpha 0,698), dan dukungan teman (cronbach’s alpha 0,849). Hasil analisis Chi square menunjukkan bahwa stres merupakan faktor yang berhubungan dengan efikasi diri menyusui pada ibu dengan neonatus sakit (p=<0,01). Perawat atau petugas kesehatan sebaiknya lebih memperhatikan kondisi psikologis ibu yang memiliki neonatus sakit yang dirawat.
... Persons with disabilities also have the rights to enjoy sexual and reproductive rights just like all other humans [8]. Motherhood is mostly a wonderful experience where women learn to form a sense of self and new identities as they integrate their new born children into their lives [9][10][11][12]. The blind mother also goes through birth and breastfeeds their newborn similar to any other mother without disability [13]. ...
Background
Females in developing countries are likely to suffer from visual impairment more than their male counterparts. People living with blindness or any other form of disability also have the right to reproduce and care for their children like all other humans. There is paucity of literature in the experiences of blind mothers in Ghana. Therefore, this study explored the experiences of blind mothers as they navigated the process of motherhood.
Methods
Qualitative exploratory descriptive design was used to conduct the study. Nineteen blind mothers were interviewed individually. Permission was sought for data to be audiotaped, transcribed and content analyzed inductively.
Results
Three main themes emerged from the data: mothering role and difficulties (sub-themes; feeding, disciplining and protection), mothering challenges (sub-themes; discrimination and prejudice, financial distress and psychological distress) and coping strategies (prayer, children and self-motivation). Most of the mothers reported difficulties in playing their roles in the areas of feeding, disciplining and protection. Challenges were poverty, discrimination, prejudices on their ability to be mothers and psychological distresses such as depression. They coped with their challenges with prayers, self motivation and the hope they had in their children.
Conclusion
A lot of public education is needed to make the lives of people living with disability better. Health professionals must be trained to treat blind mothers with dignity and respect.
... Some women reported concern about the potential effects of their ARD when parenting. Concerns about being able to incorporate children into the 'boundaries of themselves' [30] in terms of the expansion of the self to incorporate children and the associated demands were raised. ...
Objective
Women of reproductive age who have autoimmune rheumatic diseases [ARDs] have expressed a need to be better supported with making decisions about pregnancy. Women with ARDs want their motherhood identities and associated preferences to be taken into account in decisions about their healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the interplay between illness and motherhood identities of women with ARDs during preconception decision making.
Methods
Timeline-facilitated qualitative interviews with women diagnosed with an ARD [18–49 years old]. Participants were purposively sampled based on the following three criteria: thinking about getting pregnant, currently pregnant, or had young children. Interviews were thematically analysed.
Results
Twenty-two women were interviewed face-to-face [N = 6] or over the telephone [N = 16]. Interview length ranged from 20 minutes to 70 minutes, with a mean length of 48 minutes. Three main themes were identified: prioritisation, discrepancy, and trade-off. Difficulties in balancing multiple identities in healthcare encounters were reported. Women used ‘self-guides’ as a reference for priority setting in a dynamic process that shifted as their level of disease activity altered and as their motherhood identity became more or less of a focus at a given point in time. Women’s illness and motherhood identities did not present in isolation but were intertwined.
Conclusions
Findings highlight the need for holistic person-centred care that supports women with the complex and emotive decisions relating to preconception decision-making. In practice, health professionals need to consider women’s multiple and sometimes conflicting identities, and include both their condition and family associated goals and values within healthcare communication.
This study examined the transmission of gender within the family through perceptions of parenting in low‐ and middle‐income families. Phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Participants were determined by criterion sampling method. Data were collected from 60 participants, including 20 families (mother–father–child) representing low (10 families) and middle (10 families) socio‐economic levels. The study reveals that there is a need for social intervention in both socio‐economic contexts. The findings of the study showed that the gendered interactions of parents living in both socio‐economic contexts within the family had effects on children's perceptions and experiences. In the study, parents in both socio‐economic contexts characterized motherhood as sacrifice, caregiving, and fertility and fatherhood as authority, power, income, and security provider. Children, on the other hand, defined motherhood as providing care, fertility, and being responsible for household chores and fatherhood as providing income, meeting needs, and having a profession. A striking result of the study is that although both parents were employed, children preferred to use expressions related to the fathers' professional life while defining parenthood.
Many first‐time mothers experience significant identity issues on work re‐entry following maternity leave, an important individual and life‐related event. Work re‐entry prompts significant identity tensions leading to identity work challenges and potential career changes. We address this significant life event and develop a subjective identity informed conceptual framework explaining its key components and outcomes. We propose that for first‐time mothers, re‐entry following maternity leave triggers a cognitive and subjective assessment of identity threat and opportunity leading to the use of multiple identity work strategies to address personal, role, and collective identities. We analyze the impacts of these reworked identities and identity work for career decision making and outcomes. We theoretically underpin our framework using event systems, a subjective perspective on social identity and intersectional theories and in doing so, propose future research questions and highlight implications for national policy and organizational practices.
The article is part of a research project dedicated to modern maternal practices in the focus of women’s professional and personal self-realization. As a methodological basis for studying these previously unidentified aspects of the life of women on parental leave, the authors propose the concept of “non-maternal” practices of mothers, understanding it as stable types of a woman’s activities which she implements in a wide range of areas of public life, which are determined by the complex situation of caring for young children and the corresponding changes in her chronotope, communicative positions and economic situation, but are not directly related to caring for her child. Based on the materials of a comprehensive study (a study of young mothers’ accounts in social networks, N=720; 22 motherhood forums; an online survey, N=471; a series of in-depth interviews N=20), the empirical potential of the proposed concept was demonstrated. The repertoire of “non-maternal” practices has also been defined and systematized, and their typology is presented. In particular, the following grounds for the classification of “non-maternity” practices are identified: implementation format (offline, online, mixed), motivation (self-realization, earnings, combating the monotony of maternity days, communication, relieving psychological stress), effect (constructive, destructive, without a pronounced effect ), economic status (neutral, subsidized, investment, spontaneous earnings, regular income, commercial income), professional dynamics (practices corresponding to the main profession or pre-maternity employment; temporary practices that developed during maternity leave; transitive practices leading to a change in professional trajectory), field of activity (education, support for mothers, creativity and the arts, volunteering and social activism, beauty industry, crafts, crop production, sports, real estate, tourism, self-development, computer technology). The proposed optics allow a comprehensive approach to the study of mother’s mechanisms of adaptation, and an analysis of the multi-layered and eclectic nature of normative and factual aspects in the restructuring of their social statuses. The practical meaning of their application lies in the possibility of turning the system of social support for motherhood from subsidized (support for motherhood = social payments) to resource (support for motherhood = reformatting the social environment, taking into account women’s right to subjectivity).
Background: Returning to sport postpartum is becoming increasingly common for elite athletes. While policies to support women during this period are emerging, this remains an area of limited research. To date the lived postpartum experience of UK elite athletes as they returned to sport has not been explored.
Methods: This qualitative study collated the experiences of 11 women via online interviews. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Three key themes were generated from the data: 1) navigating the mother-athlete identity 2) personal support and inspiration and 3) systemic supports. Athletes must navigate their return to sport, both in terms of their changed identity and practical challenges associated with having a child. Seeing other women navigate this journey provided encouragement to athletes that they could do this. Findings also illustrated the role of the athletes’ own sports community and wider organisations. Access to specific supports such as timelines for return to sport and nutritional advice positively impacted the athlete’s postpartum return to sport, as did access to maternity leave policies which protected funding during the pregnancy and postpartum period.
Conclusions: Moving forward, carrying out high-quality research to inform guidelines for elite athletes return to sport and developing national level maternity leave polices need to be seen as urgent priorities. This is to ensure that elite athletes are properly supported during the postpartum period and can resume their careers.
Introduction : les adolescentes enceintes sont plus à risque de problèmes de santé physique et psychosociale, et bien que la plupart des grossesses ne soient pas planifiées, peu d’études explorent le processus décisionnel pour maintenir la grossesse. Objectif : cette étude vise à identifier les déterminants de l’expérience de la grossesse chez les adolescentes et à comprendre le processus décisionnel du maintien de la grossesse de leur point de vue. Méthode : une étude qualitative phénoménologique auprès de quatorze adolescentes enceintes a permis de faire émerger des thèmes clés de l’expérience de la grossesse. Résultats : les éléments clés du processus décisionnel incluent de donner du sens à la grossesse et d’anticiper les réactions de l’entourage à l’annonce de cette décision. L’expérience de la grossesse est liée à une transition rapide vers l’âge adulte et au soutien disponible. Discussion : être enceinte à l’adolescence est un passage dans une nouvelle réalité qui comporte plusieurs difficultés et craintes. La décision de maintenir la grossesse est prise dans la solitude. L’appropriation de sa grossesse lors du processus décisionnel influencerait le degré d’implication des adolescentes dans la recherche d’informations, la demande de soutien et l’adoption des comportements favorisant la santé.
The question of whether or not one should procreate is rarely cast as a personal choice in philosophical discourse; rather, it is presented as an ethical choice made against a backdrop of aggregate concerns. But justifications concerning procreation in popular culture regularly engage with the role that identity plays in making procreative decisions; specifically, how one’s decision will affect who they are and who they might be in the future. Women in particular cite the personally transformative aspects of becoming a parent — personal circumstances, including socioeconomic status, age, health, and relationship status — as the most important considerations for the decision they make regarding possible parenthood, and not the more aggregate concerns that an ethics of procreation prioritizes. I highlight women because when women undergo a transformative experience related to parenthood, they do so in contexts where the social, economic, and emotional effects related to pregnancy and motherhood are extensive and impose greater effects on women than men. These harmful material effects threaten a woman’s economic stability, career development, social relationships, and emotional health. Because of this, I argue that an ethics of procreation must engage with the ways in which women’s identities are transformed through procreative decisions.
This study examines mothers’ experiences and relationships with their children while incarcerated and under community supervision. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 16 mothers/primary caregivers under community supervision in a Pacific Northwestern state. The findings highlight the complex realities mothers face at the intersections of the criminal legal and child welfare systems. Further, mothers face distinct structural and emotional barriers to maintaining relationships with their children during and following incarceration. Finally, the findings reveal the importance of mothers’ relationships with their children towards motivation for sobriety and desistance. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.
Women's flat track roller derby is a grassroots full-contact sport underpinned by an explicit gender policy stating that any self-identifying woman can play, including those who are transgender and gender diverse (TGD). Adopting a queer-feminist lens, this research examined attitudes toward and experiences of gender inclusivity in the sport from the perspective of cis and TGD athletes in the United Kingdom. Reflexive thematic analysis, drawing on survey (n = 153) and interview (n = 20) data, examined how roller derby offers a space accepting of different identities; its underpinning principles surrounding body positivity and how it is perceived a social movement, involving a community of individuals sharing values of equality, diversity and inclusion. This research shows that an inclusive rhetoric surrounding gender not only engages TGD individuals in sport but offers a space for marginalised and alternative identities to participate together.
Motherhood is often positioned as incompatible with further education, and various cohort studies have revealed the many ways in which mothers are discouraged from and disadvantaged in higher education. Guided by role theory, we investigated the experiences of more than 1300 'PhD mums' from across the world as they simultaneously navigate the roles of doctoral researcher and mother (or mother-like role). Using a mixed-methods survey design, qualitative and quantitative results were analysed to reveal the contradictions and complexities of the PhD mum experience, with motherhood both straining and enhancing the doctoral journey. Motherhood may place considerable strains on doctoral researchers, including on their ability to conduct and write-up their research. These strains are exacerbated by inequitable and gendered role expectations, finite resources, and limited support, often at the expense of doctoral researchers' physical and mental well-being. However, it is not all negative, and PhD mums can bring a range of skills and attributes that are valuable to individual doctoral studies as well as doctoral programmes and institutions more broadly. The benefits also extend to the PhD mums themselves, their families, and their communities. This paper challenges unfounded assumptions about the commitment and ability of mothers to succeed in doctoral education, but also raises serious concerns about the role of institutions in perpetuating social inequalities while espousing commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion.
Background
Participation in meaningful everyday occupations and life-roles is crucial to the health and wellbeing of older adults. However, little is known regarding meaningful life-roles of older women. Although the maternal-role remains meaningful to women throughout their life, previous literature focused on earlier stages of motherhood.
Aims
To describe the occupations and perceptions within the maternal-role of older women.
Materials and method
An online survey was distributed via social media. It included closed and open-ended questions regarding the engagement and relatedness of occupations to the maternal-role; and the perceptions of older women towards their maternal-role. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis was used to analyze data from open-ended questions.
Results
The survey was answered by 317 community-dwelling older mothers (aged 65–87). High frequency of engagement and relatedness of occupations to the maternal-role were found. Most participants perceived the maternal-role as a never-ending and evolving life role. Seven categories, describing both ’doing’ and ’being’ aspects of the maternal-role, were identified.
Conclusion
The maternal-role is meaningful to older women. It continues to develop over time, and includes new occupations which have not been central at earlier stages of motherhood.
Significance
These findings have significant implications for healthcare professionals striving to promote healthy aging by enhancing the participation of older women in meaningful occupations. Further research is needed to broaden the understanding of the unique characteristics of the maternal-role at older age.
Postpartum physical activity can positively impact mental and physical health. There is a need to better understand how physical activity is related to various psychological constructs to support physical activity in postpartum women. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory, quantitative, study was to examine differences between postpartum women who were physically active and those who were physically inactive on psychological (e.g., self-compassion) and mental health constructs. Five hundred twenty-five women ( M age = 28.4) completed an online survey. Participants who reported being active following the birth of their last child had significantly higher exercise self-efficacy, self-compassion, and basic psychological needs fulfillment for exercise and significantly lower levels of perceived fatigue, anxiety, and depression compared with their inactive counterparts. However, active mothers had lower body satisfaction than inactive mothers. Women who are active after the birth of a child have improved psychological constructs that may benefit overall well-being and mental health during this challenging transition.
Pregnancy and postpartum are full of developmental change for both women and their families. Family members are adjusting to their new roles in the family and women are beginning to define their abilities as a mother and caretaker. For some women, their experience during this time is convoluted by the experience of a perinatal mood and/or anxiety disorder (PMAD). In these cases, women's self of competency or mastery in their role as a mother can become entangled, leading to insecurities along with their depression or anxiety symptoms. Medication treatments and psychotherapy interventions have been established to address the mood and anxiety symptoms and to support the family system. However, a treatment is needed that addresses the PMAD symptoms and the internalization of women's feelings and emotions experienced during this impressionable and often defining time. In this article, we explore the use of Narrative Family Therapy as a way to help women deconstruct unhelpful narratives they may have created during pregnancy and postpartum. A case study is provided to illustrate how Narrative Family Therapy can be used to emotionally reauthor women's stories, and construct new meanings by separating their PMAD symptoms from their identity as a mother.
Women undergo profound psychological and cognitive shifts throughout their life course, and motherhood entails dramatic mind–body adjustments. Growing maternal responsibilities and evidence from social sciences suggest motherhood enhances cognitive functioning, but mothers typically claim otherwise. This article uses maternal life stories to reveal cultural schemas of mommy brain as told by mothers in the United States. Our findings illustrate what mommy brain is in practice and how cultural narratives promote associations between motherhood and diminished cognitive functioning. We found that interruptions, cognitive overload, and newfound anxieties were fundamental components in mothers’ mommy brain experiences. We believe that these factors, along with social isolation, play a salient role in self‐reported deficits in maternal cognition. Understandings of mommy brain must move beyond neurobiology and attention and memory studies and consider how interruptions, overload, and other subjective experiences shape our definitions and what we know about maternal cognition.
Well-being is clearly of significance for women in the postnatal period; however, in the past, it has mainly been seen as an absence of pathology rather than a concept in its own right. This chapter presents the case for a holistic approach to women’s well-being in the postnatal period. We describe the perinatal well-being framework which was developed in three stages based on both published literature and findings from a survey of women and healthcare professionals. We suggest that well-being is influenced by a variety of domains and that it is subjective and individual and is experienced physically, emotionally and psychologically, as well as is dynamic and fluctuating over time. An overarching element of postnatal well-being is the often-overwhelming nature of motherhood: the responsibility for the baby, the competing demands on mothers’ time, the lack of time for oneself and profound changes to women’s sense of identity and purpose. Self-care was a core element of women’s efforts to experience or foster a sense of well-being. We describe one potential approach to effectively promote women’s ability to engage in self-care and enhance well-being. We consider HCPs’ attitudes and the context they work in as part of supporting well-being. We suggest that training and culture in healthcare tend to characterise the perinatal period as risky, with a focus on seeking to reduce risk and to avoid harm rather than actively promoting well-being. We conclude that a move towards a well-being-focused approach will need a major paradigm shift in both training and services.
Research on women’s lived experiences of their transition to motherhood and the role that spirituality plays in the process of transformation reports how the experiences of motherhood and spirituality are connected and influence each other. Some mothers may struggle through this transformation, and therefore it highlights the need for midwives to attend to the potential positive and negative roles of spirituality in women’s transition to motherhood. Guidance and early interventions of midwives to address any indications of spiritual struggle in women’s adjustment are vital. The recent development of the four key spiritual care competencies through the ‘EPICC Standard’ (https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/epicc/files/2019/06/EPICC-Spiritual-Care-Education-Standard.pdf) may assist midwives how to go about, enhance and provide high-quality, compassionate and safe care to mothers who find it difficult to make sense of events that challenge their world view during transition to motherhood.
This article is based on mixed-method participatory research with incarcerated mothers in Ireland. It draws on this research which aimed to profile imprisoned mothers, hear their experiences of motherhood and mothering and examine their available supports. An overview of relevant literature on motherhood, incarceration, trauma and addiction in the context of incarceration is presented, followed by a detailed outline and discussion of the participatory methods used. Participants were involved in the design and implementation of the research, but not the data analysis and reporting. Prominent themes highlighted in the lives of participants include trauma, addiction and mother–child separation. Rich accounts of child and adult trauma, associated addiction and criminality and voluntary and enforced separations from their children are described and discussed. The article concludes with a reflection on the key issues that arose for participants and considers how these might be responded to in the future.
First-time motherhood is a well-studied yet poorly understood determinant of health. Giving birth has significant physical, mental and social health impacts across the life course. Maternal transition research has attempted to understand first-time mothers' psychological and social needs to improve overall health. However, much of this research struggles to capture the fluid and fluctuating nature of affects, senses and bodies across human and non-human spheres and has reached conceptual saturation. In this paper, I develop mother-baby-assemblages as a way forward in theorising first-time motherhood to better understand how maternal health is produced intra-actively through the relationality between human and non-human actants. I achieve this by plugging into feminist psychoanalytic and new materialist theory, diffractively reading across published qualitative maternal transition literature spanning five decades and enriching affectively through my own mothering encounters. I engage with topics at the forefront of maternal health research, including bodies, babies, vibrant matter, physical and online spaces and paid employment demands. I theorise trans-subjective and more-than-human emergent mother-baby-assemblages that invite relationality and difference over identity and linearity in the becoming-mother to replace human agency with the capacity to affect and be affected through human and non-human forces. I weave together theory, published data and personal encounters to move beyond understanding becoming-mother as a linear process, and instead think of this becoming-through-each-other as mother-baby-assemblages. Health outcomes therewith become products of distributed, emerging, fluctuating, and affecting agencies across human and non-human spheres. Such an approach can steer towards health interventions for first-time mothers that are socio-materially grounded, consider reciprocity of needs, diversify responsibilities for child-rearing and encourage future scholarship of the human and non-human emergence of maternal health.
Offering new perspectives on motherhood, distinguished contributors from a variety of fields look at the conflicting positions on motherhood within the feminist movement; draw on psychoanalysis to grapple with mothers' profoundly ambivalent feelings toward their children; discuss how advances in medicine influence the meaning of motherhood; and examine how representations of mothers in art, film, literature, the social and behavioral sciences, and historical writing have affected women. "The significant contribution of this collection of essays is its repeated re-presentation of the mother as a fully bodied, real, complex person, a subject in her own right, both liberated and oppressed by the demands of birthing and rearing children."-Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Cross Currents
Presents a summary of research findings that suggests that the qualitative nature of 1-yr-olds' attachment to their mothers is related both to earlier mother–infant interaction and to various aspects of their later development. The way in which they organize their behavior toward their mothers affects the way in which they organize their behavior toward other aspects of their environment, both animate and inanimate. This organization provides a core of continuity in development despite changes that come with cognitive and socioemotional developmental acquisitions. Despite the need for further research into children's attachment to their parents and to other figures, findings to date provide relevant leads for policies, education in parenting, and intervention procedures to further the welfare of infants and young children. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Motherhood is commonly referred to as a transformational experience. Where the psychoanalytic literature articulates the maternal subject and her development, transformation is figured as a working through of infantile issues prompted by the psychic crisis that motherhood represents. Juxtaposing recent autobiographical accounts of the transition to motherhood with the work of Irigaray, and using my own experiences of early motherhood, I look at the way motherhood as a transformational experience is represented as either the movement from unity towards fluidity, or its reverse, the movement from fluidity to the hardening of desire around the unity of the child. I use a discussion of wigs to show how transformation itself is caught by its own material effects, inevitably failing to pass itself off as the magical movement from one state to another. The transition to motherhood is understood as both the painful and playful realisation of the impossibility of transformation itself.
This article focuses on transition to first-time motherhood and explores the experiences of a group of women as they anticipate, give birth, and engage in early mothering. It illuminates how these women draw on, weave together, and challenge dominant strands of discourse that circumscribe their journeys into motherhood. Using qualitative longitudinal data, prenatal and postnatal episodes of transition are explored. The analysis and juxtaposing of these data reveal the different ways women anticipate and gradually make sense of becoming mothers. While there is a disjuncture between expectations and experiences for these new mothers, this article draws attention to the different ways women discursively position themselves through transition. It reveals how birth experiences can act as a discursive turning point and underscores the obduracy of some strands of dominant discourse. These findings contribute to a subtler and more nuanced understanding of the dynamic interplay between personal experience and gendered discourses.
Psychoanalysis has begun to place motherhood in a theoretical context, but mainly mothering is seen through the unconscious fantasies of children and adults in analysis who are reflecting on the mothers of their childhood. Little has been written about how mothers unconsciously view themselves and their mothering. Through the analyses of two women and their mothering anxieties, I focus on the intrapsychic conflicts of gender identity that can be masked by a culturally sanctioned obsessive preoccupation with their children. I describe how their developmental search for their female selves leads them to disavow states of being that they concretely deem as masculine.
Partner relationships are relevant in the psychological adjustment during the transition to parenthood, but mothers have been studied more often than fathers in this respect. The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) to assess positive and negative dimensions of the partner relationship, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D) to assess depression and the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to assess anxiety were administered to forty‐three women and their partners recruited during the second trimester of pregnancy and seen again until after delivery in order to assess differences in women's/men's anxiety and depression according to partner relationships. Results indicate that women/men with a less positive relationship with the partner show higher anxiety than women/men with a more positive partner relationship, and those women/men with a more negative relationship with the partner show both higher depression and higher anxiety than women/men with a less negative relationship with the partner. Also partners of women/men with a more negative partner relationship show higher depression than partners of women/men with a less negative partner relationship. Psychological adjustment during the transition to parenthood of both the women/men and the partner is impacted by the partner relationship.
This study explored women's role-related identity structures through in-depth interviews with 60 employed and stay-at-home women married to professional men. The employment, wife, mother, and homemaking roles of these women were examined to understand how married women integrate employment and family roles (i.e., wife, mother, and homemaking roles) within their identity. The women arranged the structure of their multiple roles in a variety of ways: Most structured their roles hierarchically, others intertwined several roles, some perceived their roles as equally important, a few indicated that they were "more than" their roles, and a small group of women were actively reworking their role-related identity structure. The structures observed are interpreted as representing a range of personal settlements with contemporary adult gender-role-related societal expectations.
A woman's psychological state during pregnancy has been shown in previous research to be predictive of her adaptation to maternal functioning. Two hypotheses were examined: (a) women who have a negative attitude to pregnancy and motherhood have children who exhibit slower development at 2 years, compared with children of women who have more positive attitudes; (b) women with poor psychological health antenatally have children who exhibit slower development at 2 years, compared with children of women who have good psychological health antenatally. Three aspects of child development were assessed: cognitive, motor and behaviour, as measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. This prospective, longitudinal study recruited primiparous women in the last trimester of pregnancy, registered at seven health centres in socially deprived areas of Bristol City ( N ?=?436). Baseline data were collected antenatally, and postnatally at 6 weeks, 1 year and 2 years. Developmental assessments were administered at 1 and 2 years of age. Fifty-seven percent of women had planned their pregnancy. Using the EPDS, 25% scored above the cut-off (12/13) for risk of depression antenatally. Multivariable analyses found associations between advanced cognitive development and children whose mothers had been aware of the changes that motherhood might bring. Associations were also found between cognitive development and pregnant women who scored below the cut-off for risk of depression (EPDS<13). The effect sizes were small and could therefore be due to chance, but the associations were consistent.
This paper describes a British-based longitudinal qualitative study of postpartum depression over the transition to motherhood. 24 women (aged 21–41 yrs) were interviewed during pregnancy and 1, 3, and 6 mo after the birth. The data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed from a symbolic interactionist perspective to identify themes surrounding the meaning of motherhood and experiences of depression during this time. The findings presented here demonstrate an important paradox in women's experiences: they are happy to be mothers to their children, while unhappy at the losses that early motherhood inflicts upon their lives—losses of autonomy and time, appearance, femininity and sexuality, and occupational identity. It is argued that if these losses were taken seriously and the women encouraged to grieve that postpartum depression would be seen by the women and their partners, family, and friends as a potentially healthy process toward psychological re-integration and personal growth rather than as a pathological response to a "happy event." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article presents an overview of philosophy of science and research paradigms. The philosophy of science parameters of ontology, epistemology, axiology, rhetorical structure, and methodology are discussed across the research paradigms of positivism, postpositivism, constructivism-interpretivism, and the critical-ideological perspective. Counseling researchers are urged to locate their inquiry approaches within identifiable research paradigms, and examples of "locating" 2 popular inquiry approaches--consensual qualitative research and grounded theory--are provided. Examples of how counseling research would proceed from varying paradigms are explored, and a call is made for expanding the training students receive in philosophy of science and qualitative approaches to inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
To investigate how women's and men's personal goals change during the transition to parenthood, the authors studied 348 women (152 primiparous and 196 multiparous) and 277 of their partners at 3 times: early in pregnancy, 1 month before the birth, and 3 months afterward. At each measurement, participants completed the Personal Project Analysis questionnaire (B. R. Little, 1983). The results showed that during pregnancy women became more interested in goals related to childbirth, the child's health, and motherhood and less interested in achievement-related goals. After the birth women were more interested in family and health-related issues. These changes were more substantial among the primiparous than among the multiparous mothers. Although the men's personal goals changed during the transition to parenthood, these changes were less substantial than those found among the women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article examines concepts of the trustworthiness, or credibility, of qualitative research. Following a "researcher-as-instrument," or self-reflective, statement, the paradigmatic underpinnings of various criteria for judging the quality of qualitative research are explored, setting the stage for a discussion of more transcendent standards (those not associated with specific paradigms) for conducting quality research: social validity, subjectivity and reflexivity, adequacy of data, and adequacy of interpretation. Finally, current guidelines for writing and publishing qualitative research are reviewed, and strategies for conducting and writing qualitative research reports are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article explores how religion, as a meaning system, influences coping with adversity. First, a model emphasizing the role of meaning making in coping is presented. Next, religion as a meaning system is defined, and theory and research on the role of religion in the coping process are summarized. Results from the author's study of 169 bereaved college students are then presented to illustrate some of the pathways through which religious meaning can influence the coping process in making meaning following loss. Findings indicate that associations between religion and adjustment vary across time since loss, and that these associations are mediated by meaning-making coping. Finally, implications for individual and societal well-being and suggestions for future research are discussed.
As theories of developmental psychology continue to define educational goals and practice, it has become imperative for educators and researchers to scrutinize not only the underlying assumptions of such theories but also the model of adulthood toward which they point. Carol Gilligan examines the limitations of several theories, most notably Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development, and concludes that developmental theory has not given adequate expression to the concerns and experience of women. Through a review of psychological and literary sources, she illustrates the feminine construction of reality. From her own research data, interviews with women contemplating abortion, she then derives an alternative sequence for the development of women's moral judgments. Finally, she argues for an expanded conception of adulthood that would result from the integration of the "feminine voice" into developmental theory.
Research on women's identity development has indicated that women generally form and view their identities within the context of their relationships and connections to others. Previous research has looked at various aspects of motherhood identity including paradoxical, conflictual, and ambivalent components of motherhood. The current study contributes by exploring 30 university faculty women's personal experiences of motherhood through a grounded theory framework to determine the contributions of motherhood to adult identity development. Mothering expanded the women's selves and identities multivariously, by developing new personal qualities, by increasing relational capacity and concern for others, by creating a sense of lasting influence by contributing to younger generations, and by enhancing their engagement with their careers. In this way, motherhood was personally, relationally, generationally, and vocationally expansive. Implications for clinical work and research are included.
This phenomenological study used individual, semistructured, face-to-face interviews to explore motherhood experiences among 15 women receiving public assistance in a large urban area on the West coast. A primary phenomenon observed was that motherhood was described as an experience of identity change, with resulting emotional, behavioral, and sense-of-self changes. Within this broad theme, two categories emerged: the experience and process of change, and consequences of change. It was concluded that motherhood may serve as an important catalyst for change in some women and that the context of poverty is essential for understanding the motherhood experience. These results suggest that interventions aimed at leveraging emerging motherhood identities may be beneficial in setting women on the path out of poverty, drug addiction, and incarceration. Future research should examine the consequences of maternal change within the specific context of the stages of change documented in the recovery process from drug addiction.
A total of 96 mothers of preschool children participated in a study examining the relationships among identity status and the variables of family attachment style and understanding of children’s development. Results indicated that women in the committed identity statuses of identity achievement and, contrary to expectation, foreclosure, were highest in secure attachment. Fearful attachment predominated among the uncommitted identity statuses of moratorium and identity diffusion. Achievement women were the highest and diffusion women lowest in their understanding of children’s development. Examination of attachment styles as categorical variables, for achievements and foreclosures, revealed two different patterns within each status: secure and insecure. When achievements and foreclosures were grouped according to their attachment classifications and their perspectivistic scores analysed, achieved-insecure women had relatively high perspectivistic scores (in fact, the highest among the statuses) and foreclosed-insecure women had relatively low ones (almost as low as diffuse women). These results suggest that there may be two distinct patterns of both foreclosure and achievement for adult women.
Questions about how women integrate maternity into their sense of self have generated a quest for an heuristic model. We suggest that mothers struggle to balance themselves amid a set of polarities/tensions and that mothering can be situated within a phenomenological matrix of such tensions. We propose a model that includes the following developmental issues: loss of self/expansion of self; omnipotence/liability; life-destroying/life-promoting behavior; maternal isolation/maternal community; cognitive strategies/intuitive responses; maternal desexualization/ maternal sexualization. Investigation and understanding of how mothers cope with these tensions could yield insights into both universal and particular aspects of mothering.
I held him so and rocked him. I cradled him. I closed my eyes and leaned on his dark head. But the sun in its course emerged from among the water towers of down-town office buildings and suddenly shone white and bright on me. Then through the short fat fingers of my son, interred forever, like a black and white barred king in Alcatraz, my heart lit up in stripes.
— Grace Paley, The Little Disturbances of Man
The aim of this qualitative study was to comprehend how mothers understood and accounted for their experiences in relation to the ideology of motherhood which has been socially constructed as a critical aspect of femininity. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 24 primiparous and multiparous women, and transcripts analysed using open and axial coding with triangulation. Using a material‐discursive approach to interpret the data, two higher order themes are presented: ‘the realization of new motherhood’ and ‘coping with new motherhood’. These themes demonstrate how unprepared for motherhood the women were and how their expectations were based on various myths of motherhood. This led to feelings of inadequacy as they struggled with the myth versus reality discrepancy. However, they could not be seen to be inadequate and therefore employed greater efforts to portray themselves as supermum, superwife, supereverything and hide the opposite. These findings are interpreted within the context of the social construction of femininity and how it is performed within motherhood. Implications for antenatal and postpartum care are discussed.
Drawing on data from a study of middle-class women undergoing the transition to motherhood, this paper critically examines the early 1990s' work of Giddens and Beck on self-identity. Parallels with the work of Giddens and Beck are drawn, but it is argued that more attention needs to be paid to gendered and embodied identity. Using discourse analysis, it is suggested that the women are `excused' from aspects of their identity in the process of pregnancy, but remain within the same regime of subjectification. Six dimensions of an altered sense of self are identified, and the discourses on which the women draw in maintaining a coherent sense of self are discussed. The concept of a refracted self is proposed as a means of theorsing these changes.
Psychosocial development in adulthood is viewed from several perspectives. Stage-specific crises in ego growth associated with different life cycle periods are addressed in terms of status measures expanding on Erikson's polar alternative resolutions (Erikson, 1959). The developmental linkages between these stages are discussed using these status measures, and development from one status to another within a particular psychosocial stage is examined. With respect to identity itself, the cyclical process that might describe identity re-formulation through the adult psychosocial stages is discussed and illustrated. Finally, 2 case studies are presented as examples of adult psychosocial development.
Mothering and motherhood are the subjects of a rapidly expanding body of literature. Considered in this decade review are two predominant streams in this work. One is the theorizing of mothering and motherhood and the other is the empirical study of the mothering experience. Conceptual developments have been propelled particularly by feminist scholarship, including the increasing attention to race and ethnic diversity and practices. The conceptualizations of the ideology of intensive mothering and of maternal practice are among the significant contributions. Study of mothering has focused attention on a wide array of specific topics and relationships among variables, including issues of maternal well-being, maternal satisfaction and distress, and employment.
examines the ways in which childcare manuals represent and discuss the experience of motherhood / consideration is given to the way 'motherhood' is constructed by the medical and psychological 'professionals,' looking in particular at the prescriptions attached to being a 'mother', how a 'good mother' should behave, the responsibilities she should fulfil and the aims she should have in mind as she brings up her children
the manuals examined in this study have been selected on the basis that they sell extensively in the UK [United Kingdom] and include some consideration of women as mothers rather than focusing purely on the child's development / the manuals selected for the study were: Gordon Bourne, "Pregnancy" (1979); Hugh Jolly, "Book of Child Care" (1986); Penelope Leach, "Baby and Child" (1988); the National Childbirth Trust, "Pregnancy and Parenthood" (1987); Benjamin Spock, "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care" (1988, 40th edition); Penny Stanway, "The Mothercare Guide to Child Health" (1988); and Miriam Stoppard, "Baby Care Book" (1983) / a discourse analytic approach is used to examine the recurrent themes and constructions of motherhood in these manuals (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Results of factor analyses of personality have been inconsistent because of the use of different measures (ratings, behavior, questionnaires), biases of investigators, limited sampling of subjects and of aspects of personality, and varying naming of traits. The writer suggests that these difficulties may be overcome by a factor analysis of the entire 'sphere' of trait names, on the argument that these adequately represent personality. By grouping synonyms and opposites, Allport and Odbert's list of trait names was reduced to 150 categories, to which were added the names of 10 special abilities and 11 special interests. One hundred adults representative of the general population were each rated by an intimate as to whether the subject was above or below average on each trait. Tetrachoric correlations of the 171 traits were surveyed for clusters in which items intercorrelated above .45. Sixty such clusters are listed and interpretations deferred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
26 of the author's papers, covering a period of 25 years (1931-1956), are collected in this volume and divided into 3 sections: emotional problems of child development, the impact of psychoanalytic concepts on pediatrics, the author's original contributions to psychoanalytic theory and practice. The 26 chapters deal with such subjects as: psychoses and child care, the antisocial tendency, pediatrics and childhood neurosis, appetite and emotional disorder, hate in the counter-transference, withdrawal and regression, aggression and emotional development. 89-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
It is assumed in Western society that women want to become mothers. This desire is situated within the ideology of the ‘perfect mother’. However, feminists have highlighted contradictions between this ideology and the reality of mothering. A trend towards later motherhood has recently been identified. Delayed motherhood has been associated with a number of advantages such as a sense of psychological readiness, however this may mask some of its negative aspects. The aim of the study reported here was to explore the transition to, and lived experience of, delayed motherhood. Five women who were over 30 prior to the birth of their first child were interviewed. A narrative analysis at the personal, interpersonal and societal levels was conducted. At the personal level, diverse stories which contained both problems in adapting to motherhood and also progressive aspects of positive experiences and integration of maternal identities were told. At the interpersonal level, the prominence of the ‘double-edged’ tone conveyed maternal ambivalence. At the societal level, dominant ideologies of the ‘good mother’ and normative development were identified. Though the women actively constructed their stories and attempted to resist dominant representations, this analysis emphasises the need for more realistic portrayals of delayed motherhood. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Traditional attitudes toward motherhood reflect many contradictions. The Motherhood Inventory (Ml), a 40 item questionnaire, has been developed to study attitudes toward motherhood and the motherhood myth. The Ml includes items relating to the control of reproduction, abortion, adoption, single motherhood, male-female relationships, and idealized and punitive attitudes toward mothers. The 301 subjects in this study were drawn largely from undergraduate and graduate students at an eastern university and their parents. Comparisons with scores on the Spence-Helmreich Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) revealed that the sample was more liberal than the original AWS sample. Men were found to hold significantly more traditional attitudes toward motherhood than women. Younger subjects also agreed more with the myth of motherhood as did unmarried subjects. Catholics more than non-Catholics rejected abortion and supported the primacy of the woman's role as mother. Education produced the most pronounced effect on attitudes toward motherhood with more liberal attitudes held by those who were college graduates.
This paper aims to assist those who do qualitative research in the field of marriage and family to reduce the number of rejections received in response to article submissions. Recurring shortcomings identified by reviewers and suggestions made to authors about revising papers are organized using headings traditionally used in a research article—introduction and literature review, method, results, and discussion. Considerations stemming from the fact that data on marriages and families are produced largely through interviews also are addressed.