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INFLUENCES OF MATERNAL AGE AND WORK STATUS
ON ADJUSTMENT TO PARENTHOOD

By

Esther Dienstag

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Psychology

1986

ABSTRACT
INFLUENCES 0F MATERNAL AGE AND WORK STATUS
0N ADJUSTMENT T0 PARENTHOOD
By

Esther Dienstag

This study examined the relationship between women's ages and
work status and adjustment to motherhood at the transition to
parenthood. One hundred and twenty five middle class primiparous
mothers completed questionnaires about their experiences with and
attitudes toward parenting. All of the women had been employed prior
to the birth of the child but only 402 were employed at the time of the
study.

Scales were computed with confirmatory factor analysis and scale
alpha reliability coefficients ranged from .61 to .90 (mean=.75).
Variables used to predict adjustment to parenthood were maternal
education, active coping including social support, infant health and
regularity, and responsiveness of maternal attitudes toward the
infant. Adjustment to parenthood was defined as satisfaction with
parenthood and enjoyment of early infancy. Conflict between mothering
and work roles was defined as perceived loss of valued role activities.

Path analyses were performed on working and nonworking mother
subsamples and different relationships emerged for the two groups. For

working mothers, high role conflict was associated with greater

responsive attitudes toward the infant and less advanced education.
High role conflict in nonworking mothers was associated with less
responsive attitudes and more advanced education. Both maternal role
conflict and infant illness or irregularity had greater impact on
nonworking than on working mothers. The strongest predictor of
adjustment in the working subsample was availability of social support.
Role competition and role enhancement in working and nonworking

mothers are discussed.

THIS DISSERTATION IS DEDICATED

TO THE MEMORY OF

EDITH DIENSTAG

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Elaine Donelson,
Dr. Hiram Fitzgerald, Dr. John McKinney, and Dr. Ellen Strommen. I
would particularly like to thank my chairperson, Hi Fitzgerald, for his
guidance and patience and for his contributions to my professional
development. He is a role model with integrity and humor who taught me
to uphold standards of excellence.

Dr. John Hunter's assistance in the statistical analysis was
invaluable and helped shape my thinking. Others whose technical
expertise and assistance helped the research process were Dr. John
Condon and Dr. Steven Gitterman.

Thank you to all the mothers who generously agreed to
participate and to all those at the parents organizations who helped
put me in touch with these mothers.

Dr. Evan Charney and Dr. Barbara Howard not only provided me
with secretarial and technical support, they also gave me encouragement
and the opportunity to complete my research.

My appreciation is extended to Susan Proper and Laraine Fisher
who assisted in preparation of the manuscript.

To my father, Simon Dienstag, I know you share with me my regret
that Frieda Dienstag did not enjoy the culmination of this effort. I

5““ grateful to my family: Simon Dienstag, Leah Mallon, Abbe and Debbie

iii

‘Dienstag, Ely Dienstag, and Rae Ann Dienstag. My niece and nephews,
David, Diana, Aryeh,and Chaim, have invited me intimately into the
world of childhood.

My friends have been my second family. I learned from them
about giving and caring. Cathleen McGreal: through all the growth and
transformations, our friendship has been a constant in my graduate
career. I never cease to discover in you and Kerry traits to cherish,
admire and emulate. Thank you both for your friendship and your
collegiality. I would like to thank Sandy Rosenblatt for providing tea
and nurturance when she knew it was needed and also to express
appreciation to her family. And to all the other friends who have been

a part of my life, thank you.

iv

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES
INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

LIST OF REFERENCES
APPENDIX A

TABLES

APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE

UCHRIS PERMISSION FORM
PARENT RECRUITMENT LETTER
INFORMED CONSENT STATEMENT

SUBJECT FEEDBACK FORM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ma
vi

ix

47
55
90

118

128

170
187
188
191

192

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

LIST OF TABLES

1: CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES PARTICIPATING IN THIS
STUDY

2: CHARACTERISTICS OF INFANTS
3: FACTOR INTERCORRELATIONS AND LOADING MATRIX

4: ITEM CORRELATION MATRIX COMPUTED WITH ONES ON THE
DIAGONAL AND WITH CLUSTER SCORES PARTIALED OUT

5: FINAL SCALES DERIVED FROM THE A PRIORI CLUSTER
ANALYSIS

6: TOTAL SAMPLE STANDARD SCORE COEFFICIENT ALPHAS
6A: TOTAL SAMPLE CORRECTED INTERSCALE CORRELATIONS

7: PATH ANALYSIS: FULL SAMPLE ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES
SOLUTION

8: STANDARD SCORE COEFFICIENT ALPHAS FOR THE WORKING
SUBSAMPLE

8A: CORRECTED INTERSCALE CORRELATIONS:

WORKING SUBSAMPLE

9: PATH ANALYSIS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
WORKING SUBSAMPLE

10: STANDARD SCORE COEFFICIENT ALPHAS,
NONWORKING SUBSAMPLE

10A: CORRECTED INTERSCALE CORRELATIONS,
NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE

11: PATH ANALYSIS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE

12: PATH COEFFICIENTS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE

13: PATH ANALYSIS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
WORKING SUBSAMPLE

Vi

PAGE

128
130

131

133

136
140

140

141

142

142

143

144

144

145

146

147

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table
Table
Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

14: Mean Responsiveness to Infant for 3 Levels of
Maternal Age

15: Mean Active Coping and Maternal Age

16; Available Coping Facilities and Mean
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

17: Work Status, Role Conflict and
Dissatisfaction With Maternal Role

17A: Mean Age and Mean Role Conflict Scores
18: Mean Scale Scores for Infant Sex
18A: Mean Scale Scores for Infant Illness/Irregularity

19: Mean Scale Scores for Planned vs.
Unplanned Pregnancies

19A: Mean Scale Scores for Duration of Marriage

20: Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Infant
Age and Maternal Work Status

21: Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal
Work Status

22: Mean Scale Scores for Method of Feeding Infant

23: Mean Scale Scores for Maternal Work Status
and Method of Feeding Infant

24: Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal Work
Status, Method of Feeding Infant and Maternal Age

25: Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two
Levels of Maternal Age at Two Levels of Work Status
for Breast and Bottle Feeding Mothers
26: Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal Education
27: Mean Scale Scores for Postponement of Childbearing

28: Mean Scale Scores for Percentage of Time Worked

29: Means and Standard Deviations for Background
Variables and Maternal Age

30: Mean Traditional Feminine Role Identification

Scores for Different Levels of Maternal Age in
Bottle Feeding Mothers

vii

PAGE

148

149

150

151
152
153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

PAGE

Table 31: Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two
Levels of Maternal Age at Two Levels of Work Status
and Two Levels of Responsiveness to Infant 168

Table 32: Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two

Levels of Maternal Work Status and Two Levels of
Traditional Role Identification 169

viii

 

Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure

Figure

Path model for
Path model for
Path model for
Path model for

path model for

LIST OF FIGURES

total sample.

working mother sample.

nonworking sample.
nonworking mothers.

working mothers.

ix

 

£591;
62
66
71
74

75

INTRODUCTION

The last few decades has seen a huge growth in knowledge about
the early stages of the life cycle. Examination of the infant in
relationship to the caretaking environment is the subject of intensive
study, but analysis of the determinants of the quality of this
relationship from the mother's perspective has only recently gained
attention.

The early literature on motherhood tended to be written from a
psychoanalytic perspective (Benedek, 1959; Bibring, 1961). Later, a
host of books appeared relating to the experience of mothering from a
feminist perspective. These books speculated about the nature of
motherhood in the age of women's liberation and its place in a rapidly
changing society (eg. Lazarre, 1977; Chodorow, 1978; Peck and
Snederowitz, 1974). Finally, the last decade has seen the advent of
scientific examination of the process of becoming a parent including
precursors of competent parenting and consequences to the parent of
preconceptual, prenatal and perinatal occurences.

Early empirical studies of the transition to motherhood mostly
focused on questions about the negative aspects of parenting such as
the extent of crisis experienced at the point of transition (LeMasters.
1953: Dyer, 1963: Hobbs, 1968, 1976), postpartum depression (Gordon,
K313081113, and Gordon, 1965: Yalom, Lunde, Moos, and Hamburg, 1968), and

the negative impact of parenthood on the marital relationship (e.g.
1

Feldman, 1971, 1974). The instruments used for the most part have
been designed to measure crisis and have been less sensitive to the
more positive aspects of motherhood.

Recent investigations have attempted to explore the nature of
the stressors associated with parenting and factors affecting the
outcome of this important transition such as prebirth personality
characteristics (Leifer, 1977; Heinicke, Diskin, Ramsey-Klee, and
Given, 1983), the role of social support (Wandersman, 1978, 1980:
Crnic, Greenberg, Ragozin, Robinson, and Basham, 1983), sex role
stereotypes and child care preferences (Entwisle and Doering, 1981;
McHale and Huston, 1983), motivations for parenthood and adaptation to
pregnancy (Leifer, 1977) and female work status (Hoffman, 1978). The
purpose of the current study is to determine the relationship between
mother's age and work status on her adjustment to motherhood and
satisfaction with the role as well as to examine the specific coping
skills that women of various ages use to adapt to the stresses of the
transition to parenthood.

Research on the adult life cycle suggests that there are unique
developmental tasks which are typically completed in the early part of
the adult life course (Erikson, 1959). Although much of this research
has been conducted with males (Vaillant, 1977 Levinson, Darrow, Klein,
I Levinson, and McKee, 1978), there has been limited replication with
female samples (e.g. Bardwick, 1980; Gilligan, 1979). It is believed
that the adaptation to motherhood and successful coping with stresses
of parenthood will be influenced by accomplishment of these

developmental tasks which is roughly reflected in the age of the

mother.

The first section of the introduction includes a discussion of
the literature on transition to parenthood including studies that focus
on the crisis of transition and studies that view the transition as a
normal developmental phase requiring restructuring of roles and
relationships and world view assumptions.

As the first section addresses issues regarding adjustment to
parenthood typical of all new mothers, the latter sections concentrate
on the variables which may discriminate women in the early phases of
young adulthood (ages 20-29) from later stages of early adulthood
(30-40). This includes a discussion of the adult life course and the
normative developmental crises and tasks by which it is defined.

The section that follows reviews the various roles which women
assume including and in relation to the role of mothering. It is
believed that role orientations may differ between older and younger
mothers and that they may influence adaptation to mothering (cf.
Rindfuss and Bumpass, 1978; Hoffman, 1978: Wilkie, 1981: Daniels and
Weingarten, 1982).

There have been few studies which have directly addressed the
question of adult maternal age and its effects on mothers or their
infants. These are reviewed and followed by a brief summary and

statement of the purposes and hypotheses of the current study.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Transition to Parenthood

Transitions have been defined as relatively short periods of
disequilibrium in which old patterns and old assumptions are deemed
inadequate and new ones must be adapted on short notice. ’It is a time
that provides an opportunity for either psychological growth or
deterioration (Parkes, 1971; Moos and Tsu, 1976). The point of actual
transition may be characterized by denying defenses while the demands
of the novel situation are met. The negative aspects of the change are
partially denied, allowing the individual time to mobilize coping
resources necessary for adaptation. As these demands become less
pressing and more familiar, more active coping strategies can be
employed. Gradually the individual adapts and a new homeostasis is
achieved over time (White, 1976).

(During transition to parenthood the parent must make major
changes in lifestyle and in relationships. While pregnancy may be
viewed as a preparatory period, the actual process of becoming a parent
is sudden, and requires immediate adaptation while the needs of the
infant are being met.;]The new parent must incorporate the task of
protecting and nurturing the young and must assimilate the new role of
parent vis a vis the world and the self. Others will view the new
parent with a new set of assumptions and the parent will gradually gain
a novel view of him or herself as a result of the parenting process.
Bibring (1961) observed 15 primigravidas during the course of their
pregnancies and observed their psychological growth. On the basis of

her findings, she described pregnancy as a normal crisis which leads to

4

specific maturational gains, the outcome of which will have profound
effects on the early mother-infant interaction. She found maturation
to be gradual in those subjects in which it occurred. Evidence is
reviewed below which defines the transition to parenthood in terms of a
psychosocial transition yielding maturational gain. Consideration of
this topic will begin with a view of parenthood as crisis as well as an
examination of the potential maturational gains of parenthood.

Clearly the beginning of parenthood is marked by major
reorganization of belief systems, roles and lifestyles including
changes in time commitments and schedules, household arrangements,
relationships with spouses, parents, and friends. Work roles may
change and the new role of mother must be assumed. Rossi (1968) points
out that unlike other transitions in early adulthood such as shifts in
marital status and occupational status, parenthood is an abrupt change
for which there is little preparation in our society. Whereas marriage
in the United States is usually preceded by courtship and engagement,
there is nothing similar to parenthood in our culture which prepares
women for the experience of total responsibility for a child. The
tasks of pregnancy are discontinuous with those of motherhood and the
prevalence of small, nuclear families in this country precludes routine
experience with child care prior to parenthood. Moreover, it is
largely an irrevocable process. Rossi also points out that the
difficulty of parenting is compounded by the lack of guidelines to
successful parenting in our society. Even though there are many child
care resource books in our society, the conflicting advice leads to
confusion rather than resolution. tBased on their observations, some

researchers have considered early parenthood to be a normal

developmental transitional period. Others have looked on this period
as a crisis which functions to facilitate the necessary role changes.
Parenthood as Crisis

/ LeMasters (1963) interviewed 46 couples whose eldest child was 5
years of age or less and evaluated them on the extent of crisis
experienced immediately following their first birth. Scores ranged
from no crisis to severe crisis. LeMasters found that 832 of the
couples in his sample experienced extensive to severe crisis despite
the fact that most of these couples had planned the pregnancy. There
was no relationship between marital stability and experience of
crisis. Most couples indeed reported that they had very little
effective preparation for the parental role. Mothers attributed the
crisis to problems such as loss of sleep, chronic fatigue, social
isolation, added household chores, guilt at ineffective mothering,
appearance changes and loss of outside employment. Fathers also were
dissatisfied with decline of sexual responsiveness in wives and
increased financial hardships. These findings were replicated by Dyer
(1963) who reported that 53% of his sample experienced extensive to
severe crisis after the birth of their first child.

In contrast to LeMasters' and Dyer's findings, Hobbs (1965)
found that parenthood was not very stressful for his sample. Unlike
LeMasters and Dyer, he did not interview his subjects but rather used a
23 item objectively scored checklist based on the problems presented by
LeMasters' sample. This was administered to parents between 3 and 18
weeks after the birth of the first child. Subjects indicated the
degree to which they were bothered by each item. None of the couples

in this sample scored in the severe or extensive crisis categories.

Differences in methodological designs may have contributed to
the discrepant results. LeMasters' and Dyer's samples consisted of 46
and 32 middle class couples respectively who were describing their
experiences retrospectively up to 5 years after the birth. Hobbs on
the other hand obtained a probability sample from the public birth
records including 53 lower to upper middle class couples and tested the
subjects shortly after the time of transition. Middle class samples
have been shown to differ on variables which relate to ease of
transition such as wife's career aspirations, identity derived by wives
from extrafamilial activities, and previous experience with child care
(Jacoby, 1969). Middle class mothers who were foresaking career
identities for motherhood may have experienced the transition to
parenthood as more stressful than lower income women.

The time frame may also partially explain the discrepancy.
Mothers who are two to five years past the time of childbirth may be
more willing to acknowledge negative feelings about the child (Hobbs,
1965) or they may have distorted perceptions of the event (See Yarrow,
Campbell and Burton, 1970). Alternatively, Hobbs may have contacted
his subjects too early after the birth. Hobbs' subjects were on the
average of 9 weeks postpartum. This may have found them still
ensconced in what has been termed the "baby honeymoon" phase usually
found to occur up to 6-8-weeks following birth (Hobbs, 1965). This is
the period in which mothers form attachments to the new babies and are
buffered from possible negative reactions to the exigencies of early
mothering, perhaps by the denial mechanism considered to shield those
in the throes of transition. For instance, Miller and Sollie (1980)

found that new mothers in their sample had higher personal stress

scores at 8 months postpartum than they did prenatally but that their
stress scores were not elevated above prenatal levels at one month
postpartum. Thus Hobbs' sample may not have been far enough into the
child's first year to be experiencing the full extent of the crisis.

An equally likely cause of the discrepancy is in the instruments
used. The Hobbs checklist asks questions about the extent to which the
new parent is bothered by the life changes whereas LeMasters and Dyer
drew their conclusions based on the presence or absence of life changes
reported during subject interviews. People have different levels of
dissatisfaction to behavioral disruptions. Studies which address
dissatisfaction along with gratification report lesser estimates of
crisis (Russell, 1974). Although different research procedures were
used in the various studies, it is doubtful that the closed response
structure of the Hobbs research tool itself was a major cause of the
discrepant findings. In a replication study by Hobbs (1968) 27 couples
were administered the Hobbs checklist and submitted to a relatively
unstructured interview as well. The two instruments yielded similar
results with moderate but significant correlations between them and
both replicated findings from the original study.

In summary, whereas all agree that early parenthood is a
broad-ranging stressful transition, the extent to which it is seen as a
crisis period varies. Studies based on retrospective accounts of
middle class subjects which focus on specific behavior change
associated with the transition tend to present the transition as a
major crisis. Alternatively, studies based on more representative
samples which include gratifications of parenting along with

difficulties and which ask the subject to assess the degree of

perturbance with behavior change tend to portray the transitional
period as only characterized by slight to moderate crisis.
nggitudinal studies of the transition to parenthood

All studies of transition to parenthood reviewed have found
greater or lesser amounts of stress associated with this transitional
phase (Shereshevsky and Yarrow, 1974; Eichler, Winickoff, Grossman,
Anzolone, Gofseyeff and 1977; Entwisle and Doering, 1980). Several
have attempted to examine specific variables that facilitate or impede
the process of transition and to do this have followed a sample of
women from some time before the birth of the first child to some point
after the birth to identify predictors of successful parenting. Studies
which have followed this course have achieved varying levels of success
in predicting adaptation.

In one year-long longitudinal study, women were followed from
the first trimester of pregnancy through 6 months postpartum. Intensive
interviews and psychometric testing were conducted to assess the
predictive powers of prenatal variables (Shereshevsky and Yarrow,
1974). Results based on data from 60 primiparas indicated that women
with high amounts of interest in and experience with children
prenatally, and with successful adaptation to pregnancy adapted better
to the mothering role. Successful adaptation to motherhood was defined
by predominant mood, sense of adequacy in coping with infant needs and
level of satisfying relationship with spouse. Adaptation to pregnancy,
which predicted adaptation to mothering, included predominant positive
prenatal mood, positive attitude towards pregnancy with low anxiety
levels and high flexibility. These results seem to indicte that those

women who have adequate coping strategies during pregnancy, such as

10

maintaining a good frame of mind and being flexible, also cope well
with the stresses of early parenting. Postnatal factors that predicted
good adjustment were marital adjustment, nurturnace level and ego
strength.

Leifer (1977) followed 19 women from pregnancy through the
postpartum period. She found that several prenatal variables were
important predictors of good adjustment to motherhood. These included
growth motivation for motherhood versus security or negative
motivations, prenatal confidence in maternal abilities, stability of
first trimester personality integration, anxiety focused on the fetus
rather than the self, and satisfaction with body image during
pregnancy. These conclusions, however, are based on qualitative data
analysis from a small sample of mothers. After the total sample of 19
subjects was divided into high, moderate and low adjustment groups,
conclusions were based on subgroups of 6-7 subjects each. Therefore,
it is difficult to judge the extent to which the data fit the model
presented. Still, Leifer's findings are provocative and suggest that
adaptation to motherhood may be associated with a constellation of
prenatal and probably pre-conceptional personality and attitudinal
variables. The same factors which lead to adaptive coping with
pregnancy also predict to mature ego functioning after the birth of the
baby.

Heinicke and colleagues (1983) found prebirth maternal
‘personality variables such as adaptive coping, capacity to form
relationships, and active style of emotional expression more powerful
in predicting successful mothering than either the mother's adaptation

to the pregnancy or her socio-economic status. They found that mothers

11

who were able to meet their own needs, and who were able to form good
peer relations and who had low anxiety levels, were more responsive to
their infants and provided their infants with more cognitive
stimulation (Heinicke, Diskin, Ramsey-Klee and Given, 1983).

Prebirth maternal anxiety was found to be associated with poorer
postpartum maternal adjustment and infant adjustment in yet another
prospective study (Grossman, Eichler and Winickoff, 1980). In this
sample, both prebirth anxiety and depression were predictive of poorer
mothering. High motivation for motherhood has consistently been
associated with indices of successful parenting (Grossman et a1, 1980;
Crawford, 1983) as has previous experience with children, acceptance of
the nurturant role or ability to envision oneself as a mother (Moss,
1967; Heinicke et a1, 1983: Crawford, 1983).

Crawford (1983) did not find prenatal variables to predict
maternal adaptation to parenting, which is a measure of the mother's
adjustment to her new role and responsibilities. Rather she found that
they predicted greater "attachment“ to infants and greater acceptance
of infants, which are indicators of the mother's feelings toward the
baby. The timing of the last parental contact may account for the
discrepancy between these and other findings. Postnatal interviews
with both parents took place when infants were six weeks old. Thus the
early phase of adjusting to the physical and emotional demands of the
transition may have obscured the relationship between intrinsic coping
abilities as measured during pregnancy and the use of those coping
skills postpartum. Indeed, the author did find evidence for a "baby
honeymoon". Attachment to the baby was less salient for these couples

in the first 6 weeks after birth than their own ability to successfully

12

cope with the demands of parenting. Parents who had difficulties in
attachment did not adjust more poorly than others, but parents who had
difficulty in adjustment experienced negative changes in their
attitudes of attachment and acceptance of the baby. Thus it seems that
stresses of early parenthood are so overwhelming for primiparas that
changes in attitudes towards the baby are held in abeyance unless the
parents experience a failure to cope. Multiparas are less insulated
from external pressures and are more vulnerable to outside stresses
than are first time mothers (Grossman et al, 1980).

The studies by both Shereshevsky and Yarrow and by Leifer
examined parents at 6-7 months postpartum. Both of these studies found
prenatal variables predictive of postnatal adjustment. On the other
hand, Crawford found that prenatal variables did not predict adjustment
at 6 weeks postpartum. Indeed in a 6-8 week interview of Leifer's
subjects, prenatal variables were not associated with confidence in the
maternal role for those subjects who showed moderate to high levels of
confidence. By the 7 month contact the relationship between prenatal
and postnatal adjustment emerged. Those women who had been highly
confident about their mothering abilities prenatally perceived
motherhood as a positive experience at 7 months postpartum. As in any
sudden transition, high levels of stress obscure the relationship
between good coping and adaptation. By the second half of the first
postpartum year, coping strategies have been implemented with varying
degrees of success and evidence of the continuity between prenatal and

postnatal adjustment patterns emerges.

13

Crawford did find a constellation of perinatal and postnatal
events which predicted successful adaptation in the first 6 weeks
postpartum. Positive perinatal attitude towards the baby, uneventful
labor and delivery, rooming-in with the baby at the hospital and
opportunity to hold the infant shortly after delivery as well as infant
variables of health and temperament were all predictive of mothers
perceiving their infants as less demanding at 6 weeks postpartum. In
short, maternal and infant health postnatally, positive maternal
attitudes towards the baby, and early contact perinatally predicted
adjustment to parenthood during early infancy.

Summing across studies, prenatal variables that have been found
to be predictive of successful adaptation to motherhood are maternal
adjustment to pregnancy, flexibility during pregnancy, positive mood,
low incidence of depression and low anxiety or anxiety focused on the
fetus rather than the self (Shereshefsky and Yarrow, 1974; Leifer,
1977; Grossman, Eichler and Winickoff, 1980; Heinicke, Diskin,
Ramsey-Klee and Given, 1983). Predictive prenatal maternal attitudes
are motivation for parenthood, confidence in maternal abilities,
acceptance of the nurturant role, and experience with and high amounts
of interest in or positive view of children (Moss, 1967: Shereshevsky
and Yarrow, 1974: Leifer, 1977; Crawford, 1983). Personality
integration, including the ability to relate to others empathically,
and ego integrity and flexibility have also been found to lead to
successful adaptation to motherhood (Shereshevsky and Yarrow, 1974;

Leifer, 1977, Heinicke, et al. 1983; Crawford, 1983).

14

Perinatal and postnatal predictive factors are parental marital
adjustment (Shereshefsky and Yarrow, 1974: Grossman et al, 1980),
positive perinatal attitudes towards baby, uneventful labor and
delivery, early and extended perinatal contact with baby (Crawford,
1983) and infant health and temperament (Gibaud-Wallston and
Wandersman, 1978: Crawford, 1983).

One can conclude from the preceding section that although
transition to motherhood is characterized by upheaval and stress,
certain maternal personality characteristics, infant characteristics,
life events and coping strategies can predispose the mother to
successful adaptation to her new role. Following the initial period in
which most negative affect is suppressed, gradual shifts occur of both
positive and negative valence.

Like other developmental transitions, the transition to
parenthood requires personality reorganization and major accomodation
and often results in psychological growth. Evidence exists for the
emergence of personal growth as a result of the transition. Leifer
found that 2/3 of her sample felt increases in self-esteem, growth and
expansion of self by 7 months postpartum and Shereshefsky and Yarrow
found clinical evidence, as assessed by interview and psychological
testing, for personal growth in 1/3 of their sample. Elsewhere,
mothers have reported significant increases in feelings of
self-confidence, competence, and energy and decreases in anxiety
(Wandersman, 1978) and in selfishness, egocentricity and volatileness

(Feldman, 1971) over the course of the first year.

15

Among the coping patterns that have been cited as effective in
easing the transition to parenthood are general positive mood, ego
integrity and marital adjustment. But examinations of the early
parenting period reveal losses in such areas as marital satisfaction
and mental health for women with infants and preschool children.
Because of the importance of these two facilitators to effective
adaptation, their vulnerablity during the transitional stage will be
described below.

Marital Satisfaction

There is a growing body of evidence pointing to a change in the
marital relationship after the birth of the first child. Some
researchers have found a decline in marital happiness following the
birth of the first child (Feldman, 1971, 1974; Wandersman, 1978:
Belsky, Spanier and Rovine, 1983) and a strain on the couple
relationship (Cowan, Cowan, Coie and Coie, 1978) while others have not
found evidence for negative marital impact or have found evidence for
positive impact (Hobbs, 1965: Russel, 1974: Miller and Sollie, 1980).
Still others have found mixed results finding no change in general
level of marital satisfaction but finding specific differences between
women with young preschoolers and those without. Examples of such
specific differences include amount of "lovesickness" or the feeling by
wives that they are not getting enough attention from their husbands
(Ryder, 1973), feeling there are some problems in the marriage or that
there is less time for couple activities such as chatting with spouses,
or being physically affectionate with spouses (Mikus, 1980). As in the
transitional crisis literature, attention must be paid to the format of

‘the question asked. Crnic and colleagues (Crnic, Greenberg, Ragozin et

16

a1, 1983) found that amount of support a woman received from her
husband did not affect her satisfaction with parenting. Her
satisfaction with her husband's support was predictive of satisfaction
with parenthood. Again presence or absence of an event or relationship
is less meaningful than the subject's perception thereof.

Grossman et al (1980) found mixed results in outcome of the
marital relationship following the transition to parenthood.
Satisfaction with the marriage decreased with the birth of the first
child as mothers felt temporarily disenchanted. However, mothers in
the sample also reported enrichment of the marital relationship as a
result of the new baby. While birth of the first child is consistently
reported to have both positive and negative effects on the marriage, it
may be related to the heightened intensity of emotions during this
period and the increased salience of the marital relationship.

Children are commonly seen as a source of common joy and of shared work
which enables parents to regroup around a common goal and mutual
concerns. 0n the other hand, having children usually results in less
time for couple activities and can be a source of disagreement when
there is a lack of consensus in childrearing (Hoffman and Manis, 1978).

Belsky speculates that the marital relationship may be the main
social support for parents thus increasing its salience (Belsky,

1984). Mothers of young children tend to experience decreases in
friendship support, perhaps due to their limited mobility and

flexibility of schedules (Mikus, 1980). This probably results in
increased reliance on the marital relationship. Ironically, the
increased postpartum need for marital support may coincide with a

reduction in husband's conciliatory behavior. The heightened

17

attentiveness husbands often show towards their wives during pregnancy
generally declines after the baby arives and returns to prepregnancy
levels. Speculation is that this decline in attentiveness may be due to
the long term nature of the need for support during parenthood.
Pregnancy, being more time-limited, may be a safer elicitor of extra
attention (Power and Parke, 1984).

Variation in the marital satisfaction of parents may be related
to the couple's own parenting history. Wives who retrospectively
report their parents to be more accepting of them have been found to
experience less negative changes in marital satisfaction across the
transition to parenthood. The greatest decline in marital adjustment
has been found in couples where at least one spouse reports having
experienced cold, rejecting parenting and marital discord in the family
of origin (Belsky and Isabella, 1985).

Mental Health of Mother

In general levels of psychological well being, childless married
people have been demonstrated to be happier than married people with
children and the lowest level of happiness has been found for parents
of preschoolers. Parents of preschoolers also report more symptoms of
immobilization such as inability to get up in the morning, and having
sweaty palms (Antonucci, Tamir and Dubnoff, 1980). Childless married
women have been found to have greater feelings of efficacy and higher
levels of self esteen and less tendency to feel like they are at the
end of their ropes than matched samples of married women with
preschoolers (Mikus, 1980). The overwhelming responsibilities which
accompany the care of the young child may account for the symptoms of

immobilization and the reduced feelings of efficacy may be

18

reality-based. Inability to carry out projected plans or to have
control over one's own life is a realistic consequence of having
infants and young children under care. Mothers of preschoolers are
most likely of all mothers to be disenchanted with their housewife
roles and mothers who are disenchanted with the role are most likely of
all mothers to experience subclinical depresssion and malaise (Pearlin,
1975). As the age of the mother increases, the experience of
disaffection decreases. While mothers of young children are
susceptible to disenchantment caused by the extreme demands of the
role, older mothers of young children are less susceptible to
depression than younger mothers of young children (Pearlin, 1975).

How Mothers Cope

It seems clear that the period from transition to parenthood
through the preschool years places great strains on the parenting
system as evidenced by decreases in happiness, well-being and marital
satisfaction and increases in subclinical depression. The following
section will examine factors that ameliorate the effects of early
stress.

A single stress will not necessarily be experienced similarly by
everyone. This is partly because individuals have varying degrees of
efficient coiping strategies to meet the stress, and coping affects the
outcome. Coping strategies can include internal and external
strategies. Internal strategies may be direct action, action
inhibition, information search, or intrapsychic action. They can be
designed to solve problems or to ameliorate the emotional response to

the stress (Roskies and Lazarus, 1980).

19

One internal strategy that has been shown to influence the
outcome of the birthing experience is information search. Prenatal
preparation for childbirth and for early parenting has been
demonstrated to be associated with less medication during labor and
delivery, more positive feelings towards the baby, higher probability
of mothers rooming-in with their babies and higher likelihood of
breastfeeding (Entwisle and Doering, 1980). Information seeking may
lead to mental rehearsal of an impending stressor which serves as a
preparation for a stressful event. Other internal mechanisms include
flexibility, learning patience, becoming more organized, and learning
new ways to integrate prior important activities into the parental
lifestyle (Miller and Sollie, 1980).

Social Support

One external mode of coping is support from a cooperative
environment. Mothers who perceive reception of emotional support from
their husbands and friends have been found to feel more energy,
fullness of life, and relaxation than those with limited marital
support. They also experience better attitudes towards parenting,
greater sense of competence in the maternal role, better adaptation to
motherhood and better general life satisfaction following birth
(Abernathy, 1973: Wandersman and Wandersman, 1980, Crnic et a1, 1983).
Moreover, Crnic et al found that it is the interaction between intimate
support and life stress, rather than the stress alone, which predicts
life satisfaction. Mothers with high stress who also report high
levels of support report greater life satisfaction than mothers who
experience high stress and low support indicating that support exerts a

moderating effect on perceived stress.

20

Stresssed mothers are less positive towards their infants and
less likely to respond to infant cues. Their infants then proceed to
give obscure cues to their mothers making maternal response difficult
(Crnic et a1, 1983). This relationship is somewhat alleviated by
social support. Social support has been shown to impact positively on
maternal stimulation provided to the infant (Pascoe, Loda, Jeffries and
Earp, 1981) and on maternal affective response to infant which in turn
affects infant's affective response to mother (Crnic et a1 1983;
Belsky, 1983).

Mothers with social network support are more likely to play with
their preschool children in goal-oriented tasks. Their children, in
turn, are not only superior in performance of these tasks but also in
general academic performance (Cochran and Brassard, 1979). Mothers of
children born at risk due to prematurity provide more appropriate play
materials, more opportunity for variety in daily stimulation and
organize the child's environment more optimally if they experience
adequate support (Pascoe, Loda et al, 1981). Mothers with greater
social support also tend to be less restrictive and punitive with their
children (Coletta, 1979).

Of all the forms of support reported, the least available to new
mothers seems to be friendship support. This can best be understood in
light of the limited contact mothers of preschoolers have with
friends. In one study of mothers of preschoolers, 502 reported having
either few or no friends (Mikus, 1980) and although parents of
preschoolers use high levels of informal social support, they make less
use of friends than at any other stage of the family life cycle

(Antonucci et a1, 1980). Although relatives form an important support

21

contingency, they are most useful when living in close proximity to the
young family. Neighborhood associations and day to day contact appear
to have stronger association to parenting outcome than more distal and
infrequent contacts (Abernathy, 1973; Crittendon, 1985).

The mechanism through which social support affects new parents'
sense of competence and mastery, comfort in the parental role, or
behavior towards their children is not directly understood. However,
social support is postulated to provide specific benefits to parents.
These range from informational and idealogical support about
child-rearing practices to concrete and material services such as
financial assistance and babysitting. Social contacts may provide
emotional assistance to buffer the stresses of the young parent and can
also serve as models of positive parenting behavior and sanctions
against negative behaviors such as authoritarianism or abuse (Cochran
and Brassard, 1979; Power and Parke, 1984).

Transition to parenthood has been discussed in the preceding
sections in terms of its negative consequences, its toll on mother's
mental health, marital relationships and life satisfaction.
Personality characteristics, ego functioning, situational variables,
and coping responses that positively impact on the outcome of the
transition have been reviewed. In the following sections, the impact
of the adult mother's age on the successful outcome of the transition
is discussed.

Adult Development

While there is common consensus among life-span developmental

psychologists and sociologists that psychological change and growth

continues through the adult years, the impetus for this developmental

22

growth is subject to debate. Rossi (1980) has identified two distinct
theories regarding change during the life course. One, held by
developmental stage theorists and exemplified by Erikson (1959),
Vaillant (1977) and Levinson et a1 (1978) postulates time-linked stages
of adult development precipitated by normative life crises. The adult
is expected to face chronologically determined peaks of evaluation
about himself and his belief systems necessitating decisions about life
choices. Normative life events are superimposed upon this chronologicl
time line of development. In the present study, it was hypothesized
that adjustment to a particular transitional life event such as
beginning parenthood would be influenced by adult personality
development and the extent to which stage specific adult tasks have
been accomplished.

Alternatively, the "timing of events" model does not predict a
stage related sequence of crisis confrontation and resolution. Rather,
the adult life course follows a gradual anticipated time sequence for
major life events. Stress, then, is not the inevitable result of
universal age-related crises but rather occurs when there is a
violation of anticipated timing of major life events.

Neugarten (1979) suggests that chronological age is not as
significant a marker in adulthood as it is in childhood. She suggests
that there is currently less uniformity in our society than in previous
eras. As we move towards an 'age-irrelevant society', the ages at
which life events occur vary widely. Therefore individuals judge
themselves in relation to social and biological processes such as
parenting, work roles, and physiological functioning and not in

relation to chronological age as social roles become more important

23

than chronological markers. The increasing trend towards simultaneous
role assumption in our society may trigger increased stress. For
instance women who are trying to balance competing demands such as
those of motherhood and work roles may experience more stress than
those who make the traditional sequential commitments to these major
roles. What's more, women may experience increased tension when
involvement in one set of role functions causes other role transitons
to be out of line with temporal expectations (Neugarten, 1979).

But as Rossi (1980) points out:

precisely because of the great variance of social and

psychological attributes in relation to chronological age there

is an excellent opportunity for research to establish the

relative contributions of the timing and sequencing of both

social and biological events and processes, but to date there

have been no such studies directed to these questions" (p.13).
The Adult Life Course

Erikson is considered by many to be the father of the psychology
of adult personality development. Unlike Freud and Piaget whose stages
of personality and cognitive development end with the culmination of
childhood, Erikson's theory spans the life cycle, and the last three
stages of personality development take place during adulthood. In the
case of men, the resolution of the crisis of identity during
adolescence triggers the pursuit of intimacy, (Erikson, 1959) probably
with their wives as their "intimacy mentors" (Rossi, 1980). Following
this stage is the stage of generativity vs. stagnation or the challenge
of establishing and guiding the next generation. Finally, late
adulthood is marked by integrity or despair; either one accepts one's

life's work and accomplishments or despairs at the dissatisfaction with

one's life.

24

Erikson's stages have been further differentiated in several
different schemes of adult development. Levinson et a1 (1979) posit
that the life cycle is a series of structure-building and transitional,
sructure-changing periods. These stable and unstable years
respectively are well circumscribed in terms of chronological age.
Levinson's schema is based on a comprehensive study of 40 men aged
35-45 who provided both current and retrospective accounts of their
lives. In this scheme, preadulthood extends from birth to age 22.
Early adulthood lasts from age 17 to 45 with the overlap years of ages
17 to 22 serving as the early adult transitional period in which the
structures of childhood are terminated and the structures of young
adulthood are built. The midlife transition lasts from ages 40 to 45
and middle adulthood from 40 to 65. The years 60 to 65 constitute the
late adult transition with late adulthood beginning at age 60. Each
structure changing period and structure building period has its own
agendas and tasks to be completed and the tasks are unique to the life
stage. An event such as birth of a child, which Levinson and his
collegues call a marker event, will be experienced and handled
differently at different life stages because the adult evolves and
changes psychologically with each life structure. As Levinson et a1
(1979) point out:

We need to regard marker events from the viewpoint of

development. They can occur at various ages and do not in

themselves cause the start or end of a period. However, the age

at which an event occurs is important. The significance of a

marker event for an individual depends partly upon its place in
the sequence of developmental period." (p.55).

25

The job for the transitional period is to tear down the old
structures and create possibilities for new ones. These are periods of
reappraisal and of making choices for the next phase. These are the
most painful periods. They are unstable and uncertain. According to
Levinson, the outcome of a marker event will depend on the individual's
current developmental task. For example, the boy who marries at age 18
or 19 is in the middle of the early adult transition. The task for
this period is to break away from parents, and the marriage may occur
before confidence in autonomy is fully established. The young man may
therefore be drawn to a protective, dominating figure onto whom he can
shift his dependency. The struggle for independence which ensues may
impede his adult development. A marker event, such as beginning
parenting, at the beginning of a period will be bound up with the
struggles of entering that period. A marker event which takes place at
the end of a period may reflect the culmination of growth-producing
introspection and experience (Levinson et a1, 1979).

Support for this viewpoint comes from a study of the timing of
parenthood by Daniels and Weingarten (1982). While these authors found
that issues of intimacy and individuality permeated the period of
transition to parenthood regardless of when it occurred in their
subjects, the nature of the struggle was different for those who
embarked upon parenthood in their early twenties (their early timing
parents) and those who became parents in their early thirties (their
late timing parents). For the early timers, parenthood often came at a
time when the couple had not yet established firm identities or life
goals. Their one agenda was self discovery. Some of the women

described the feeling of never having had an individual identity; they

26

spoke of moving rapidly from being someone's daughter to being
someone's mother with no time in between to find out who they were.
The experience was overwhelming and led to feelings of inadequacy.
Early timing parents in this study were more likely to live close to
their parents and depend on them for emotional support, financial
support and childcare assistance. In contrast, the late timers rarely
depended on their families of origin for assistance as they had spent
the decade of the twenties differentiating from their parents. They
had also spent that time establishing identities in terms of work and
love relationships. These parents faced problems of integrating the
new role of parenthood into a preexisting life structure, discovering
how much of the old structure they could maintain without sacrificing
the new and how much they would have to alter. The major tasks were
with integrating the demands of new role of mother with the old ones of
worker and wife. The authors sum up by concluding that for those who
begin in the early twenties, parenthood is often a vehicle for
establishing autonomy from parents and a marker for the threshhold to
an adult identity. For those who postponed parenthood until the early
thirties, parenthood often marked the end of a period of exploration at
a time when most had a "reflective and emotionally unthreatening
distance from or identification with (one's) own parents, and a
sanguine stance toward (one's) own childhood, all of which add up to a
readiness to risk taking responsibility for the childhood of one's own
children." (p.65).

According to Levinson and his asociates, the 20's and 40's
period of early adulthood is one in which career choices are made and

individuals begin to establish their places in society. He advances

27

along the ladder from novice adult to full adult both in the world of
‘work and of family. This is a paradox. Although the young man is
inexperienced and must use the early years to explore and experience so
as not to foreclose on options, he must also commit himself to a
greater or lesser extent in order to form stable ties which will carry
him through adulthood. These involve making career commitments, so the
young man can apprentice, find a mentor, and start to move up the
"corporate ladder". He also makes family commitments including finding
a wife with whom to establish intimacy, and starting a family. Without
these commitments, the young man is rootless and does not form the
necessary structures. Yet he must make these lifelong choices before
he has experienced enough of life to know how to make them wisely.

Between 22 and 28, the young man is mastering his trade and most
of his creative energies go into that endeavor in pursuit of success.
There is little energy wasted in considering whether commitmentss are
appropriate or not. By the end of the 20's, the bluffed competencies
of the early 20's have turned into real competencies, independence from
parents has been established and competence proven (Levinson, 1980;
Gould, 1980).

Kenniston (1971) argues that young people in our culture engage
in a period of extended youth through the decade of their twenties
which is unique to this period in history and is culturally
determined. He postulates that the extended mass education, widespread
affluence, extensive exposure to different cultures and threat of
holocaust in this century has led to a new stage of youth in which
moral judgement has been individualized and truth become more

relative. Tradition is no longer accepted uncritically and this has

28

led to an extended period of restless questioning and individual
exploration. Whereas in the past this behavior was restricted to a
privileged few, the nonconformist thinkers and innovators, currently it
is typical of a whole class of educated, affluent young people. This
viewpoint is more radical than that of the previously cited authors in
which youth is viewed as a time of structured exploration through
commitments rather than unstructured exploration. The discrepancy
between the theories of Levinson, Vaillant and Keniston may be
reflective of a cohort difference in samples of individual observed.
Subjects in Levinson's and Vaillant's studies all were in their
twenties and beginning their careers in the post World War II
conservative era. Keniston's observations were based on individuals
reaching their twenties in the more liberal era of the 1960's.
Replication of the findings of the two major longitudinal studies of
Levinson and Vaillant is necessary with both men and women of other
cohorts in order to determine the generalizability of their time line
to other generations.

In all of the samples described, however, a transition of sorts
occurred at approximately age 30 (28-33 in Levinson's sample). At this
time, the young man begins to question the life structure that he has
built. It is his chance to make corrections. Exploration is no longer
felt to be appropriate and firm decisions are made. This transition
leads to new commitments as the young man settles down in the next
period, ages 30 to 40. It is at this time that he works towards
realization of his dreams (Levinson, 1980). It is not until the 40's
transition that work goals are again reevaluated in relation to the

occupational dream and men begin turning away from the world of work,

29

which does not hold the promise of total fulfillment it once did, and
begin turning towards the family for greater fulfillment. Men's
interest in and capacity for intimacy typically increase at this point.

Interestingly, when Levinson speaks of the three major tasks of
young adulthood, he includes occupation, relating to women, and
separation from parents. Family formation is not mentioned, despite
the fact that many of the men in his study became parents during this
period. In contrast, establishing a parental identity is one of the
major tasks for women in this period.

To sum up, the adult life course for men proceeds from
separation from parents to establishment of identity either through
commitment and structured work and love relationships (Gould, 1972;
Vaillant, 1977; Levinson et al, 1978) or unstructured and unfettered
exploration (Keniston, 1971). With identity firmly established, men
move on to learn about intimacy through love, marital and family
relationships (Erikson, 1959). But during this time, family is
peripheral and work is central. These priorities begin to shift as the
man nears 40 and the mid-life transition.

This progresssion differs for women. Identity and the
establishment of intimate relationships are often linked for women
(Gilligan, 1979). For many, there are no work relationships to aid in
the acquisition of confidence and feelings of efficacy. For some, work
is halted or deferred until after family formation. Women differ from
men in that intensive commitments to family usually usher in adulthood
and a shift to work priorities often occurs only at the midlife
transition after family responsibilities have diminished (Daniels and

Weingarten, 1982).

30

Until data from a longitudinal study of adult development in
women is available, discrepancies between male and female models of
development can only be surmised from cross-sectional data. Judith
Bardwick postulates a parallel line of female development to that of
male development (Bardwick, 1980). There is some evidence that the
harbinger of adulthood, identity formation, develops along different
lines for women than for men. Male identity formation is typically
expressed in terms of the self. Young men's identities center around
career choice, individual talents, goals and accomplishments. On the
other hand, female identity is more often expressed in connected,
relational terms than in self-oriented instrumental terms. Even among
today's young women for whom work force participation will comprise a
major portion of adulthood, individual dreams and life goals are often
expressed in terms of heterosexual, marital and parental
relationships. Where work and family will be combined, compromises to
the famiy will most often continue to fall within the woman's domain
and commitment to identity within the work role will usually still come
second to commitment to familial roles. Individual needs and goals are
still perceived as secondary to the egocentric needs of young children
and often to the preeminent needs of the career-building husband.

Indeed, for those women whose preparental and possibly
premarital years have been devoted to the building of the self
structure, subordination of individual needs to those of the family can
be stressful. The clash between traditional upbringing and liberated
lifestyles can create conflict for the present cohort of young adult
women. The age 30 transition in which goals and life courses are

reevaluated is a particularly poignant time for women today. Some

31

women will have delayed childbearing for career or educational
purposes. For them, the age 30 transition may usher in the decision to
have or forego children. In others, employment may have been delayed
to allow for the care of young children. With 502 of all mothers of
preschool age children currently employed (Waldman, 1983), many women
will be reentering the work force in their late 20's and early 30's.
Thus for women confronting the age 30 transition, decisions may have to
be made regarding the path, either work or parenting, which has
remained untraveled. The age 30 transition is one in which options are
realistically evaluated. Some will be maintained, some will be
altered, others abandoned.

At age 40, the same independence that reinforces the adult
identification for men may produce anxiety and conflict in women raised
with traditional interdependent values, particularly if career
involvement has precluded establishment of marital or parental
relationships (Bardwick, 1980).

Another departure from the male course may occur during midlife.
Women often experience increased independence and autonomous outward
looking perspective at just about the same time as men begin turning
towards the family and discovering the more nurturant parts of
themselves (Guttman, 1975). Thus men in their 50's become more
feminized while women of this age, with children growing up and leaving
the home, become more masculinized in their self-orientation and
participation in the extrafamilial world.

It is of interest to discover how women's personality
development and personal adjustment differs for those who follow the

male model of exploration and/or work commitment preceding intense

32

family commitment from those with a more traditional female model of
family commitment preceding establishment of a work identity. To
answer this question, research on women's roles and their relationship
to occupational success, mental health, life satisfaction and
transition to parenthood is reviewed.

CombiningiWork and Family

Whereas men are expected to combine marriage, family and work in
the 20's, it is not until the mid 30's to early 40's that they begin
the focus on the family (Levinson, 1979; Vaillant, 1978; Rossi, 1980).
Only then do they truly explore the realm of intimacy and relationships
which are the woman's domain. Women have more options in the timing of
work and family involvement. A woman can choose between motherhood and
work or she can choose to combine the two either sequentially or
simultaneously (Daniels and Weingarten, 1982). The sequential pattern
involves an interruption of work, or delaying of entering the work
force until a later point in the family life cycle (for instance after
the children are in elementary school or high school or after they have
left home). A woman can choose to coordinate family and work
simultaneoulsy, but both the sequential and simultaneous patterns have
their prices.

In a sample of 41 female doctorate recipients who were born
between 1893 and 1906, the choice between sequential and simultaneous
patterns of marriage and education had long term occupational
consequences. Those who engaged in a sequential pattern of education
preceeding marriage received their Ph.D. degrees in the decade of their
20's. Those who engaged in marriage and completion of the Ph.D.

simultaneously obtained their advanced degrees in their late 20's to

33

early 30's. Those who married first and then obtained doctorates
completed their degrees latest, in the decade of the 30's and 40's.

The timing of the receipt of the degree was highly significant in terms
of ultimate career accomplishments. More women who received doctorates
at an early age became professors. Of the 20 women with children, all
were employed at lower ranking institutions at age 60. All of the
women in this sample had careers that did not match up to the male
professional model (Perun and Del Vento Bielby, 1980).

In considering career status using the criteria of full versus
part time status, actual numbers of hours worked, career interruptions
of one or more years, and career goals, most women's jobs would not be
defined as careers but rather as "occupation-oriented professional
involvements" (Poloma and Garland, 1971). Career orientations were
judged in a study of 53 married professional women of whom all were
either attorneys, physicians or university professors. Although 35 of
the 53 worked full time, only 17 of these worked more than 40 hours per
week and only 4 worked more than 50 hours per week whereas most of
their husbands worked over 40 hours per week. Whereas the husbands
with limited work weeks were involved in community or professional
activities, only 2 of the wives were. 0f the 53 women, almost half had
no career goals and only 17 had relatively uninterrupted professional
careers. Eight of these 17 had no children or had not yet begun their
families (Poloma and Garland, 1971). For the women who were unable to
make full commitments to their occupations during earlier stages of the
family life cycle, career involvement increased when the children were
old enough to be in school. A ten year follow-up contact revealed that

many of the women considered their child-rearing years as their job

34

stage (as defined above). After family demands decreased and the
children were launched, they embarked upon the career stage (Poloma,
Pendleton and Garland, 1981).

In a study of husband and wife psychologist couples, husbands
were found to be more likely than their wives to hold academic
positions. The geographical moves necessitated by their husbands'
careers resulted in a shorter mean duration of employment in the wife's
position.

Husbands, on average, were more productive in publications, received
higher salaries and worked longer hours. Wives more often than
husbands were discriminated against by anti-nepotism laws and by offers
of less rewarding positions. Professional wives reported lower levels
of career satisfaction than both their professional husbands and than
female psychologists not married to other psychologists (Bryson,
Bryson, Licht, and Licht, 1976).

Daniels and Weingarten (1982) found that of the 76 women they
interviewed all had "pulled back" from their outside work when they
became mothers. Although 52 of the mothers were sequential timing
workers, 20 of the mothers worked right through the period of early
mothering. The simultaneous workers either worked part time or just
had less extra energy to devote to work than they normally would have
had. The full commitment to work was held in abeyance until the
children had achieved a degree of independence. Of these 20 women who
chose the simultaneous pattern of work and family, 16 were late timing
parents. These were predominantly college educated women who had
postponed childhood in order to pursue goals such as finishing

education, establishing a career, or experimenting with work and love

35

relationships before making firm.commitments.

For those women who choose simultaneous patterns of role
involvements, there is potential for role strain. Working mothers may
find it difficult to fulfill the competing obligations of work and
parenting and may find the conflicting demands on their time, energy
and other resources excessive resulting in role overload (Goode,
1960). According to the scarcity theory of human energy allocation,
total fulfillment of all the demands of both roles may be impossible
because an individual's energy resources are finite. An excess of role
obligations can lead to an energy drain and force compromise in one or
more positions. The multiple role holder's position becomes more
complicated when socially prescribed norms for prioritizing role
obligations are ambiguous. For example, missed work due to a child's
illness is often unacceptable to employers but necessary from the
family perspective. This lack of concensus can produce role conflict
(Coser and Rokoff, 1971).

A competing theory of role accumulation, the expansion theory,
postulates that individuals accrue benefits with added roles. If the
rewards exceed the burdens, multiple roles yield a net gain. Certain
positions are associated with privileges, security, power, personal
enrichment and gratifications which compensate for demands. Higher
status roles also carry with them additional freedoms and independence
and the right to delegate undesirable responsibilities. What's more,
successes in one sphere can compensate for failure or tedium in another

and may act as a buffer or actually create energy for use elsewhere

(Sieber, 1974; Marks, 1977).

36

When role commitments begin to encraoch upon one another, the
response is to reduce activities, reduce the time allocated to them, or
delegate them. Where the work place is intolerant of diminished role
performance, compromises are sometimes made in family responsibilities
since status from homemaking activities is minimal and socially valued
privileges are few (Marks, 1977). Family activities in this culture
are not equally expendable for women and for men. When women do
distribute or curtail household activities, they find some chores more
readily dispensed with than others. In middle class households with
dual incomes, housework is often delegated to reduce role strain but
child care responsibilities are not usually seen as amenable to
compromise (Rapoport and Rapoport, 1969; Weingarten, 1978). Moreover,
household chores may be shared among the parental pair as a means of
reducing the wife's role overload. On the other hand, women do not
usually share child care equally with their spouses regardless of
employment status (Weingarten, 1978; Pleck, 1982; Barnett and Baruch,
1984).

Interestingly, the greater the husband's involvement in child
care tasks, the greater the wife's satisfaction regardless of her work
status but the more critical the husband is of his wife's mothering
(Barnett and Baruch, 1984). A mother's satisfaction with her husband's
child care involvement is highly predictive of her adjustment and
satisfaction, regardless of the objective number of hours he
contributes (Pleck, 1982).

Along mental health dimensions, working women have been
characterized as higher on dimensions of internal locus of control and

mastery. They see their lives as having followed their own decisions.

37

Those with little or no work experience see their lives as having
evolved outside of their own control when polled late in life
(Willensen, 1980: Barnett, 1984). They have lower anxiety levels and
report higher energy levels than non-working women (Walker, 1980:
Revilock, 1982). Among the working classes, employed mothers report
greater satisfaction with their lives and interest in what they do than
nonemployed women (Ferree, 1976). Working women at middle life have
higher self-esteem and less psychological anxiety than non-working
women and report themselves as being in better physical health (Coleman
and Antonucci, 1983).

Work is experienced differently by those who consider themselves
as career-minded from those who do not. Work has been associated with
positive feelings about the self and greater life satisfaction to a
larger extent among women who consider themselves as career-oriented.
Non-career oriented working women have been found to experience greater
role strain than professional women. Career women obtain more support
from their spouses, and this appears to be a crucial determinant'of
perceived role conflict (Holahan, 1979: Markus, 1980).

Limited study has been undertaken of working mothers'
perceptions of the consequences of their employment decisions on
childrearing. Hock (1978) found that working mothers of 3-4 month old
infants, all of whom happened to be career-minded, were less apt to see
their infants as experiencing separation anxiety when they left their
infants than were non-working mothers. They were also less likely to
experience anxiety when leaving their babies in the care of others and
less likely to see infant discontent as a personal affront.

Career-minded non-working mothers were the most likely to perceive

38

infant distress at maternal separation even though separation anxiety
‘would not be expected in such young infants. Either their beliefs
regarding infant distress discouraged their participation in the labor
force or the cognitive dissonance they experienced from their homemaker
roles prompted such a belief system. These mothers may believe that if
they are staying at home, it must be because the child needs them. By
eight months, maternal attitudes were reflected in infant behavior.
Infants of non-working mothers who believed in the importance of
providing exclusive mothering to their children more frequently and
intensely attempted to maintain proximity to their mothers than those
whose mothers did not stress exclusive mothering. Infants of working
mothers who believed in the necessity of exclusive mothering produced
fewer proximity seeking behaviors towards their mothers. It may be
that when working mothers experience role conflict, anxiety interferes
with the mother-child relationship (Hock, 1980).

Women who postpone childrearing until they have established
themselves in careers may be more likely to have followed the male
model of career development up until the time of family formation and
therefore to follow Levinson's sequence of identity formation at least
in part through the pursuit of the occupational dream in the decade of
the 20's. If this is the case one would anticipate higher levels of
competence and confidence in self for those mothers who begin
parenthood in their late 20's rather than their early 20's. For those
who postpone until their early 30's, one would anticipate a
reevaluation of roles and relationships to coincide or immediately
precede the beginning of the parental life cycle. These mothers would

be in the midst of self-examination and evaluation of life goals and

39

should be expected to be in various stages of role conflict and role
resolution. Some older mothers would be expected to experience less of
a need to explore and experience different aspects of life and should
be more prepared than younger mothers to settle down and to find
stability either in the world of work, or family or some combination of
the two. Other older mothers may experience heightened role conflict
because beginning parenthood coincides with the period of reevaluation
or impinges upon an established career.
The Timing;of Parenthood

Daniels and Weingarten (1982) have looked at the impact of
timing of the first birth on identity formation in parents, quality of
marriage, and mothers' work patterns. Although they provide
interesting anecdotal data of early and late timing couples, the
methodology employed makes the conclusions difficult to evaluate.
These authors interviewed 72 couples regarding the transition to
parenthood and the effect of the timing of parenthood on later life
events. The sample consisted of groups of 24 couples in the fourth,
fifth and sixth decades of life. Twelve of the couples in each of the
three groups had made the transition to parenthood in their early 20's
(the early timers) and 12 in their early 30's (the late timers). No
middle 20's group was included. For some of the subjects (e.g. the 30
year-old late-timing parents) the data are prospective. For others
they are retrospective (eg. the 30 year-old early-timers). Thus group
comparisons are very tenuous due to the discrepancy in timing of
interview relative to stage of family formation. Moreover, the sample
was not random and was accumulated through word of mouth rendering the

representativeness in question. Lastly, none of the interview data was

4O

coded or measured, rather the authors offered vingettes which they
considered reflective of the interviewees. For these reasons,
generalizability of findings is difficult.

Daniels and Weingarten found that more late timing parents than
early timing parents were satisfied with their timing decisions (67%
vs. 422) and only 242 of the late timing parents said they would start
their families earlier if they had it to do over again. Of the early
timers, 562 said they would have waited longer if they had it to do
over again. Reasons that late timers gave for purposefully postponing
parenthood were awaiting psychological readiness, setting aside time to
explore and grow and accumulate life experience (a response which was
mostly offered by college educated couples), discovering career
options, and establishing the marital relationship. Nonpurposive late
timers primarilly cited infertility as a reason for postponement.

The late timers were more planful of the timing than were early
tuners. Although all couples said that the nine months of pregnancy
provided sufficient opportunity to come to terms with the family timing
outcome, some experienced feelings of frustration and disappointment at
being out of control of the situation. In Neugarten's terms, they were
”off-time" on this major life event.

In terms of the marital adjustment, early timers had their first
child an average of 14.5 months after the marriage whereas late timers'
first borns arrived an average of 4 years after the marriage. The late
timers were described as having more time to create a balance between
work and family and between self and other before facing the demands of

parenthood.

41

Early timing women did much of the caretaking on their own as
'husbands devoted their energies to the early stages of work. They
received little emotional support from their husbands but provided a
good deal for their husbands who were more wrapped up in work and
self-exploration. In contrast, late timers described more reciprocal
relationships in which both husband and wife nurtured one another and
although even late timers did not split the child care evenly, they had
much more egalitarian households. Early timers had more traditional
household arrangements with less conflict over division of
responsibilities. The late timers, having established organizational
skills at work and a sense of competence, fell more easily into a work
rhythm than did the early timers. Late timers were more decisive in
their new roles, but experienced more role conflict and required more
adjustment going from co-provider to houseperson.

In summarizing their observations, the authors noted that early
timing couples were less defined as individuals at the point of
transition, they were less separated from their parents, less nurturant
of one another and less likely to develop egalitarian household
arrangements. Late timers were more likely to experience conflict in
adjusting to the wife's new role and occupation and more likely to
experience conflict arriving at division of household responsibilities.

These findings support the hypothesis that maternal age at first
birth will differentially impact upon mother's adjustment. However the
methodological drawbacks of this study argue for caution. Age of
subject, timing of parenthood and cohort effects are all confounded.
All of the early timing accounts are retrospective and most but not all

of the late timing accounts are retrospective. Little of the data is

42

systematically compared.

Other differences found between older and younger mothers are as
follows. Older mothers have children with slightly higher IQ's than
younger mothers. There is a small but significant linear relationship
between maternal age from ages 20 to 40 and children's performance on
the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R).
Children's IQ scores have been found to be an average of 2.84-3.17 IQ
points higher when their mothers were 40 years of age at the time of
birth than when their mothers were 20 years of age. However, these
authors do not distinguish first-born from later-born children's scores
so mother's age and birth order may be confounded (Belmont, Cohen,
Dryfoos, Stein and Zayas, 1981). Older mothers have been found to be
more flexible and warmer and to use less physical punishment and to
encourage more verbalization and discourage dependence (Sears, Maccoby
and Levin, 1957). Older couples are more likely to be settled in jobs,
to own homes, to have savings and be more secure financially than
younger parents. Work demands are usually less extreme for older
parents who may then be more capable of handling competing demands of
work and home (Wilkie, 1981). In a study by Ragozin and his colleagues,
older mothers were found to have greater satisfaction with parenting,
to have greater time commitments to maternal role and to be more
responsive to their babies. It is suggested that greater emotional
maturity and lesser egocentrism underlie the differential attitudes and
behavior of older mothers (Ragozin, Basham, Crnic, Greenberg, and
Robinson, 1982). Mothers in the study ranged in age from 16 to 38, but
no specific information was given regarding the age breakdown other

than to indicate that the ages were normally distributed. This

43

suggests that the older mothers were underrepresented in this sample.
Since analyses were limited to linear regression and no group
comparisons were made, it is impossible to know if the bulk of the
predictive power of the age variable comes from the differences between
teenage mothers and adult mothers or whether there were also group
differences between mothers in their early and late 20's or between
mothers in their 20's and 30's. The results do suggest that age
continues to discriminate between maternal behaviors and attitudes
through the 30's in a unidirectional linear fashion suggesting a
continued age influence through early adulthood.

In summarizing the sparse information concerning adult maternal
age and transition to parenthood, it appears that older mothers are
inclined to be more involved in extrafamilial activities than are
younger mothers (Rindfuss and Bumpass, 1976), to follow different
career patterns, to have more egalitarian households, to have more
spousal support and less family support and to have more role conflict
betwween work and family (Daniels and Weingarten, 1982). They
experience less depression (Pearlin, 1975), and derive more
satisfaction from the parenting role (Ragozin et al, 1982). They are
more responsive to their infants, more competent at eliciting responses
and use more positive affect (Ragozin et al, 1982). They are warmer
and more flexible and foster more autonomy (Sears et al, 1957) and they
have children with slightly higher IQ's (Belmont et al, 1981).

Summagy

The transition to parenthood for primiparous mothers is

recognized as a stressful period in which a major reorganization of

roles and lifestyles is required. It is responsible for reductions in

44

Inarital satisfaction and maternal mental health and may constitute a
crisis in the adult life.[:Certain factors can predispose a woman to a
successful transition to parenthood. These include available social
support, adaptive personality characteristics and a high desire for the
motherhood. Work outside the home may operate in one of two ways. The
competing demands it produces may cause role overload and poor
adaptation. Alternatively, the valued contributions that employment
provides may enhance the mother's sense of self-worth and
accomplishment and improve adaptation by serving as a buffer against
the stresses of parenthood.

Finally, the adult mother's age at first birth may impact on her
adjustment. Increased age may provide the added maturity a mother
requires to accomodate to her infant's needs or it may increase the
difficulty of transition. Older mothers may experience extra conflict
between work and parenting because they are used to reaping the
benefits of gainful employment and involvement in the extrafamilial
world unhindered by the demands of a young child.

The present study examined the impact of an adult mother's age
and work status on her transition to parenthood. There has been a
limited amount of research on the impact of an adult mother's age at
first birth on her responsivity to her infant and her satisfaction with
the role. The available research has been problematic. In one
account, mothers above the age of 30 were underrepresented and the
nature of the data analysis did not allow for group comparisons between
various age groups of adult women. What's more, positive results in
favor of older mothers appeared to have been heavily influenced by the

inclusion of teenage parents in the analysis.

45

The combination of work and mothering roles has been found to
'have felicitous effects on the mental health of the mother and, under
certain circumstances, to increase satisfaction and skill in parenting.
However, the combination of these two demanding roles at the point of
transition to parenthood has received only limited attention to date.
The one published study which addressed this question contained
methodological drawbacks. Age of subject, timing of parenthood and
cohort effects were all confounded. Moreover, little of the data were
compared systematically and findings were presented primarily as
anecdotal accounts. A uniformly prospective examination of the
transition to motherhood in which subjects are contacted close to the
point of transition is necessary to examine this experience. The
present study contacted mothers within the first six months of life and
surveyed their experiences during the early months of motherhood to
determine the impact of age and work status on the experience of
mothering. Only adult mothers were included in the sample so as to
avoid comparison with teenage parents whose experiences have been found
to differ from those of older mothers.
Statement of Hypotheses

The purpose of this study was to systematically compare
primiparous women in their 20's and 30's on levels of adjustment to
parenthood, role conflict and satisfaction, responsiveness to infants
and adaptive coping. In light of the group differences which have been
found in previous studies between older and younger mothers of infants

and young children, the following hypotheses were proposed.

46

1. It was predicted that older women would adapt to parenthood
‘more successfully than younger women, would be more satisfied with the
parental role, and would be more responsive to their infants. This
was an attempt to replicate the findings of Ragozin et al, 1982.

2. It was predicted that older women would have more effective
coping mechanisms than younger women due to increased opportunities for
adult maturation.

3. It was predicted that women with more adaptive coping
responses would score higher on measures of successful adaptation and
satisfaction with motherhood. This was based on previous reports of a
relationship between social support and successful mothering (Crnic et
al, 1983).

4. It was predicted that older mothers would experience higher
levels of role conflict than younger mothers. This was an attempt to
replicate the findings of Daniels and Weingarten (1982).

5. It was predicted that older mothers who experienced lower
levels of satisfaction with parenthood would report higher levels of
role competition.

6. It was predicted that adaptation to parenthood could be
understood in terms of its relationship to the variables maternal age,
role conflict, active coping, and responsive attitudes toward infants.

Predictor variables were: age of mother, level of role
competition, and level of adaptive coping responses such as social
support. Outcome variables were satisfaction with maternal role, and

responsivity to infant needs.

METHODS

Sample

Subjects in this study were recruited from the greater Baltimore -
Washington area. They were identified and contacted through published
birth announcements (n-30), prenatal childbirth education classes
(n-25), a non-hospital based midwife serviced birthing center (n-22),
postnatal classes for new mothers (n-16), pediatricians' offices (n=7)
and prenatal exercise classes (n-S). A number of subjects responded to
advertisements of the study in parenting newsletters (n-10) and others
were identified through a networking process in which subjects
recommended their friends to the examiner (n-10). Any woman who was
about to become a mother for the first time or whose first child was
under six months of age was eligible to participate. The upper infant
age limit of six months was selected to avoid the comparison of
ambulatory and preambulatory infants. Of the 148 women who agreed to
participate and who were mailed questionnaires, 125 responded yielding
an 842 response rate.

Maternal Characteristics

Mothers' ages ranged from 19 to 40 (mean=28). All but 4 of the
mothers were married. Mothers' education ranged from high school
graduate level to postgraduate level. The mean education level was
college attendance and the mode was postgraduate. Mean income was
between $20,000-$30,000 and the modal income was $30,000 or over. One
hundred and twenty-one of the mothers were white. Eighty-five percent
of the pregnancies had been planned (n=106) and all but two of the

subjects had attended prenatal childbirth education classes. Forty-six
47

48

nmythers (36%) attended postnatal meetings at a parents' organization.
Forty of the mothers were working, 74 were not working outside the home
and 11 were on maternity leave at the time of the study. Of the
mothers who were working or on leave, 25 were full time workers, 24
were part time workers and the work status of 2 is unknown. Of the 74
mothers who did not work, all had reported having worked at sometime in
the past and all but eight believed they would return to work sometime
in the future. Sixty-seven of the mothers were breast-feeding their
infants, 32 were bottle feeding and 26 engaged in some combination of
breast and bottle feeding (see Table 1, Appendix A, for a summary of
maternal characteristics).

When asked about the timing of the pregnancy, approximately half
the sample (n866) reported having postponed their first child. Modal
postponement was from 1-5 years but the range was from less than one
year to greater than 10 years. The most common reasons given for
postponement (in order of frequency of occurrence) were: establishment
of a strong marital relationship: financial reasons; mother's emotional
preparedness to parent: mother's establishment in a job or completion
of an education: father's emotional preparedness, establishment in a
job or completion of an education: and inability to conceive.

Infant Characteristics

Babies ranged in age from three weeks to nine months (mean-3
months, mode=2 months). They were evenly distributed by sex (62
female, 63 male). Mean infant birth weight was 3283 grams and only 4
of the infants weighed less than 2500 grams at birth. Fourteen of the
mothers reported their babies to have been ill some time since birth

but reports of infant colic, rashes, sleeping and feeding disturbances

49

ranged from 13 incidences of feeding problems to 24 incidences of
‘rashes (see Table 2, Appendix A, for summary of infant

characteristics).

Procedure

Separate procedures were used for subjects contacted prenatally
and those contacted postnatally. Both will be described below.

The study was described to those mothers who were contacted during
pregnancy. They were then asked to provide a mailing address and
infant due date. Six weeks after the estimated birth date, these
mothers were mailed a questionnaire regarding their attitudes towards
childrearing and towards work, satisfaction with parenthood, available
social support and outside activities and decisions regarding the
timing of childbearing. Questions about infant and family
characteristics were also included in the mailing (see Appendix B).

The six week lower infant age limit was chosen to allow for the
earliest adjustment to parenthood to have been initiated and for coping
resources to have been mobilized. Some infants younger than six weeks
are included because of an under approximation of infant age from the
estimated due date.

For mothers identified after the birth of the baby, information
regarding infant birth date was acquired and questionnaires were mailed
immediately to mothers of infants aged six weeks and over. For mothers
of younger infants, questionnaires were mailed after the infant reached
six weeks of age. Although the upper infant age limit for the study is
six months, some older infants were included due to a delay in

completion of the questionnaire.

50

Mothers were provided with stamped, self-addressed envelopes for
return of the questionnaire. In addition, they were asked to complete
and return an informed consent form. All returned questionnaires were
assigned code numbers and mothers' names were separated from their
responses to insure anonymity.

Construction of the Questionnaire

To test the hypothesis that older and younger mothers would vary
on the dimension of responsive attitudes towards infants, a
responsivity to infant scale was constructed. This was derived from
the Maternal Attitude Scale (Cohler, Weiss, and Grunebaum, unpublished
manual) and consists of a subset of items from the scale labeled
encouragement of positive interaction with the child and from the
subscales involving mother-infant reciprocity. Items were selected
based on applicability to infants in the age range of the study which
addressed attitudes towards reciprocal responding to infant cues.

Items geared toward mothers of older infants were not included.

The questions concerning adjustment to parenthood and satisfaction
with the mothering role were constructed from scales used in four
previous studies. These include Leifer's study of first pregnancy and
the transition to motherhood (Leifer, 1977), items from an opinion
scale in a study of first birth by Entwisle and Doering (Entwisle and
Doering, 1980): the maternal irritability scale of the Parental
Attitude Research Instrument (PARI: Schaffer and Manheimer, 1960) and a
pilot study by the author which will be described below. Scale
reliability and validity data are available for the PARI which has been
used in numerous studies of parenting. However, it does not contain a

satisfaction with parenthood scale. Therefore, items were selected

51

from this instrument which have been found to predict successful
adjustment to parenthood. It was supplemented with items constructed
and used in previous studies for which no cross-study reliability data
is available. It was the author's intent to include questions from a
number of different studies in order to construct a satisfaction with
parenthood scale which would be homogeneous and internally consistent
based on the current sample.

No reliable, homogeneous scale was found which measured role
competition between work and mothering roles in mothers of infants.
Therefore the questions measuring competition between work and
mothering roles were based on items from the Entwisle and Doering
opinion scales and an interview protocol used in a study of sex roles
by Pearlin (Pearlin, 1975).

The Coping Scale was constructed from the author's pilot study.
It was designed to discriminate between the following coping
strategies. Questions regarding the information search strategy were
developed based on a study described by Entwisle and Doering. These
authors found that women who sought information and preparation for the
childbirth experience through classes or through reading held more
positive attitudes towards childbirth and had more positive reactions
to the newborn child immediately after birth. The information search
component in this study included questions about reading child care
books and contacting other mothers or the infant's maternal grandmother
with childrearing questions (Doering and Entwisle, 1975). A second
component of the coping scale was use of social support from family,
friends and pediatrician which has been found to influence successful

adjustment to parenthood. The third addressed activities which can

52

serve to lessen the negative emotional reactions to stress. Examples
of these are physical exercise and the engagement in other activities
outside the home. The last component of the coping scale was passive
acceptance of problems with no attempt to cope.

Timing of parenthood questions were constructed from the author's
pilot study. No published scales were found which addressed the
mechanism by which mothers decide when to begin having children or the
consequences of this timing decision. Exploring this phenomenon for
the purpose of question construction, women in the author's pilot study
were asked open-ended questions regarding their decisions to have
children. The method by which their responses were formed into closed
questions will be described below.

The pilot study also included open-ended questions regarding
satisfaction with parenthood and coping with the difficulties of
parenthood in order to supplement items derived from the studies
described above.

Combining questions from a number of previous parenting studies
and from the pilot study enabled the examiner to accumulate a large
pool of items from which to select the final scales. Only those items
which formed internally consistent, homogeneous scales based on an a
priori cluster analysis were included in the final analysis.

Pilot Test

For the purpose of the pilot study, respondents were recruited
from family practice medical clinics and from published birth
announcements in the mid-Michigan area. Fifty-five out of 103
potential respondents between the ages of 18 and 40 who had given birth

within one year of the period of study were administered open-ended

53

questionnaires of the author's design regarding their experiences with
parenthood. They received questionnaires through the mail with
self-addressed stamped return envelopes. Participants were married a
mean of 5 years (range-l-IS years) with education evenly divided
between high school, college and postgraduate education. Twenty of the
women were primiparous and 35 were multiparous. Subjects were
predominantly caucasian and mean income fell between $16,000-$20,000.
Mean infant age was 4 months (range-l-ZZ months). Half of the sample
reported having postponed the pregnancy and the length of postponement
averaged 7 years (range-1-12 years: mode81-2 years).

Mothers were asked open-ended questions regarding their
satisfaction with the parental role, perceived difficulties in
parenting and solutions which facilitated coping, factors affecting the
timing of childbearing and the consequences of the timing decision.

For each question, subject responses were grouped into discreet,
mutually exclusive categories by two independent readers until all
responses were accounted for. Discrepancies between the two readers
were then discussed until a single categorization was agreeable to
both. Likert-type questions were constructed by the examiner based on
the final category scheme and were added to items measuring
satisfaction with parenthood coping and timing of parenthood
decisions. Items constructed from the pilot study were included to
supplement the published scales when equivalent items were not
available.

The resulting questionnaire contained 105 five point response
items which were anchored strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree

and strongly disagree. Strongly agree was assigned a score of 1 and

54

strongly disagree was assigned a score of 5. Subjects were instructed
to leave questions blank when they were not applicable.
Socio-demographic data regarding mother's and father's age, income,
education and work status and infant's sex, birth weight and health
characteristics and the method by which mother fed the infant were

requested on a separate form.

RESULTS

This chapter contains a description of the data reduction and
analysis which was conducted in four stages. Scale construction was
accomplished with an a priori factor analytic technique. The
relationships between these scales were then tested using a structural
equation path analysis. Relationships which emerged from the path
models were then explored using multivariate analysis of variance and
significant results were further tested with more conservative a
postiori multiple comparison of means tests. Each of these four stages
of data reduction and analysis will be described separately.

Scale Constructigg

Because the questionnaire consisted of items derived from five
different instruments, it was not known which items would load
together. Therefore, the entire data set was first submitted to a
principal factors factor analysis with iteration and with varimax
rotation to determine an initial factor structure. Clusters were then
formed by placing all items which loaded highest on the first factor in
one cluster. This procedure was repeated with each factor with
Eigenvalues of 1.00 or more. As a result, each item was placed in a
single cluster. Where items loaded equally highly on more than one
factor, the decision for inclusion in a cluster was based on content.
All items in a cluster whose valence was in a direction opposite from
the majority of items in that cluster were reflected. Thus for all
clusters, 1 always signifies strong agreement and 5 always denotes

strong disagreement with attitudes expressed in the cluster.

55

56

To test for reliability and homogeneity of scales, these clusters
were then submitted to a confirmatory factor analysis using an oblique
multiple groups factor analysis with communalities (Nunnaly, 1978)
which was run with the computer program PACKAGE (Hunter, Gerbing, Cohen
and Nicol, 1980). Clusters were tested for unidimentionality in the
manner recommended by Hunter and Gerbing (1982) which includes
determination of: 1. homogeneity of content, 2. internal consistency
via testing of intra-cluster, inter-item correlations for a Spearman
rank one pattern and 3. external consistency or parallelism by
examining similarity of correlations of items within a cluster with
other cluster scores. Those items which met the above three criteria
were retained in their clusters. Others were assigned to different
clusters based on content, high item-cluster correlations with the
outside cluster and parallel correlations to other clusters. Items
which did not fit in any existing cluster but which correlated highly
with each other and less highly with other clusters and which
correlated with external clusters in a parallel fashion were grouped
together into new clusters. Items which did not fit with their own
clusters, did not fit in any other clusters and did not form a cluster
of their own were placed in a residual cluster and eventually
discarded. The resulting clusters were judged to be homogeneous in
content, internally consistent and parallel to the other clusters to
within sampling error (see Table 3, Appendix A).

To further test for internal consistency, an item-correlation
matrix was computed with ones on the diagonal and with cluster scores
partialed out. The resulting matrix appeared flat to within sampling

error (see Table 4, Appendix A). To test for external consistency,

57

item-scale total correlations were compared for each item with its own
cluster to the item-cluster scores of the other 6 clusters. The
criterion for higher correlation with scale of inclusion than with
external scales is met as is the criterion for a similar pattern of
correlations with external clusters to within sampling error (see Table
3, Appendix A).

The final clusters consist of 59 items in eight scales which were
labeled Responsiveness to Infant Cues, Dissatisfaction with Parenthood,
Maternal Role Definition, Dislike of Early Infancy, Missing Work, Work
Problems, Active Coping, and Regret (see Table 5, Appendix A).

Standard score coefficient alpha ranges from .61 to .90 (see Table 6,
Appendix A).

The first scale, responsivity to infant cues, is derived
exclusively from the pool of items drawn from the Cohler Maternal.
Attitude Scale and has a coefficient alpha estimate of scale
reliability of .76. It taps attitudes of attentiveness to infant cues
and responsiveness to infant communication. An example is item 11.

The six month old baby can tell you exactly what he wants if you watch
and listen.

The second scale is labeled dissatisfaction with parenthood and is
the largest scale with a standard score coefficient alpha of .90. It
is typified by items such as " Taking care of a baby is much more work
than pleasure" and "I've been nervous and jumpy since having this baby"
and "most men have more interesting work to do than their wives have".

The third scale is titled Maternal Role Definition and consists of
items from the maternal attitude scale and the PARI. This is a three

item scale with coefficient alpha of .79 which taps attitudes of strong

58

identification with the mothering role and is believed to reflect
traditional female role values such as "A woman does not find her true
self until she is a mother".

The fourth is a two-item scale derived from the Maternal Attitude
Scale and is titled Dislike of Early Infancy. It reflects a perception
of the early infancy period as difficult with anticipation of
conditions improving as the infant gets older and it has a coefficient
alpha of .71. The scale items are "Babies are more difficult to take
care of when they are young than when they are older" and "Taking care
of babies is hard but I know it will get easier when the baby gets
older".

Both the fifth and sixth scales are subsets of the predicted
mothering-work role conflict scale. These two scales did not form one
homogeneous scale and did not correlate to other scales in a parallel
fashion. Consequently, they were divided into two scales. The fifth
scale contains attitudes of women who are not working and miss
employment. It is labeled the Miss Work Scale, has a coefficient alpha
of .61 and consists of items like "I sometimes miss the stimulation
and challenge of work while I am at home with the baby". The sixth
scale is a three item scale labeled Work Problems and taps the anxiety
of women who are concerned about their infants while they are at work:
coefficient alpha is .78. A sample item is "I sometimes worry that my
child will not be adequately cared for while I am at work".

The seventh scale was derived from the pilot study questions and
is labeled Active Coping. It taps availability of social support and
of activities outside the house: coefficient alpha is .73. Items

designed to measure passive coping attitudes such as the belief that no

.
M
a..

in:

59

intervention would be useful did not form a consistent cluster and did
not correlate with the active coping cluster and were dropped. The
information search coping cluster which was predicted on the basis of
the Entwisle and Doering study did not form a cohesive cluster and was
dropped. This was designed to identify women who sought advice from
others or information in books as a means of coping. Items relating to
advice from others did correlate with social support items and were
included in the active coping scale. Sample items from the active
coping scale are "I get all the emotional support I need from my
family" and "I still am involved in at least one activity outside the
house."

The eighth scale is labeled regret and has a coefficient alpha of
.64. Although items were designed from the pilot study to measure
attitudes towards the timing of parenthood, their negative valences
resulted in a cluster which expresses remorse as a result of some
aspect of the timing of parenthood as in "I feel too old to be the
mother of an infant" or "I wish I had done more things before becoming
a parent". Items with positive valence did not fit in this cluster and
did not form an internally consistent cluster of their own.

Thus all of the predicted scales were formed with the exception of
the timing of parenthood scale. The scope of the coping scale was more
limited than was intended. The final scale measures only active forms
of coping such as seeking social support and involvement in activities
outside the home. Satisfaction with parenthood and adjustment to
parenthood were very highly correlated and were merged into one scale.
Conflict between work and mothering roles did not correlate with other

scales in a parallel fashion and was divided into two scales. The

first

icrk

ud

A.‘
Sad;

reg

f0:

SE

51

60

first applies to homemakers who miss the work role and is labeled Miss
Work and the second to working women who feel torn between their work
and mothering responsibilities and is labeled Work Problems. Three new
scales were added based on an examination of the data. These are the
Role Definition scale, the Dislike of Early Infancy scale and the
Regret scale. The clusters were then submitted to a causal analysis in
order to test a model of interrelationships.
CausaliAnalygig

An exploratory path analysis was undertaken to study the causal
relations between the variables measured by the scales. A structural
equation or path model was used which is a statistic based on multiple
regression. The observed correlations between the clusters were used
for input into the path analysis. These were obtained from the PACKAGE
cluster analysis program. Since these were computed with communalities
on the diagonal, the correlations in the path analysis are corrected
for attenuation. This eliminates measurement error due to random
sampling error by using estimates of item true scores rather than
observed scores for input into the correlation equation. The
statistical computer program PACKAGE (Hunter, Gerbing, Cohen, and
Nicol, 1980) was used to test the path model. The model that most
closely fit the total data set is shown in Figure 1. It includes five
of the scales that were derived from the final cluster analysis.
Scales relating to work-mothering role conflicts were eliminated from
the total sample path model because each was applicable to only a
segment of the sample. The Work Problem scale regarding infant-related
anxiety while the mother is at work is not applicable to nonworking

women while the Miss Work scale was not applicable to working women.

33E
.

28!

in

pr

[9—)

61

The Maternal Role Definition scale was eliminated from the path model
because of low correlations with the other scales. It was used in the
inferential analyses as a means of explicating the path models.

The path analysis was conducted with an ordinary least squares
solution. Table 7 (Appendix A) shows the observed correlations,
correlations predicted by the model and the residual of the observed
minus the predicted correlations which constitutes the error
component. The sum of the squared deviations of observed minus
predicted correlations is .11 and does not significantly differ from
zero (Chi square I 5.278, ns). Two socio-demographic variables,
maternal age and maternal education and one infant variable labeled
infant problems were included as predictors in this path model. Infant
problems is a summed scale of infant illness, colic, rashes, feeding
and sleeping disturbances. A low score denotes high infant problems
while a high score denotes low infant problems.

TOTAL SAMPLE PATH MODEL

As can be seen in Figure 1, two exogenous variables are included
in this model. Exogenous variables exert a causal influence on but are
not caused by other variables in the model. The first of these is the
infant variable labeled Infant Illness/Irregularity and the second is
the maternal variable Mother's Education. The Infant
Illness/Irregularity variable was found to be predictive of Dislike of
Early Infancy (88.44) which in this model is predictive of
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood (88.36). Dissatisfaction with

Parenthood is predictive of Regret (8.58).

62

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infant
Illness/
Irregularity IV
Dislike of Earl
Infancy
3 6
Mother's Responsive Dissatisfaction
Education 4) ~19 Attitudes - 5- with
Toward ‘ Parenthood
Infant
:19 :27

 

 

 

 

 

AL

Mother's Outside Regret
Age Activities/Support ‘ l

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. Path model for total sample. N=125

Sum of squared deviations of the observed minus predicted
correlation = .11. Chi Square = 5.278, ns.

63

Maternal Education is predictive of Responsive Attitudes Toward
the Infant (BI-.29). It also mediates the influence of Maternal Age on
Responsive Attitudes. The relationship between Mother's Age and
Mother's Education (88.50) accounts for the corrected zero order
correlation of -.17 between Maternal Age and Responsive Attitudes.
Mothers with more advanced education tend to be older and to hold more
responsive attitudes towards parenting an infant. Responsive Attitudes
is negatively predictive of Dissatisfaction with Parenthood (B-.35) and
positively predictive of Active Coping (3-.27). Active Coping has both
a direct negative impact on Regret (3=-.31) and an indirect impact
through Dissatisfaction as follows. Active Coping is related to
Dissatisfaction (B -.31) and Dissatisfaction is related to Regret
(B =.58).

Thus the predictors of Dissatisfaction with Parenthood and Regret,
expressed as remorse concerning the timing of parenthood decision, are
mother's responsive attitudes, availability of social support and
activities outside the home (Active Coping) and perception of early
infancy as difficult. Maternal age has an indirect effect on
responsiveness through maternal education which in turn predicts
responsive attitudes. Infant characteristics such as illness and
irregularity have an indirect effect on Dissatisfaction through the
perception of the early infancy period as difficult.

Next, the sample was broken down to two subsamples: working women
(n-Sl including those on maternity leave) and nonworking women (n-74).
This was done for the dual purposes of assessing the impact of
mothering-work role conflict on Dissatisfaction with Parenthood and of

replicating the path model on the two subsamples. The results of the

64

total path model were cross-validated by applying the model to the
worker and nonworker subsamples separately. This latter goal was
accomplished to within sampling error. Sampling error increased due to
the decreased sample sizes. Each model will be presented separately.
Path Model for Working Mothers

In order to assess the internal consistency of the 6 scales
(excluding Maternal Role Definition and Miss Work), for the working
subsample, an a priori cluster analysis was computed. Standard score
coefficient alphas were still considered acceptable (see Table 8,
Appendix A) and all but one scale was left intact. An exception was
made in the case of the Active Coping scale in which items 3 and 5 no
longer appeared parallel in pattern of correlation to the other
scales. These two items were omitted from the working sample Active
Coping scale. The decline in scale alphas for all but the Work
Problems scale is predicted by the reduced sample size. The Work
Problems scale increased in scale alpha from .78 to .82. This is
predicted on the basis of the greater applicability of this scale to
the working subsample. Corrected observed interscale correlations (see
Table 8a, Appendix A) were used in a path analysis which was based on
the total sample path model. Two variables were added. The first is
the Work Problems scale that focuses on mother's anxiety over the
infant while at work. It was predicted that this scale would impact on
Dislike of Early Infancy since it contains items that focus on the
difficulties of being the working mother of an infant. It was also
predicted that the Work Problems variable, which was believed to be a
measure of role conflict, would contribute to Dissatisfaction with

Parenthood. The second new variable is Method of Infant Feeding.

65

Mothers who had indicated that their infants were breast-fed were
assigned a score of '1', those who used a combination of breast and
bottle feeding were assigned a score of '2' and those who bottle fed
their infants were assigned a score of '3'. The Method of Infant
Feeding variable was added after it was observed to correlate highly
with Dislike of Early Infancy and Dissatisfaction with Parenthood in
the working subsample.

The path model is presented in figure 2 and the actual, predicted,
and observed minus predicted correlations appear in Table 9 (Appendix
A). Although the general path model fits the data to within sampling
error (error-.25, Chi square=4.712) some relationships emerged
differently for the workers. Responsive Attitudes continued to predict
Active Coping (B 8.39) and Active Coping continued to negatively
predict Dissatisfaction with Parenthood ( B=-.72) and Regret 8-.72).
However, these latter two relationships were more than twice as strong
for the working mothers as for the total sample. On the other hand, in
this group, Responsive Attitudes did not predict Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood above a zero level (3:.02) as opposed to a moderate
prediction in the total sample (B=-.35). Moreover, the relationship
between Dislike of Early Infancy and Dissatisfaction with Parenthood
which emerged in the total sample path model was entirely explained by
the Infant Feeding variable. Thus the direct relationship between
Dislike of Early Infancy and Dissatisfaction with Parenthood in the
total sample appears to be a spurious one and actually is the result of

shared correlations with the exogenous variable Infant Feeding.

66

 

Infant Illness/
Irregularity a?

Dislike of
‘ Early Infancy

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

      
     
 

 

 

A 0 I/
Mother's
Education 13
Q:
Work — Mbthering Method of
Role Conflict Feeding
0. Infant
’7
.2 q

Responsive Dissatisfaction
Attitudes with
Toward Parenthood
Infant

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

 

  
 
   

 

 

Outside Regret
Activities/
SUpport

-I:. ' i ’l‘

 

Figure 2. Path model for working mother sample. N=51.

Sum of squared deviations of the observed minus predicted correlations
= .25. Chi square = 4.712, ns.

67

There continued to be a strong relationship between Infant
Illness/Regularity and Dislike of Early Infancy. Working mothers whose
infants have been sick, or are irregular experience early infancy as
difficult (8=.46) though they are not more dissatisfied with parenthood
(B=-.01). A variable which does predict to Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood is feeding methods. Working mothers who breast-feed their
babies are more likely to experience early infancy as difficult (B=.43)
and to be dissatisfied with parenthood (83.28). However, they are also
less likely to express regret relative to the timing of parenthood (B
=-.29). A low score on the feeding variable indicates breast-feeding.A
low score on the Dislike of Infancy, Dissatisfaction with Parenthood
and Regret scales indicate strong agreement with these scales.

The Mothering-Work role conflict variable did not operate as
expected. Contrary to what had been predicted, women who worry about
their infants while they are at work (score high on the Work Problems
scale) are not more dissatisfied with parenthood (BB-.09) and they are
not more likely to experience early infancy as difficult (8-0). The
strong relationship between Responsive Attitudes and Work Problems in
this sample (33.40) may help explain this result. It is hypothesized
that the working women who experience work problems may blame work for
the feelings of anxiety generated by separation from the infant. They
therefore do not experience dissatisfaction with the mothering role.
Their feelings regarding the work role is unknown.

Mother's Education continues to be central in this model. Despite
a zero order correlation of -.69, there is no causal predictor from
Mother's Education to Responsive Attitudes (BB-.07). Rather, both

responsiveness and maternal education independently are predictors of

68

the two variables Dislike of Early Infancy Period and Work Problems.
However, they operate in reverse direction. A high education level
predicts the perception of early infancy as not difficult (B-.40)
whereas high responsive attitudes predict the perception of infancy as
difficult (B-.29). In addition, mother's high education level predicts
low work-mothering conflict (s=.25) whereas responsive attitudes
predict high conflict level (3:.40).

The relationship between Responsive Attitudes and mothering work
role conflict is understood in terms of the greater anxiety responsive
mothers have in separation from infants while at work. The
relationship between responsivity and perception of infancy as
difficult is understood in terms of the greater effort required of
mothers who take their caretaking cues from the infant.

The negative relationship between Mothers' Education and Work
Problems may be indicative of highly educated women's commitment to
their work roles. These women may experience less ambivalence in
separation from the infant. The negative relationship between
education and perception of infancy as difficult is unclear, but may be
mediated by a variable not included in the equation.

To summarize the path model for working women, Responsive
Attitudes Towards Infants is predictive of high Active Coping (8-.39).
It has a direct negative impact on Regret Q3--.12) and an indirect
impact through Active Coping (EP'-72)- In this model, Responsive
Attitudes is not negatively predictive of Dissatisfaction with
.Parenthood (EFoOZ) and is not related directly to Maternal Education ( 8
"-.07). However, Responsive Attitudes Towards Infant is predictive of

anothering-work role conflict (88.40) and of perception of early infancy

69

as difficult (88.29). Mother's high level education predicts low level
Work Problems (88.25) and low level perception of infancy as hard (8
8.40). Although infant health and regularity problems predicts
perception of infancy as difficult (38.46), it does not predict
dissatisfaction with parenthood (88-.01). The variable that predicts
both dissatisfaction with parenthood and dislike of early infancy is
Method of Infant Feeding. In working women, breast feeding is related
to high levels of parenting dissatisfaction (38.28) and to perception
of infancy as hard (88.43). Regret with the timing of parenthood
decision is most highly predicted by the absence of Active Coping both
directly (BB-.72) and indirectly through Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood (88.09). It is believed that the large Beta weight between
Active Coping and Dissatisfaction (Eh-.72) is inflated by sampling
error and that the actual relationship is somewhat weaker. If this is
the case, the small Beta weight between Dissatisfaction and Regret (3
8.09) is probably an underestimate. This is posited based on the
relatively large zero order correlation between the two variables
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood and Regret (r8.53) and the large path
coefficient in the total sample model (88.58).

The path model for the subsample of nonworking women is presented
in the next section.
Non-WorkingpMothers Path Model

An a priori cluster analysis of the six clusters used in this
model (excluding Work Problems and Maternal Role Definition) was
performed. Scale alphas did not significantly deviate from those of

the total sample (see Table 10, Appendix A).

70

As in the previous case, the path model for the subsample of
nonworking mothers (n874) is based on the model for the total sample.
Infant feeding method was not a predictor in this sample and was not
included as an exogenous variable. The scale labeled Miss Work which
taps mother's attitudes of missing some aspect of the work experience
while she is at home with the infant is included as a measure of
mothering-work role conflict. The path model appears in figure 3 and
the observed, predicted, and observed minus predicted correlations
appear in table 11 (Appendix A). The sum of squared deviations is .20
(Chi square85.079, ns)

As in the total sample model, Responsive Attitudes Towards the
Infant negatively predicts Dissatisfaction with Parenthood both
directly (BB-.20) and indirectly through Active Coping. In this model,
it also exerts an indirect influence through Miss Work. Responsive
infant attitudes predict Active Coping (£8.35) which in turn predicts
dissatisfaction with parenthood (88-.31). As in the total sample
model, Dissatisfaction with Parenthood strongly predicts regret of the
timing of parenthood decision (8=.79).

As in the working mother model, both mother's high education level
(88-.28) and responsivity to infant (88-.25) predict mothering-work
role conflict. Mothers who score highly on the education variable miss
the work experience 9952 than mothers who score lower. However,
mothers who are highly responsive miss the work.experience lggg than
mothers who score lower on responsivity. This is believed to be an
expression of the infant-oriented attitudes of women who are responsive
to their infants' cues. The Miss Work variable is highly predictive of

lDissatisfaction with Parenthood (88.61).

71

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infant Illness/
Irregularity
'eh
Dislike of
Early Infancy
('3 o1 A

Mother's
Education "’9 5

9,. 6

Missing U

Work ‘4

’r
I
Responsive Dissatisfaction Y
Attitudes - 3.0 7 with
Toward Parenthood
Infant
“R
’15

Outside Regret

Activities/

Support

9.8

 

 

 

Figure 3. Path model for nonworking sample. N—74.

Sum of squared deviations of the observed minus predicted correlations
= .20. Chi square 8 5.079, ns.

72

In summary, mothering-work role conflict appears to act as a
mediating variable between education and responsive attitudes towards
infant in the total sample model. In the case of the nonwworking
mothers, mothers with high education and thus strong preparation for
the work role, miss work more when they are home (88-.28). On the
other hand, mothers with responsive, infant-oriented attitudes miss
work less when they are home (88-.25). But high levels of responsive
infant-oriented attitudes are associated with high levels of conflict
while at work (88.40).

The infant illness/regularity variable is more central in the
nonworking mothers model than in the working mother model. As is true
in the working mother model, nonworking mothers whose infant are
problematic view early infancy as hard (88.45). But, whereas infant
problems in the working mothers model did not predict dissatisfaction
with motherhood (88-.01), they do in the nonworking mother model (B
8.37). Miss Work is also predictive of perception of infancy as hard (3
=.65).

The relationships between the independent variables mothering-work
role conflict, infant illness and method of feeding the infant and the
dependent variables Dislike of Early Infancy and Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood in the working and nonworking mother subsamples is clarified
in the path models presented below.

A Comparison of Working and Nonworkigg Mother Models

Because of the complexity of Figures 2 and 3, important

relationships which differ for working and nonworking mothers are

presented separately in order to highlight significant discrepancies.

73

In the nonworking mother model, infant illness and mothering-work
role conflict predict both dependent variables Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood and Dislike of Early Infancy. Infant Feeding is not a
predictor variable but rather a consequence of some variable related to
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood (see Figure 4) (See Table 12, Appendix
A). In the working mother model, work-mothering conflict mildly
predicts Dissatisfaction with Parenthood but not Dislike of Early
Infancy. Infant Illness/Irregularity predicts Dislike of Early Infancy
but not Dissatisfaction. The variable that most strongly predicts both
dependent variables is Method of Infant Feeding (See Figure 5) (See
Table 13, Appendix A). As can be seen in both path models, the
relationship between Dissatisfaction with Parenthood and disenchantment
with early infancy that emerges in the total sample model is spurious.
In nonworking mothers, this relationship is best explained by infant
problems and role conflict. In the working sample, it is best
explained by method of feeding the infant.

In the next section, a priori predictions regarding relationships
between variables will be explored. In addition, the results of the
path analysis suggested several relationships which had not been
predicted before data collection. These were also examined.

Hypotheses that were predicted a priori are discussed first and those
that were generated by the computed path models are discussed second.
A priori Predictions

Analyses of variance were performed to test the hypotheses that
proposed maternal age as an independent variable and responsive
attitudes, dissatisfaction with parenthood, active coping, and

:mothering-work role conflict as dependent variables. These will be

74

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    
     

 

 

 

 

 

Infant Illness/ 1 ‘/6 i Dislike of
Irregularity J Early Infancy
9
9 GE> Method of
Feeding
Infant
Missing I \l Dissatisfaction
Work 55— with
l [l Parenthood

 

 

Figure 4. Path model for nonworking mothers. N=74.

Sum of squared deviations of the observed minus predicted correlations
= .03. Chi square = .882, ns.

75

 

 

 

Infant Illness/ 17,3
Irregularity

Dislike of

3% Early Infancy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U\
\P\
Method of
Feeding
Infant
\
’9
Work - Mothering /
Role Conflict 6. Dissatisfaction
with
Parenthood

 

 

Figure 5. Path model for working mothers. N=51.

Sum of squared deviations of the observed minus predicted correlations
= .01. Chi square = .046, ns.

 

76

discussed in the section that follows.
Maternal Variables

Although the sample was originally divided into four groups from
ages 19 to 40, a comparison of group means of the dependent variables
did not differ between groups of mothers aged 19-24 and those aged
25-29 and they were collapsed. The means for the groups aged 30-34 and
35-40 were also statistically the same and these too were collapsed.
This was done in order to obtain larger cell sizes for all further
comparisons. Therefore, all analyses with the maternal age variable
were performed on two groups unless otherwise indicated. The first
group is aged under 30 and the second is aged 30 and over.

Five hypotheses had been proposed with maternal age as the
independent variable. To test these, one way analyses of variance with
simple effects were performed using the statistical package BMDP4V.
Results of these follow.

Hypothesis 1. Older women will be more responsive to their infants and
will be more satisfied with the parental role.

There were no significant differences in responsiveness to infant
when mother's age was divided at 30. However, Levinson postulates that
a transition occurs in males at approximately age 28, and that this
transition takes place over the course of a 5-year structure changing
period from age 28-33. In order to see whether a similar shift occurs
in women which is evidenced by increasing responsivity to others, an
age split was performed dividing the sample into three groups aged
19-27, 28-32, and 33-40. The first group was presumed
pre-transitional, the second transitional and the third post

transitional. The F value was not significant (F (2,122)8 2.553, pi<

77

.08), but a comparison of group means illustrates that a nonsignificant
shift to higher responsive attitudes does occur after age 32 (See Table
14, Appendix A).

No age differences were found for dissatisfaction with parenthood
(F (2,122) - .73 ns).

Hypothesisyg; It was predicted that older mothers would score higher
on measures of active coping.

This hypothesis was not supported by the data. In fact, mothers
under age 30 achieved higher active coping scores than those 30 or over
(F (1,119) - 9.68: p<.002). (See Table 15, Appendix A). The Active
Coping scale loaded heavily on availability of social support. Older
mothers are more often geographically mobile and tend to live apart
from families and childhood friends. Younger mothers tend to live
closer to their families and long-standing acquaintances and are more
reliant than older mothers on their families (Hoffman, 1978: Daniels
and Weingarten, 1982). Older mothers may also have less access toother
mothers at the same stage of the family life cycle since childbearing
age is more staggered in their friends and colleagues than among those
of younger mothers.

Hypothesis 3. It was predicted that mothers with more effective coping
facilities would score lower on measures of dissatisfaction with
parenthood.

To test this hypothesis, a median split was performed on the
Active Coping scale which served as the independent variable. When a
one way analysis of variance was performed with the dependent variable
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood, significant differences were found (F

(1,123) 8 14.384; p‘<0002). Mothers who scored lower on measures of

78

active coping scored higher on measures of dissatisfaction. (See Table
16, Appendix A).

Hypothesis 4. It was predicted that mothers who experience higher
levels of mothering-work role conflict would report lower levels of
satisfaction with parenthood.

To test this hypothesis, the sample was divided into working and
nonworking subsamples and a median split was performed on the scales
Miss Work and Work Problems. One way analyses of variance were
performed for each subsample. The independent variable was
mothering-work role conflict and the dependent variable was
Dissatisfaction with Parenthood. For the non-working mothers, a
significant relationship was found between level of mothering-work role
conflict and dissatisfaction with parenthood. Mothers who scored
higher on the Miss Work scale scored higher on the Dissatisfaction with
Parenthood scale (F (1,72) 8 13.577: p<.004). They also scored higher
on the Dislike of Early Infancy scale (F (1,72) 8 5.084: p<.02). (See
Table 17, Appendix A). For the working sample, there was no
significant relationship between Work Problems and Dissatisfactin with
Parenthood (F (1,48) 8 .255, ns) or Dislike of Early Infancy (F (1,48)
8 1.712, ns). (See Table 17, Appendix A).
Hypothesis 5. It was predicted that older mothers would experience
higher levels of role conflict than younger mothers. No such
relationship was found (Non-workers: F(1,72)8.061 ns). Workers: F
(3,36) 8 .43: ns). (See Table 17a, Appendix A).
A postiori Predictions

An examination of the path models suggested further exploration of

the relationships between the scales and maternal and infant

79

variables. Multivariate analysis of variance was performed with the
statistical package BMDP4V. The following maternal variables were
considered as independent variables: age, work status, feeding method,
socio-economic status (defined as a composite score of husband's
education and family income), mother's education, duration of marriage
and duration of postponement of childbearing. Infant variables were
age, illness/irregularity and sex. Scales which constituted the
composite dependent variable were Responsive Attitudes, Dissatisfaction
with Parenthood, Dislike of Early Infancy, Active Coping and Regret.
Nonsignificant differences which are of interest will be discussed
first.
Infant Variables

No differences were found for infant sex (Manova: F (5,117) 8
.97: ns) or age (Manova: F (3,118) 8.78; ns). In addition, no
differences were found between mothers of healthy/regular infants and
mothers of sick/irregular infants although the relationship between
Dislike of Early Infancy and infant illness/irregularity approached
significance (F (1,121) 8 2.91; p<c09). Mothers of ill/irregular
infants disliked early infancy more. Contrary to expectations based on
the working and nonworking path models, there was no interaction
between infant illness/irregularity and mother's work status (Manova:
F (5,117) 8 1.74; ns). (See Tables 18 and 18a, Appendix A).
Maternal Variables

Maternal variables that may have been expected to have an impact
on satisfaction with mothering and coping are planfullness of pregnancy
and duration of marriage. However, no significant differences were

found between planned and unplanned pregnancies (Manova: F( 5,107) 8

80

.44; ns) or between shorter and longer durations of marriage (Manova:
F (3,113) 8 .59; ns). (See Table 19, Appendix A).

Multivariate analyses which did reach significance are discussed
next.

Infant Variables

A two way multivariate analysis of variance was performed with the
infant variable infant age and the maternal variable work status. The
overall Manova approached significance (F (3,117) 8 1.64; p<.06) and
this appeared to be due to the large effect of responsiveness (F
(3,117) 8 6.08; p<.0007). Therefore, a Newman-Keuls post-hoe multiple
comparison (Keppel, 1973)) was performed between the group means of the
responsiveness variable. Infants were divided into two groups 1)
birth to three months and 2) over three months of age. This age
breakdown was chosen because of the biobehavioral shift towards greater
infant organization which has been observed to occur between the second
and third month of life (Emde and Robinson, 1976). Infants have been
observed to establish relatively stable diurnal sleep-wake cycles, to
initiate the social smile, to begin vocalizations and to establish a
relatively stable temperament by the third month of life.

Results indicate that working mothers hold significantly more
responsive attitudes toward older infants than they do toward younger
infants and this remains significant by post hoc analysis with the
Newman-Keuls test. However, non-working women do not differ in their
attitudes toward older and younger infants. Thus the phenomenon of
greater responsive attitudes to older infants than to younger infants
holds only for working women and not for non-working women. (See Table

20. Appendix A). No other significant mean differences were found.

81

Maternal Variables

Maternal variables which differentiated between the five scales
that were entered as dependent variables in the multivariate analysis
of variance will be discussed below. The excluded scales are the two
role conflict scales because of their lack of applicability to all
mothers in the sample and the Role Definition scale which was not
associated to the other scales in a meaningful way.
Maternal Work Status

Mother's work status, defined as 1) working and 2) nonworking, was
a significant discriminating variable (Manova: F (5,113) 8 4.73: p<
.0006) largely because of the differences in dissatisfaction with
parenthood for working and nonworking mothers (F (1,123) 8 6.514; p<
.01: Newman-Keuls: p<.05) (See Table 21, Appendix A). Nonworking
mothers were significantly more dissatisfied with parenthood than
working mothers.
Infant Feeding Method

The method by which mothers fed their babies was also a
discriminating variable (Manova: F (5,113) 8 4.59; p<.008) largely
because of the contribution of the Responsive Attitudes and Dislike of
Early Infancy scales. Mothers who breast fed their babies or engaged
in some combination of breast and bottle feeding held significantly
more responsive attitudes than bottle feeding mothers (F (1,123) 8
11.484; p<.009; Newman-Keuls: p<.05) but also perceived the early
infancy period as harder (F (1,123) 8 4.882; p<.02). Newman-Keuls: p<

.05). (See Table 22, Appendix A).

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Maternal Work Status by FeedinggMethod Interaction

Several interesting interactions were also found for the work
status variable. The interaction between mother's work status and the
method by which she feeds her baby proved significant (Manova: F
(5,113) 8 5.16: p<.003). For the purpose of the analysis, mothers who
engaged in any percent of breastfeeding above zero were assigned to the
breastfeeding group. This was done to increase overall cell size. The
dependent variables that contributed most strongly to the overall F
statistic were Dissatisfaction with Parenthood and Dislike of Early
Infancy. For working mothers, women who breast fed their babies
(including combination feeders) were more dissatisfied with parenthood
than bottle feeding mothers (F (1,49) 8 5.637; p<.02). Newman-Keuls:
p<.05). Working breast and combination feeders also disliked early
infancy more than working bottle feeders (F (1,49) 8 11.584; p<.001;
Newman-Keuls: p<.05). For nonworking women, there were differences
between breast and bottle feeders (F (1,72) 8 3.806; p<.05) but these
were not significantly different using the more stringent criteria of
Newman-Keuls post-hoc analysis. Interestingly, the direction of
difference was reversed for the nonworking sample. Nonworking bottle
feeding mothers were more dissatisfied with parenthood than were
nonworking breast feeding mothers. There were no differences in
perception of infancy as hard between nonworking breast and bottle
feeding mothers (F (1,72) 8 .104: ns). (See Table 23, Appendix A).
Maternal Work Status by FeedinggMethod by Age Interaction

A significant 3-way interaction was also found between the
variables mother's age, mother's work status and infant feeding method

(Manova: F (5,113) 8 3.44: p<.006) and the scales that made the

83

largest contributions were Responsive Attitudes and Dissatisfaction
with Parenthood. For working women, there were no differences in
responsive attitudes between older and younger women whether they
breast or bottle fed their infants (breast feeders: F (1,36) 8 2.040;
ns. bottle feeders: F (1,11) 8 .074; ns). However, for nonworking
women, differences were found. Women aged 30 and over who were not
working and who were breast feeding mothers held significantly more
responsive attitudes than women under the age of 30 who were not
working and who breast fed their infants (F (1,53) 8 7.268: p <.009.
Newman-Keuls: p <.05). No such relationship was found for nonworking
bottle feeders (F (1,17) 8 1.102; ns). (See Table 24, Appendix A)

With regard to dissatisfaction with parenthood, no differences
were found between older and younger breast feeding mothers regardless
of whether they were working (working mothers: F (1,36) 8 .936; ns.
Nonworking mothers: F (1,53) 8 .601; ns). However, significant
differences were found between older and younger bottle feeding mothers
for both homemakers and working women. Older working bottle feeding
mothers were less dissatisfied (more satisfied) with parenthood than
younger working bottle feeding mothers (F (1,11) 8 5.030; p <.04.
Newman-Keuls: p <.05). But older nonworking bottle feeding mothers
were more dissatisfied with parenthood than younger nonworking bottle
feeding mothers (F (1,17) 8 12.436: p <.002; Newman-Keuls: p <.05).
(See Table 25, Appendix A)
Maternal Education and Socioeconomic Status

Socio-demographic variables that discriminated between the
combined scales were maternal education (Manova: F (3,117) 8 2.49; p <

.003) and socioeconomic status (Manova: F (3,117) 8 1.90: p (.04). For

84

both of these independent variables, the scale that contributed
greatest to the overall F statistic was Responsive Attitudes. Since
there was a strong correlation between maternal education and
socioeconomic status (r8.506l, p <.001), multiple comparison tests were
performed only on the maternal education variable in the interest of
reducing the number of post-hoc analyses so as to temper inflation of
type 1 error.

The maternal education variable was originally divided into five
levels including grade school, high school, some college, college
graduate, and postgraduate degree. None of the subjects in this study
stopped at the grade school level and the first category was
eliminated. In order to approximate equal cell sizes between groups,
it was necessary to collapse the high school graduate and the
incompleted college categories. A comparison of Responsive Attitudes
means for these two groups revealed no significant difference (high
school mean82.244, incomplete college mean-2.202).

A significant relationship emerged between mother's education and
her responsive attitudes towards her infant (F (2,122) 8 7.272: p<
.001). An examination of group mean reveals no significant differences
between high school graduates and college educated women. However,
mothers with a postgraduate education held significantly more
responsive attitudes than all other mothers (Newman-Keuls: p< .05).
(See Table 26, Appendix A).

Postponement of Parenthood

Although no significant differences were found for the total

sample between mothers who had postponed parenthood and those who had

not (Manova: F (3,120) 8 1.44; ns), some differences were found for the

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subsample of working women. Postponement was divided into four
levels: 1) those who did not postpone parenthood: 2) postponement of
1-2 years: 3) postponement of 3-5 years: 4) postponement of 6 years or
more. Categories were chosen based on visual inspection of the data.
The modal concentrations of subjects were in these four categories.

Although the multivariate analysis of variance was not significant
(F (6,33) 8 1.11: ns), a significant relationship existed between
number of years parenthood was postponed and dissatisfaction with
parenthood (F (3,47) 8 4.715; p< .005). Women who postponed
childbearing 3-5 years were less dissatisfied with parenthood than all
other mothers (Newman-Keuls: p< .05) (See Table 27, Appendix A).

The differences between the other three groups of women were not
significant. Moreover, there was a tendency for the 3-5 year
postponing women to engage in more active coping (F (3,47) 8 2.335; p<
.08). Although these coping differences are not significant using the
stricter criteria of the Newman-Keuls procedure, 3-5 year postponers do
report availability of more active coping facilities than those who
postpone 6 years of more when tested with the less conservative Least
Significant Differences Test (Keppel, 1973). The differences between
the 3-5 year postponers and the groups of who did not postpone and who
postponed 1-2 years were not significant.

Percentage of Time Worked

For the working sample, mothers were asked whether they worked full
time or part time. Analysis of variance revealed two significant
differences between the two groups of workers. Full time workers
scored higher on the work problems variable, a measure of

mothering-work role conflict (F (1,46) 8 6.017; p< .01: Newman-Keuls:

86

p <.05) and lower on the active coping scales F (1,47) 8 5.469; p<
.02: Newman-Keuls: p< .05). (See Table 28, Appendix A).

Characteristics of some independent variables which proved to
discriminate between dependent variables will be examined below in
order to understand the nature of their influence.

MaternalyAgg

Since maternal age did prove to interact with other maternal
variables in a significant fashion, the sociodemographic status of
older and younger mothers was explored. This was done to understand
associations of maternal age in this sample with other factors which
might have independently exerted an influence on adaptation to
parenthood.

In this sample, older mothers tended to have been married longer,
to have completed higher levels of education, to be of higher
socioeconomic status and to have postponed childbearing longer. They
were more likely to have planned the pregnancy and in this sample were
more likely to have older infants. This latter finding is an artifact
of the sampling procedure and was not predicted.

Older and younger mothers did not vary on the method by which they
fed their infants, the frequency with which they reported infant
illness/irregularity, or proportion working outside the home. (See
Table 29, Appendix A)

Infant Feeding Method, Traditional Feminine Role Values and their
Relationship to Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

The causes of differences in dissatisfaction with parenthood

between older and younger bottle feeding mothers was not immediately

clear. It was found that older bottle feeders were less dissatisfied

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with parenthood if they worked outside the home, but more dissatisfied
with parenthood if they did not work. It was speculated that in this
sample of predominantly middle class, well-educated women, mothers who
failed to make the choice for breast feeding their infants may have
differed along the dimension of traditional female role values and
therefore may have been more or less dissatisfied with parenthood
depending on whether they also chose traditional homemaker roles or the
less traditional dual roles of working and mothering.

To test this post-hoc hypothesis, the scale labeled Role
Definition was examined as a dependent variable. Women who agree with
this scale hold the attitude that a woman's primary role is that of
mother and that mothers have more pride in themselves than childless
women.

First, a one-way analysis of variance was performed with the
independent variable infant feeding method and dependent variable
maternal role definition. No differences were found overall between
breast and bottle feeding mothers (F (2,123) 8 1.171: ns). However,
maternal age by work status did prove to be an important interaction in
discriminating these values. When bottle feeding mothers under and
over the age of 30 were compared on the maternal role definition
variable, no significant differences were found (F (1,30) 8 2.650: ns)
until the work status variable was included. Younger working bottle
feeding mothers did hold significantly more traditional female role
values than older working bottle feeding mothers (F (1,11) 8 5.559: p <
.03). (See Table 30, Appendix A)

Because the F statistic for age by role definition for the total

bottle feeding subsample approached significance, it was decided to

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compare groups of mothers two years before and two years after the age
30 transition to see if significant role value differences emerged. No
significant differences were found for older and younger bottle feeding
mothers when a split was performed at age 33 (F (1,30) 8 1.451; ns)
although the younger group did hold nonsignificantly more traditional
values. When a median split was performed at age 28, younger bottle
feeding mothers did prove to hold significantly more traditional values
than older bottle feeding mothers (F (1,30) 8 4.601: p< .04:
Newman-Keuls: p <.05). It is believed that the nonsignificant F value
for the 33 year age split is due to the small cell size for the 33 year
and older group. (See Table 30, Appendix A).

Therefore, the finding that younger working bottle feeders are
more dissatisfied with parenthood and younger nonworking bottle feeders
are less dissatisfied with parenthood than their older counterparts may
be explained by the fact that these younger women hold more traditional
role values than do the older women. This would suggest tht nonworking
women with less traditional role values would be more dissatisfied with
parenthood than those with stronger traditional identification with the
maternal role. To test this directly, Dissatisfaction with Parenthood
was compared in working and nonworking mothers who held greater and
lesser degrees of traditional role values (F (3,121) 8 3.332, p< .02).
Nonworking women with less traditional role values were more
dissatisfied than other women in this sample (Newman-Keuls: p <.05)
(See Table 32). The association between traditional feminine role
values and dissatisfaction with parenthood also seems to be expressed
through responsive attitudes toward the infant. Homemakers with less

responsive attitudes toward the infant are significantly more

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dissatisfied with parenthood than either homemakers with more
responsive attitudes or than all working women, regardless of the
responsivity of their attitudes toward the infant (F (7,117) 8 2.855,

p (.008: Newman-Keuls .05) (See Table 31, Appendix A).

DISCUSSION

This study explored the relationship between a woman's age at
first birth and her adjustment to the early months of motherhood. An
inspection of the literature had revealed theoretical speculation of
precursors to adequate transition to motherhood but until recently,
little empirical exploration. Moreover, secondary to a recent trend
towards postponement of parenthood it was noted that attention has
been given to physical consequences to the older primigravida (Chico
and Hartley, 1981: Rindfuss and Bumpass, 1976: Westoff and Ryder, 1977)
but little empirical exploration of the psychosocial consequences to
mothers. The current study investigated the association between the
adult mother's age at first birth and her attitudes toward and
adjustment to parenthood.

A sample of primiparas ranging in age from 19 to 40 was surveyed
regarding factors that contributed to a satisfactory transition to
parenthood and the consequences of the timing of the transition.
Whereas maternal age was expected to be a significant predictor of
satisfaction with parenthood and responsivity to infant, in fact
results indicated that age by itself was a weak predictor. Rather,
when the sample was considered as a whole, age exerted an indirect
influence upon the dependent variables through maternal education.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to tease apart the independent
contributions to successful adaptation of education per se and of other
variables associated with a woman's age at first birth. Of course, in
a cross-sectional study of primiparous mothers, the greater the level
of maternal education, the greater the mother's age is likely to

90

91

be. Conversely, in the current cohort of middle class women who have
voluntarily postponed childbearing, it is likely that the preceding
adult years have been spent either in furthering educational goals or
establishing a career. Thus age and education will almost invariably
be confounded in late timing primiparas. In this middle class sample,
the mean education level was college attendance. As expected, older
mothers were significantly better educated than younger mothers.
Whether women who choose to postpone childbearing in pursuit of higher
education are categorically different from those who choose early
childbearing or whether actual increments in education affect
differential attitudes towards infants and toward motherhood is
indistinguishable in the present study. It is also possible that other
factors associated with higher education may influence the experience
of mothering. For instance, greater educational attainment is
associated with more satisfying jobs which allow more self-direction,
more complexity of tasks, greater challenge, and less routinization of
work. These factors have been associated with greater job satisfaction
and greater psychological well-being in both male and female samples
(Kohn and Schooler, 1973; Miller, Schooler, Kohn, and Miller, 1979).
It is possible that the influence of education on parenting attitudes
is at least partially mediated through the psychological gains from
paid employment.

A study by Birnbaum (1971) suggests some interesting parallels.
In that study, professionally employed mothers were compared with
mothers who had graduated from college with distinction but had not

entered the work force. The women were all 15 to 20 years past college

92

graduation. The professional women scored higher on a variety of
measures including morale, self-esteem and personal competence. Since
the women were initially equated on level of college achievement, the
author suggests that continued paid employment, and not basal education
level accounted for differential responses to motherhood in midlife.
While it seems likely that education level has an effect on maternal
attitudes toward children in and of itself, in Birnbaum's sample
continued work experience appeared to be the discriminating variable.
Thus education alone may not totally explain differences in attitudes
between the older and younger mothers in the current sample. Rather
other factors associated with delayed parenting, such as achievement in
the work place, may have been influential.

To determine what the impact of maternal employment status on
adjustment at the transition to parenthood might be, work status was
examined as an antecedent variable. Although all of the mothers in
this sample were employed at some time before motherhood, roughly 402
of the sample were either employed at the time of the survey or
planning to return after a brief maternity leave. Maternal employment
after the birth of the child emerged as a pivotal variable.

Predicting successful adaptation to parenthood

In examining the path models designed to predict successful
adaptation to parenthood, mother's work status exerted a moderating
effect. The path models demonstrate that successful adaptation to
parenthood can indeed be predicted on the basis of attitudes toward
infants and coping resources. However, the individual models for

working and non-working mothers deviated from the full sample path

93

model. Thus although a general model for transition to parenthood can
be postulated, the experience is sufficiently different for working and
non-working mothers to warrant separate consideration. The full sample
model will be discussed first because it is based on the largest sample
of mothers. Discrepancies among the working and non-working women will
be included in this section.
The General Model
Responsiveness to infant

Mothers' satisfaction with parenthood in the combined sample of
working and non-working mothers can be predicted by attitudes towards
the baby and available social support network. Mothers whose attitudes
toward the baby expressed recognition of the infant as a competent
communicator and who endorsed contingent response to infant
communication were more satisfied with mothering and more comfortable
in the new role. Although direct observation of the mother-infant
interaction was not included in this study, there is reason to believe
that these responsive attitudes are related to actual behavior. In a
study by Tulkin and Cohler (1973), mothers who endorsed items contained
in the responsivity subscale of the Maternal Attitude Scale (Cohler,
Weiss, and Grunbaum, unpublished manual) responded to infant
vocalizations, imitated infant vocalizations, gave objects to the
infant and responded to negative infant vocalization more than mothers
who did not endorse scale items. Among the women in this sample,
greater responsiveness was associated with better adjustment to
parenthood.

Although the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow

us to determine causality, the strong association between maternal

94

education and responsive attitudes suggests these attitudes are not
determined exclusively by the mother's experience with her infant.

This would suggest that the causal direction is from responsive
attitudes toward the infant to level of satisfaction with parenthood,
and not the reverse. Maternal education has been shown to influence
parenting behaviors. For example, Sears et al (1957), found that
maternal education was related to affection and warmth towards the
child, harshness of discipline, restrictiveness, and acceptance of the
young child's expressions of dependency and aggression (Sears, Maccoby,
and Levin, 1957). Thus it appears that more advanced education in the
mother is associated with a constellation of permissive, child-oriented
values which in the present study was associated with greater
satisfaction with motherhood.

One explanation for the correlation between responsiveness and
satisfaction is that mothers who devote the time and energy necessary
to respond contingently to infant signals may be expressing a greater
investment in motherhood. Possibly, these responsive attitudes are
also the result of greater anticipated enjoyment of infants and hence
willingness to invest energy for the expected rewards. These factors
result in a greater enjoyment of and adjustment to the motherhood
role. Moreover, the willingness of a mother to take her cues from her
infant implies an ability to respond to the infant's needs before her
own. Thus this index of mature ego functioning may relate to better
overall adjustment in the maternal role. The presumed association
between maternal ego maturity and investment in motherhood and parental
adjustment agrees with previous findings of predictors of successful

adaptation such as investment in the nurturant role and ego resiliency

95

and flexibility (Moss, 1967: Shereshevsky and Yarrow, 1974; Heinicke et
al, 1983)
Social Support

Mothers who had access to adequate social support were also more
satisfied with parenthood. This finding is a replication of those of
several previous studies (eg. Crnic et al, 1983; Wandersman,
Wandersman, and Kahn, 1980) and suggests that social isolation in
itself is a contributor to poor adjustment to parenthood. Mothers who
have an outlet, either through activities outside the home or social
contacts with friends and relatives, are more likely to feel
comfortable in the mothering role and less likely to experience the
stresses associated with mothering an infant as detracting from role
satisfaction. An interesting association emerged between the estimates
of responsive attitudes and social support. Mothers who held more
responsive attitudes towards their infants also had significantly
greater available social support and outside activities. The
explanation for this may be tied to pervasive interpersonal social
skills. Heinicke et al (1983) found that the mothers in their sample
who were found to relate well to peers during prenatal observations
were more responsive when the infants were 12 months old. Studies of
abusive mothers show that maltreating parents have deviant
relationships with friends and other adults. They discourage formation
of long-term relationships and tend to be socially isolated. Their
relationships with their peers tend to be non-reciprocal and aimed at
coercing friends into meeting their own needs (Crittenden, 1985).

Adolescent mothers who have been observed to be more responsive

to their infants, as measured by the maternal emotional and verbal

96

responsivity scale of the HOME inventory (Caldwell, in press) have also
been found to be more sophisticated in their friendship patterns. In
fact, social skills and ability to engage in reciprocal relationships
may prove to be a better predictor of mutuality in adolescent
mother-infant interaction than maternal age per se (Howard and Hall,
1985).

Thus in the present sample of women, the association between
responsive attitudes towards the infant and availability of social
support may be mediated by a general maternal ability to engage in
mature, reciprocally satisfying relationships. This leads to two sets
of rewarding relationships, one with the infant and the other with
peers, both of which independently contribute to satisfaction with
parenthood.

Regret

Dissatisfaction with the parenting role as well as the lack of
availability of social support result in regret and a belief that
parenting might have been more rewarding had the timing of the
transition been different. No differences were found in the regret
variable when mothers who regretted early timing and those who
regretted late timing were separated. Therefore, the scale appears to
measure a general feeling that things may have turned out better under
other circumstances rather than an actual statement vis a vis the
timing of parenthood.

Infant Difficultness

The relationship between infant difficulties such as minor

illness, colic, rashes, sleeping or eating disturbances and maternal

role satisfaction is of interest. When data from the full sample was

97

analyzed, mothers with difficult infants showed lesser enjoyment of the
early infancy period. This replicates findings by Crawford (1983) in
which good infant health and easy temperament predicted mothers'
perception of their infants as less demanding at 6 weeks postpartum.
In the current study, it appeared at first glance as if perception of
infant as demanding also predicted poorer adjustment to parenthood and
hence regret for the timing of parenthood. The relationship between
perception of infancy as a difficult period and adjustment to
parenthood, however, is in fact more complex.

Non-working mothers of difficult infants find the early infancy
period hard and in turn are more dissatisfied with parenthood.
However, although working mothers with difficult infants find the early
infancy period difficult, they are not more inclined to be dissatisfied
with parenthood. It could be that the time working mothers spend away
from their babies who are ill, collicy or otherwise difficult provides
sufficient relief to allow them to continue enjoying motherhood. The
non-working mothers on the other hand, have no respite and may be more
on edge and less relaxed in the role. None of the infants in this
study were seriously ill so the effect of a prolonged illness on a
working mother's satisfaction with parenthood is unknown. Moreover, no
measure of mother's work satisfaction was included. It is possible
that working mothers with difficult or mildly ill infants have trouble
leaving their children for work and would therefore express their
displeasure with dissatisfaction with work rather than with
motherhood. Surprisingly, there was no correlation between infant
difficulties and mothers' perceived work problems, a variable which

directly addressed mothers' concerns for the infant while at work.

98

Once again, the absence of serious infant illness may account for the
lack of expressed conflict. However, among mothers of infants with
only minor problems, those who work do not express less satisfaction
with parenthood while full time homemakers do.

Work Stgtus

The contribution of perceived work-family role conflict to
adjustment to parenthood differs for the working and non-working
mothers. Non-working mothers who missed the work experience perceived
early infancy as more difficult and were more dissatisfied with
parenthood. On the other hand, working mothers who experienced role
conflict did not see early infancy as more difficult and were not
significantly more dissatisfied with parenthood. Once again it would
be of interest to note whether these mothers experienced more
displeasure with work due to concerns over leaving their young infants
or alternatively whether the repeated temporary separations caused by
maternal employment actually enhanced the mothers' appreciation of
parenthood.

Role conflict may contribute less to adjustment to parenthood in
working than in non-working mothers during the early infancy period.
With regard to the active coping variable, which includes availability
of outside activities and social support, it is equally central in the
total sample path model and in the non-working mother path model. Its
significance increases more than two-fold in the working mother's path
model. What's more, there is no relationship between role conflict and
availability of social support and coping resources in the non-working
mother group. However, there is a strong relationship between these

two variables for working mothers. Thus mothers who are concerned

99

about their infant's welfare while they are at work report less outside
activities and less availability of a supportive social network. The
lack of availability of support is strongly predictive of
dissatisfaction with parenthood and of regret concerning the timing of
parenthood. It appears that mothers who feel pulled between parenting
and work responsibilities may respond by devoting the majority of their
energies to these two domains at the expense of personal sources of
support and release of tension which could otherwise mediate the
stresses of parenthood. Thus although role conflict per se does not
directly contribute to poor adjustment, in working mothers it wields an
indirect influence by curtailing time for useful coping resources.
Based on the current data, it does not appear as if a different but
equally effective coping mechanism exists for the working mothers as no
separate coping variable emerged for this subsample.

Rapoport and Rapoport (1969) found that among dual career
couples, social and recreational activities were the first to go when
parents experienced role overload. They found that after a while,
couples who coped well learned to "work" at leisure by deliberatly
structuring in recreational activities. In fact, social network often
proved to be more stressful than helpful when busy working mothers were
unable to comply with social expectations of family and friends. In
this sample, social support proved to be the single most important
variable in predicting the working mothers' satisfaction with
parenthood. While it was also an important variable in non-working

mothers, its position was not quite as central.

100

Maternal Education and Role Conflict and Responsive Attitudes

Mothers' education exerted different influences on working and
non-working mothers' experience of parenthood. Non-working mothers
with greater education experienced more role conflict. Working mothers
with more education experienced less role conflict. As might be
predicted, mothers whose education prepared them for careers outside
the home experienced the least role conflict when engaged in outside
employment and the most role conflict when opportunities to utilize an
education in the working world were not availiable. Moreover the
positive relationship between mother's education and her responsiveness
to her infant in the total sample appears to have flipped into a
competing relationship when the sample is divided by work status.

Non-working mothers who held more responsive attitudes towards
their infants were less conflicted about terminating employment for
motherhood and hence more satisfied with parenthood. Yet non-working
mothers with higher education were more conflicted about leaving
employment and in turn less satisfied with parenthood.

Inversely, working mothers with higher education reported less
role conflict whereas those with highly responsive attitudes towards
the infant experience greater role conflict. However, in working
mothers neither role conflict nor responsiveness towards infants were
related to satisfaction with parenthood. The primary variable to
significantly affect adjustment to parenthood in working mothers was
availability of active coping resources including social support.
Whereas the availability of social support and other active coping
resources was only moderately related to Dissatisfaction with

Parenthood in non-working mothers, it was highly related in working

101

mothers. For full time homemakers, responsive attitudes towards the
infant and experienced role conflict were the best predictors of
satisfaction with parenthood. Education worked in one of two ways.
Education could increase the mother's commitment to the infant, as
reflected in greater responsiveness, and enhance satisfaction.
Alternatively, education could contribute to perceived role conflict
and detract from satisfaction. For working mothers, neither
responsiveness nor role conflict held great predictive power. It may
be that for working women, gratifications at work can substitute for
infant-centered rewards. For those women who are exclusively engaged
in childrearing, other rewards may not be available. But there is no
substitute for social support and other coping mechanisms for the women
who work.
Infant Feeding

A strong correlate of responsive attitudes towards infants in
the present study is method of infant feeding. Mothers who made the
choice to breast-feed their infants, whether or not they continued to
breast-feed at the time of the study, held more responsive attitudes
towards infants. Thus it seems that the choice for breast-feeding is
associated with an orientation towards the infant which recognizes the
infant as a competent communicator and which recognizes the
responsibility of the mother to respond contingently to infant cues.
The author believes that breast-feeding is correlated to an
infant-centered orientation whereas bottle feeding would not

necessarily convey this orientation.

102

Maternal Agg

It is interesting to note that when the impact of choice of
feeding method, maternal work status and maternal age are examined,
only one group appears to differ in degree of responsive attitudes from
the rest. Among mothers who are not employed outside the home, older
breast-feeding mothers expressed more responsive attitudes toward their
infants than the other groups of mothers. No differences were found
among working mothers. The reasons for this finding can only be
speculative, but for women who have returned to work, or who know that
they are planning to return to work shortly as in the case of maternity
leave mothers, the choice of breast-feeding is a complicated one.
Coordinating work schedules with breast-feeding requires a good deal of
planning and motivation. Such a complicated procedure would probably
be impelled by a strong commitment to the infant and infant-centered
orientation. Therefore, differences in responsive attitudes between
older and younger working mothers would be negligible. However, among
non-working mothers, the choice of infant feeding, at least initially
is based less on expedience than on preference. In this sample, the
choice would not reflect lack of success in breast-feeding since
mothers who had attempted any breast-feeding would be included in the
breast-feeding group and not in the bottle-feeding group. It is among
the non-working mothers that age differences in responsive attitudes
emerged. Older mothers who breast-fed, held the most responsive
attitudes of all the non-working mothers. They held significantly more
responsive attitudes than the older and younger bottle feeding mothers.

Therefore, it can be concluded with some confidence that older

non-working mothers who choose to breast-feed believe in

103

infant-centeredness more than bottle feeding mothers, and that they are
also more infant-centered than their younger counterparts. The author
believes that this attitudinal difference may reflect the greater
maturity of the older non-working breast-feeders since the attitudes
expressed in the responsiveness scale require the ability to
subordinate the mother's needs when indicated, as when important for
the optimal care of an infant.
Satisfaction with Parenthood

Satisfaction with parenthood is seen as a measure of adjustment
to the role of motherhood in this study. Responses to this scale
reflect enjoyment and comfort with the maternal role, positive mood and
lack of irritability. It had been predicted that maternal age would
impact on mother's adjustment to parenthood, but no straightforward
association was found. Instead, age again interacted with work status
and feeding method in discriminating between levels of the adjustment
variable. Among breast-feeding mothers, there were no differences in
adjustment to parenthood regardless of work status. Once again,
breast-feeding is believed to reflect infant-centeredness and it
appears that age does not discriminate between responsive mothers'
adjustment to parenthood. Among those mothers who do not make the
infant-centered choice of feeding, age does indeed correlate with
adjustment. Among those mothers who chose to bottle feed the infant,
older mothers were more satisfied with parenthood if they worked
outside the home. Younger mothers were more satisfied if they were not
employed outside the home.

On the whole, the least adjusted group of mothers was that

subset of mothers who neither engaged in the outside role of worker nor

104

invested heavily in the maternal role by behaving in a way that
maximizes concentration on the infant. These women appeared to have
the least investment in either of the two roles studied. Further
exploration of this relationship was undertaken. In order to ascertain
that the bottle feeding choice in the non-working mothers in fact
expressed less responsive attitudes towards the infant, the responsive
attitudes variable was dichotomized with a median split and this
artificial variable was substituted for the feeding variable in the
three way interaction with work status and maternal age. Indeed, only
one group of mothers was distinguishable from the rest. Older, less
responsive non-working mothers were the least satisfied with parenthood
of all groups of mothers. This relationship reached statistical
significance with a conservative post-hoc means test.

The reason for younger mothers' greater satisfaction with
parenthood when not employed was explored through the variable entitled
maternal role definition. This variable conveys traditional female
values emphasizing child-rearing as the fulfillment of the feminine
role. Among working bottle feeding mothers, the younger women in this
study endorsed this scale significantly more strongly than the older
mothers. This difference did not appear in any other group of
mothers. Thus it appears that of the younger, bottle feeding mothers,
those who worked outside the home did not believe they were fully
meeting the demands of motherhood and were therefore more unhappy in
the role. The older women in this sample who chose to work but did not
choose to breast feed were not traditionally oriented and were
therefore satisfied with the dual primary roles of mother and worker.

Their adjustment to the maternal role was not compromised. Indeed, of

105

the nontraditional mothers who were also not infant-centered,
adjustment to parenthood may have been compromised by not working.

This speculation is lent support by one additional comparison. When an
interaction between role definition and work status relative to
dissatisfaction with parenthood was studied, only one group was
significantly more dissatisfied than the rest. Women who were not
employed outside the home and who also did not hold traditional
feminine values were the group least satisfied with parenthood.
Interestingly, the group that was the most satisfied were those women
who were both working and held strong traditional feminine identity
values. The non-working, non-traditional group did not act on a strong
commitment to either the work role or the maternal role. The working,
traditional group acted on or expressed strong commitment to both roles
and were the most satisfied women in the sample.

It would be valuable to have further information regarding the
personality attributes of the subgroup of women who appear to have the
least role commitment of the sample. It is unclear from the present
data whether the lack of commitment reflects poor overall adjustment or
whether these women have elected to remain at home because of a sense
of guilt toward leaving the child. If this were the case, one might
expect satisfaction with parenthood to increase if the additional
stimulation of outside employment were added.

In an early study, Yarrow et al (1962) found that mothers who
prefer to work but remain home out of a sense of duty to the family
reported the most problems in childrearing in their sample. With older
children, these mothers reported ongoing power struggles with the

child. They also reported lower ratings of confidence in the maternal

106

role and objective observers scored their adequacy of mothering lower.
The dissatisfied mothers reported a lack of emotional satisfaction in
relationships. Farel (1980) found the preschool and school age
children of unemployed homemakers achieved lower cognitive scores when
their mothers preferred to work but remained at home than if their
mothers preferred to be full time homemakers. The opposite was true
for children of working mothers. The children achieved higher scores
if their mothers were not conflicted about their employment status. In
Yarrow et al's study, as well as in the present study, it is not
possible to conclude whether the lack of participation in rewarding
roles caused the differences in parenting behaviors and in satisfaction
with mothering or whether some unmeasured personality correlates or
poor emotional adjustment caused lack of commitment to motherhood and
lack of employment. However, it does seem clear that those women who
made a lesser commitment to mothering and who did not simultaneously
hold another source of personal enrichment such as outside employment
were the least satisfied of the mothers studied. On the other hand,
those women whose sources of identity lay both in the world of gainful
employment and in nurturing the young were the best adjusted group in
the current sample.

An interesting parallel comes from a study of working couples by
Holahan and Gilbert (1979), some of whom were parents and some of whom
were childless. Among the non-parents, low career commitment and
career aspiration levels was associated with high role conflict between
self and career. These non-parental couples who were engaged in a
career but reported working fewer hours expressed more self vs

professional role conflict. The authors concluded that for nonparent

107

couples, high role conflict is reported by those who are engaged in a
professional career but lack appropriate level of career commitment.
The same relationship was not found for the parental couples. Rather,
the relationship between number of hours worked and expressed role
conflict was in the opposite direction with greater conflict expressed
by those working a greater number of hours. Like the dissatisfied
non-working mothers in the current study, a lack of high personal
commitment to an exclusive task of either parenthood or employment
results in lesser satisfaction with the task at hand.

Correlates of Responsive Maternal Attitudes

In addition to the maternal feeding variable, maternal education
was a strong correlate of maternal responsiveness. Mothers who held
postgraduate degrees had significantly more responsive attitudes than
either those with college or high school educations. The latter two
groups did not differ in degree of responsiveness. Shifts in
availability of college education may account for the failure to
discriminate between college and high school educated mothers in the
present cohort.

In this sample maternal education alone had a stronger
association to responsive attitudes than did socio-economic status.
Sears et al (1957), found that education, independent of SES, was
associated with such childrearing practices as use of reasoning as a
training technique, use of less restrictive table rules and rules for
orderliness and neatness, use of less sex-typed role expectations for
children, and greater tolerance for children's dependency.
Sociologists argue that better educated parents place higher value on

their children and thus are more inclined to consider time devoted to

108

the raising of young children as an investment (DeTray, 1973;
Leibowitz, 1974). This may account for the increased infant-centered
responses of the more highly educated women in this sample.
Infant Age and Maternal Work Status

In the current sample, responsivity increased as a function of
infant's age among the working mothers although it remained the same
among the non-working mothers. Working mothers with infants over three
months of age saw their children as more competent communicators and
therefore saw the necessity of responding contingently to
infant-initiated cues more often than working mothers of infants under
three months of age. Since the older infants are indeed more effective
communicators, the working mothers increased responsivity can be seen
as reflecting real gains in infant skills. This would not explain the
failure of non-working mothers to report increased responsivity
scores. Perhaps the workers' attitudes reflect persistant attitudes
toward increased competence in their children and are precursors of
actual superior achievement in the children of working mothers.
Although the data are mixed, maternal work status has been associated
with several indicators of intellectual achievement in children,
particularly daughters. Daughters of working women have been found to
be more likely to plan for college and to have more ambitious career
goals. They've also been found to have higher achievement motivation,
though more reliably when their mothers are professionally employed
(Hoffman, 1974).

The greater perception of communicative competence in working
mothers of the older infants in the sample may reflect these mothers'

focus on their children's abilities and the greater value they may

109

place in these attributes in their children. A longitudinal view of
these mothers would be necessary to determine whether this focus
translates to increased childhood cognitive abilities or achievement
motivation. However, these data suggest that the mechanism may have
its roots early in infancy.
Work Status and the Experience of Role Conflict

The working mothers in this study were not significantly more
dissatisfied with parenthood if they experienced family concerns
intruding upon work. It is interesting that despite the young ages of
the infants, overall the working women in this study were more
satisfied with parenthood than non-working mothers. This is contrary
to what might be predicted based on the theory of role strain. In a
study of college‘educated mothers, Hall and Gordon (1973) found that
working women experienced more role conflict than non-working women.
Part time workers particularly reported carrying the greatest number of
roles and experiencing the most home-related conflicts. Full time
workers experienced the most time conflicts, that is of feeling time
pressures. Yet despite these conflicts, Hall found the full time
workers reported the greatest amount of satisfaction in his sample.
The housewives in his group reported the fewest salient roles and
little time or non-home pressure. These women were distinguished by
the greatest amount of "self-pressure": that is conflict related to the
"self".

In the current study, non-working women who experienced conflict
between mothering and former work roles reported poorer adjustment to
parenthood. Although these women have the fewest sources of strain in

terms of competing demands, time pressures, and availability of social

110

support, the absence of the work role to those who grieve the loss
contributes to depreciation in their enjoyment of the predominant
remaining role.

In accordance with the expansion theory of role accumulation
(Sieber, 1974; Marks, 1977) increases in the number of roles assumed
has been associated with decreased psychological distress and increased
self-esteem whereas loss of identities has been associated with
increased psychological distress (Thoits, 1983: Pietromonaco, Manis,
and Frohardt-Lane, 1984). In fact, it may not be the work role which
produces the most stress for working mothers. All mothers, whether
employed or not employed, report high amounts of stress which are
higher than childless women regardless of employment status. Barnett
(1984) contends that it is the "mother" in "working mother" which
accounts for the elevated stress levels and not the "working". She
found that a rewarding experience at work can actually reduce the
stresses experienced in the role of mother and that work may benefit
mothers by setting limits around the demands imposed by children
(Barnett, 1984). Work also contributes by providing the opportunity
for social interaction, achievement, challenge, creativity and mental
stimulation and structure which may not be available in the home
(Beckman, 1978).

Sources of Dissatisfaction in Working Women

Infant Feeding
Although on the whole, the working mothers adjusted to the
transition to parenthood better that their non-working peers, the

effort to fulfill both major roles without compromise proved

lll

stressful. Among non-working women, breast-feeders and bottle feeders
did not differ in satisfaction with motherhood. Among working women,
breast-feeders were more dissatisfied than bottle feeding mothers. Of
all the mothers in this sample, the most satisfied with parenthood were
the employed women who were bottle feeding their infants. A possible
explanation is that these women had incorporated parenting into an
existing work structure and had made compromises designed to decrease
role strain. Hall (1972) describes three patterns of coping with role
conflict. He calls the first of these role redefinition in which
individual role activities are eliminated though the full role is
maintained. This involves reducing specific activities within one or
more of the prescribed roles. Mothers who recognize the difficulty of
combining work outside the home with breast-feeding an infant may be
adapting a strategy to maximize satisfaction within roles. Hall found
that women who structurally changed role definition to accommodate
multiple roles had significantly greater satisfaction than those who
did not use these coping patterns. In this study, the mothers who
coordinated breast-feeding and work schedules were less satisfied with
parenthood than the other working mothers, though not less than the
non-working mothers. These mothers seemed to engage in the coping
pattern which Hall describes as reactive role behavior. These women do
not attempt to diminish role responsibilities, but rather believe that
they must meet all role expectations, either through better planning
and organization or increased energy input. In Hall's study, women who
engaged in this strategy had significantly lower satisfaction with the
motherhood role than those who did not. In addition, there is some

evidence in the current study that those who did not cut down on work

112

commitments during the labor-intensive mothering period also
experienced greater role strain. Full time workers experienced greater
mothering-work role conflict than part time workers.

Conclusions

It was hypothesized that maternal age would be an important
predictor of maternal behavior and attitudes toward infants as well as
satisfaction with parenthood. The greater maturity gained through work
and self-exploration during the 203 was predicted to enhance older
mothers' ability to meet the needs of a young infant while
subordinating her own. It was predicted that older mothers would have
developed more efficient coping mechanisms over the course of their
adult years which would be brought to bear upon the strains of
parenthood. In fact, the relationship between mothers' age at first
birth and adaptation to motherhood was complex. While there was
limited evidence that older mothers did hold more responsive attitudes
towards the infant, the relationship was not strong and may have been
mediated by mother's education.

Older mothers did not possess greater coping skills as measured
by the Active Coping variable. This is probably due to the heavy
emphasis on social support in this scale. Younger mothers have more
access to support from family than older mothers (Daniels and
Weingarten, 1982) and the younger mothers in this study achieved higher
Active Coping scores. However, those mothers who did have greater
availability of social support did cope better with the demands of
parenthood.

The variable which proved pivotal in assessing the mother's

adjustment to parenthood was her employment status. Employed mothers

an

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Si

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113

were more satisfied than non-employed mothers, and the complex of
predictors Operated very differently for the two sets of mothers. For
those at home, strong infant-centered attitudes, healthy and easy
infants, and an unconflicted willingness to temporarily forsake
employment were important in predicting the mothers' adjustment to
motherhood. For the working mother, the availability of social support
and the willingness to compromise in various aspects of both parenting
and working predicted good adjustment. Both the compromises of
choosing a more covenient method of feeding the baby and of reducing
work commitments eased the burden for the working mothers.

The interaction between mothers' age, work status, and
orientation towards the infants proved interesting. Among women who
identified strongly with motherhood and who expressed their commitment
through the demanding activity of breast-feeding, age was not a factor
in successful adaptation. However, among those who may have had a more
ambivalent commitment to motherhood as manifested through bottle
feeding and less responsive attitudes, older mothers were most
dissatisfied when they were not working. Perhaps older mothers
suffered most from the loss of self-esteem, identity and gratification
obtained through work. The most satisfied group in the sample were
those women who were older, working and bottle feeding their infants.
These women may have gained the most from the benefits of holding two
satisfying roles while taking steps to reduce role overload. The least
satisfied were those older mothers with incomplete commitments to both
work and motherhood. For them, the experience of a work identity may
have become essential to well-being.

Thus the importance of mother's age in determining adjustment to

114

parenthood is linked to her commitment to motherhood and to work.

Those who successfully combine both roles do appear to have made
personal gains during their 203 which contribute to better adaptation
to motherhood. But those older mothers with incomplete commitment to
both work and mothering roles appear to have more difficulty
relinquishing the well established work identity for full time
mothering. For mothers with strong infant-centered attitudes and
behaviors, age was not a relevant factor in adjustment to the parenting

role.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

A questionnaire was constructed for the purposes of this study
because no valid instrument was available to measure the constructs in
question. A conservative approach was taken in deriving the scales
used in the analysis. Both empirical and confirmatory factor analyses
were done and strict criteria for internal consistency of the resulting
scales were employed. In addition, results were successfully
cross-validated to within sampling error. However, the small sample
size argues for caution. It is necessary to replicate the scales on a
larger sample of mothers in order to establish the reliability of the
new instrument. Moreover, although path analysis allows one to
generate a predictive model, it is not possible to truely determine
causality in a cross-sectional study. A longitudinal study of the
transition to parenthood would be necessary to confirm the results of
the path models.

Subjects for this study were not asked about their employment

plans before joining the study. This resulted in unequal cell sizes

115

for the employed and nonemployed mothers. In addition, several of the
working mothers were actually on brief maternity leave. It would have
been preferable to have equal groups of working and nonworking women
and to have been able to ensure that all employed women had completed
their maternity leave before participating in the study.
Unfortunately, this would have been difficult to accomplish because of
the need to contact mothers as close to the time of transition as
possible.

Subjects were also not asked about their choice of infant
feeding method at the time of recruitment. Again, unequal cells
resulted and more breast feeding mothers than bottle feeding mothers
were included in the study. Moreover, because of the limits of sample
size, at times the group of breast feeding mothers was combined with
the group of combination breast and bottle feeding mothers. There may
in fact have been group differences that were obscured by this
strategy.

Working mothers were questioned about the effects of employment
outside the home on satisfaction with parenthood. No questions were
asked about the impact of multiple role involvement on satisfaction
with work. Therefore, it was not possible to explore the hypothesis
that work was a focus of dissatifaction in employed women with
perceived role conlict who did not express dissatisfaction with
parenthood.

A self-report measure of mother's responsive attitudes toward
the infant was used. An observational measure would be optimal to
verify that mothers' responsive attitudes indeed reflect responsive

behaviors toward the infant. In addition, Method of Feeding the Infant

116

was used as a proxy variable to estimate infant-centered orientation in
the mother, but a direct measure would have been more powerful.
Fortunately, the strong relationship between the scale Responsive
Attitude Toward the Infant and the infant feeding variable lends
confidence to the choice of this proxy variable.

The Infant Illness/Irregularity variable appeared to operate as
a temperament measure. A validated infant temperament questionnaire
would have been preferable for studying the effect of the individual

traits of the infant on the mother's adjustment.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The current study examined a group of mothers close to the
transition to parenthood and found that coping styles impacted on
perceived satisfaction with motherhood, particularly in working
mothers. It would be interesting to follow a group of mothers through
the first years of parenthood to determine whether coping patterns are
altered to better accomodate the stresses of motherhood. The long
range impacts of various coping patterns on life satisfaction and on
child rearing practices would be studied.

More information is needed about the work role for multiple role
enactors. Specifically, questions remain regarding the relative
contributions of the mother's commitment to her job, her professional
status, and her part or full time work schedule to role strain and
satisfaction.

The social support variable was a central variable in the models
predicting adjustment to parenthood, particularly among working

mothers. It would be useful to discern the specific aspects of social

117

support that are most important to the two groups of mothers for the
design of intervention efforts.

An interaction emerged in the current study between mother's
age, work status and method of feeding the infant. Specifically, older
mothers who were not employed outside the home and who bottle fed their
infants were the least satisfied with parenthood. In addition, women
who did not possess traditional attitudes toward women's roles and who
were not employed outside the home were also dissatisfied with
parenthood. From the available data, it is impossible to determine
whether the inclusion of the work role would have added to the
perceived satisfaction in the dissatisfied, older, nonworking women or
whether some constellation of personality attributes served to depress
general life satisfaction which in turn affected satisfaction with
motherhood. These personality variables may also have limited
involvement in rewarding roles. The inclusion of measures of
personality, depression, anxiety and general life satisfaction would be
necessary to discriminate emotional factors from significant role loss
in the study of adjustment to motherhood.

Working mothers with infants above three months of age held more
responsive attitudes than working mothers of younger infants. This
relationship was not found among nonworking mothers. It was
hypothesized that working mothers perceive greater communicative
competence in their older infants. Further study is needed to
determine if this supposition is correct, and if working mother's
attitudes toward infants are early precursors of behavioral differences

found in their older children.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

TABLE 1

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY

Maternal Age
19-25
25-29
30-34
35-40

Paternal Age

Marital status
married
not married

Duration of marriage
<1 yr-(3 yrs
3 yrs-6 yrs
>6 yrs-16 yrs

Mother's Education
High school
Some college
BA
Postgraduate

Father's Education
Elementary school
High School
Some college
BA
Postgraduate

Income
(10,000
10,000-16,000
>16,000-20,000
>20,000-30,000
>30,000

Race
White
Black
Oriental

Maternal Work Status
Not working
Brief maternity leave
Working
Full-time
Part-time
Unknown

Frequency

121

74
ll
40
25
24

Mean

28

30

4 yrs

20,000-30,000

SD

3.9

2.8 yrs

Table 1 (continued)

Method of Feeding Infant
Breast

Bottle

Combination Breast and Bottle

Postponed Childbearing
Yes
No

‘ yrs

Years Postponed
-5 yrs

Frequency

67
32
26

66
59

30
24
12

Mean

SD

Baby's Age in Weeks
<3 months
>3 months

Baby's Sex
Male
Female

Birth Weight in Grams

Infant Problems
Illness
Colic
Rashes
Feeding problems
Sleeping problems

130

TABLE 2

CHARACTERISTICS OF INFANTS

Frequency

83
42

63
62

14

11

~-

24
13
13

Mean

12

3283

SD

8.0

486

131

TAEL 3

{'1

FACTOR INTERCORRELATIONS AND LOADING MATRIX:
COMMUNALITY IN THE DIAGONAL

Scale 1: Responsiveness to Infant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 60 -33 10 8 -15 -4 22 -33
2 59 -22 12 0 -15 18 19 -12
3 56 -23 -1 -4 -1 0 15 -27
4 53 -14 -1 14 19 18 16 -11
5 52 -16 -7 -5 2 l8 0 -1
6 50 -13 0 5 -2l 9 4 -4
7 49 -10 -2 6 4 10 16 -23
8 43 -21 -14 1 21 ~2 23 -25
9 38 -16 9 2 11 8 23 -16

10 37 -10 ~7 3 4 23 8 -10
11 30 ~31 15 5 -6 l3 9 -14
12 29 -21 2 0 9 10 22 0

Scale 2: Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

1 -30 67 -6 32 24 5 -34 43
2 -8 65 17 31 20 17 -33 66
3 -28 64 0 15 l 31 -37 40
4 -45 63 0 27 24 6 -31 .54
5 -21 62 19 32 2 25 -41 41
6 -30 62 ll 34 -7 14 -52 60
7 -43 61 3 13 2 15 -23 40
8 -21 59 14 16 8 27 -38 46
9 -12 59 9 42 18 13 -16 43
10 -41 58 -22 6 16 -13 -31 31
11 -30 58 4 24 2 8 -53 48
12 -24 53 1 8 14 -2 -25 25
13 -22 53 -l 34 25 5 -21 47
14 -31 50 -12 5 16 -6 -30 38
15 -13 49 4 19 14 21 -35 27
16 -17 48 -28 14 39 2 -4 27
17 -40 47 -28 -1 8 -10 -17 21
18 ~34 47 -3 16 4 -5 -35 26
19 -21 45 -7 9 11 -11 -10 22
20 -9 43 28 26 -2 6 -16 4
21 1 35 -6 0 33 18 8 17
22 13 34 6 14 28 9 -6 32
23 10 31 l 18 15 32 -11 25

24 -17 31 -13 5 14 -l -23 19

132

Table 3 (continued?

Scale 3: Maternal Role Definition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 -6 2 83 4 -10 5 6 21
2 -1 1 77 7 -24 6 -4 15
3 13 -5 6 8 -31 13 -5 25

Scale 4: Dislike of Early Infancy

1 4 26 3 75 12 1 -4 12
2 5 27 9 75 12 15 -2 1"
Scale 5: Missing Work
1 -7 23 -17 12 62 -22 -8 25
2 16 -8 -5 -8 50 0 23 1
3 -19 23 -5 4 47 -25 5 32
4 10 21 -9 11 43 -1C 8 22
5 5 5 -34 21 41 -19 18 -

Scale 6: Work Problems

1 15 19 10 1 -21 91 -10 18
2 0 14 4 6 -20 78 -10 .17
3 34 4 11 18 -29 57 -1s '17
Scale 7: Active Coping
1 5 -18 -3 4 2 -18 63 -4O
2 25 -24 0 -7 4 1 56 -39
3 23 -18 0 -5 l9 5 52 -15
4 -5 ~27 4 ~2 ~10 ~2 52 ~29
5 10 -23 -4 -31 28 ~16 52 -24
6 36 -12 -11 2 ll -15 44 -29
7 -3 -27 -2 5 5 -20 40 -34
8 20 -8 13 l 32 11 40 -14
9 5 -24 7 17 8 -7 36 -16
10 34 -50 -9 0 -9 -13 31 -53
Scale 8: Regret
1 -10 23 18 1 25 5 -20 50
2 -15 34 36 26 22 6 -23 49
3 -29 39 9 27 32 -5 -13 49
4 l 27 -8 10 25 17 -30 47
5 -15 29 -3 6 15 15 ~47 41
6 -27 37 25 -5 -10 7 -36 39
7 -17 39 18 2 2 18 -32 38
8 4 13 -3 -2 24 15 -13 30

Scale 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Scale 2:
1
1 100
2 -5
3 -11
4 -4
5 5
6 14
7 -8
8 11
9 -6
10 15
11 14
12 -16
l3 -l3
14 14
15 8
l6 -4
l7 17
18 -10

1

100

-32

-16
-26
-10

77

~6
30

q
-2

7‘s)

TABLE 4

ITEM CORRELATION MATRIX COMPUTED WITH ONES ON THE
DIAGONAL AND WITH CLUSTER SCORES PARTIALED OCT

3

9
-10
100
-28

I
29
17

8
-8

-12
-7

b

4

: Responsiveness to

Infant

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6 -16 -26 -10 22 -6 3O
29 ll -34 13 32 -1 26
-28 7 29 17 8 -8 -12
100 7 28 -14 -17 -11 -14

7 100 18 ~14 -12 5 -4
28 18 100 -4 23 2 21
-14 -1z. -4 100 2 6 9
~17 ~12 23 2 100 10 —29
-11 S 2 6 10 100 2
-14 -4 21 9 -29 2 100
21 2 8 -8 -7 -1O 11
22 8 -1C 10 6 11 -1S

Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

2

-5
100
16

5

5
27
9
-19
100
21

-1
13
-24
21
-4
-6

45
-17
-6
-12

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 -8 11 -6 15 14 -16 -13
-24 O -20 15 11 27 39 7
18 3
13 11 8 4 28 l -7 -2
21 4 -1 13 -24 21 -4 -6
100 -24 -6 12 23 -5 23 5
~24 100 -18 14 2 4 l8 6
-6 -18 100 -13 -6 -18 -21 17
12 14 -13 100 -5 -3 28 10
23 2 -6 -5 100 6 -3 -5
-5 4 -18 -3 6 100 2 -11
23 18 -21 28 -3 2 100 20

5 6 17 10 -5 -11 20 100
-8 16 -6 -12 10 -10 -16 1
30 ~6 1 22 ~21 9 -21 -2
11 8 7 18 -3 9 4 l4
~4 -13 -9 2 8 l9 -6 2

7 1 -2 -9 ~12 -4 8 -3

14

14
-15
34
-5

-8
l6
-6

-12

-10
-16

100
-5
-8
10
13

11

34
-18
-7

b

21

-8
~7
-10

100
-12

-12

100

100

Table 4 (continued)

)
J

an

19 2C 2; 2- -3
1 -3 -3 -13 -4 ~2
2 -12 -65 1 ~38 14
3 -3 14 -14 5 -2
4 -5 2 ll 15 1
5 -10 19 -17 ~l -16
6 -9 ~53 15 ~2 ~14
7 7 ~27 l -5 0
8 ~7 36 22 4 27
9 8 -41 9 ~20 -2
10 -8 8 -5 1 -2
11 -13 3O -10 -S -1
12 2 40 0 3 -14
13 -13 14 2 ~7 -1
14 -7 4 -11 ~7 ~10
15 3 24 ~18 1 -9
16 9 13 -4 ~7 33
17 -14 ~2 -S 18 -2
18 17 29 ~13 37 -6
19 100 ~1 16 9 22
20 -l 100 53 4 -3
21 16 53 100 ~8 11
22 9 4 -8 100 2
23 22 -3 11 2 100
24 14 17 19 12 ~10

Scale 3: Dislike of Infancy

1 2
l 100 -2
2 -2 100

Scale 4: Missing Work

1 2 3 4
1 100 16 26 0
2 16 100 -3 16
3 26 -3 100 -9
4 0 16 -9 100

Scale 5: Work Problems

1 2 3
l 100 -3 28
2 -3 100 15

3 28 15 100

Table 4 (continued)

Scale 6: Active Coping

\OGJxlO‘th-th-J

Scale 7: Regret

(D‘lO‘UibLAJliH

1

100
16
23

-10
-6
-9
-1

-

-4

2

16
100
31
5
-10
-8
-12
-12

3

'7

h

10
100
21
-19
-12
7
-3
-l

l.

21
100
-1
-9
-2
10
-7

-4
100

-8
-13
21

-2
18
-19
-l
100
34

-11

-6
-10
-20

100
17

15

19

-12
-9
34

100

-14

-9
-8
-2
-8

100

7‘)

5‘-

10

135

‘1

13
-8

-7

-14
100

-1

\J

-1
-12
10
-13

100
-3

-10
16
-3
10

10
100

14

-1

-7

h

-11

-1

100

FINAL SCALES DERIVED FROM THE A PRIORI CLUSTER ANALYSIS

Scale 1: Responsiveness to Infant Alpha 8 .77
1. A three month old baby can't really tell you what he is thinking by a
smile.
2. Parents should ignore their child's crying when it is just for attention.
3. Most of the time small babies don't even understand it when their mothers
smile at them.
R4 Holding and caressing a baby when he cries is good for him.
R5 A seven month old infant should be picked up when he cries.
6. In deciding when a baby is really ready to give up the bottle, a mother's
judgement should be more important than what the baby seems to want.
7. Babies need love and attention, but not nearly as much as most mothers
give them.
8. Babies wish that their mothers would stop fussing over them too much.
9. Parents often overestimate the importance of encouraging children's
curiosity about the world around them.
10. If a mother plays very much with her seven month old baby, he will want
her to be around all the time.
R11. The six month old baby can tell you exactly what he wants if you watch and
listen.
R
12. A child should be fed when he is hungry.
Scale 2: Dissatisfaction with Parenthood Alpha 8 .90
1. Having a baby has not been as enjoyable as I expected it to be.
R2 Overall, how would you rate the degree of difficulty you've had in
adjusting to this baby?
R3 I enjoy the responsibility of being a mother.
4. Taking care of a baby is much more work than pleasure.
5. Compared to most mothers I am having a much harder time.
6. I've been nervous and jumpy since having this baby.

Table 5 (continued)

Scale 2

7. Sometimes I wonder if all the bad times are worth it.

8. I find it hard to be patient with my child.

9. Being a mother is much harder than I expected.
E10. Being a mother is much more rewarding than I expected.
11. On the whole, I'm satisfied with myself.
12. Sometimes I feel like I'm home alone too often.
13. Taking care of the baby leaves me on edge and tense.
14. If I had known what it was like, I doubt I would have had this baby.
15. Compared to most mothers, I am having a much easier time of it.
16. Cleaning, diapering and caring for a baby can get a woman down.
17. The experience of having a baby has made me a happier person.
18. People say I have a good attitude.

V

19. The pain of childbirth is so great that a woman sometimes wonders if it's
worthwhile.

20. People don't respect me enough for being a mother.
21. A baby's crying gets on your nerves after a while.
22. Most men have more interesting work to do than their wives have.
23. Sometimes it's hard to put the baby's need first.
R24. Being able to watch while she gives birth is one of the most thrilling
experiences of a mother's life.
Scale 3: Maternal Role Definition Alpha 8 .79
1. A woman's life is really not complete unless she has a child.
2. A woman does not find her true self until she is a mother.

3. A mother has more pride in herself than a childless woman.

Table 5 (continued.1

Scale 4: Dislike of Early Infancy Alpha 8 .71

1. Taking care of babies is hard but I know it will get easier when the baby
gets older.

2. Babies are more difficult to take care of when they are very young than
when they are older.
Scale 5: Missing Work Alpha 8 .61

1. I sometimes miss the stimulation and challenge of work while I am at home
with the baby.

to

People who don't have time to experience work before starting a family
miss out.

3. A woman's personality suffers when she is only involved in keeping house
and raising children.

4. I sometimes miss contacts with people at work while I am at home with the

baby.
R’ Raising children and keeping house are more interesting than the kind of
work most men do for a living. .
Scale 6: Work Problems Alpha 8 .79

1. I sometimes worry that my child will not be adequately cared for while I
am at work.

2. I sometimes worry that the child may be sick or hurt while I am at work.
3. I sometimes think that I may be missing out on maternal pleasures by
working.
Scale 7: Active Coping Alpha 8 .74
1. Even though time is short, I still make time for some physical exercise.

2. When I have questions about taking care of my baby, I can talk to other
mothers about it.

3. When things get rough, I try and talk about them with my husband.
4. I get all the emotional support I need from my family.
5. I see friends at least once a week.

6. I still am involved in at least one activity outside the house.

139
Table 5 (continued)

Scale 7

Even though I have little time to myself these days, I know how to take
care of my needs.

\
D

8. When I feel myself getting down, I try to get out of the house.
9. When I'm not sure about something, I can always call my pediatrician.

R10. When things get this bad, nothing you can do will help.

Scale 8: Regret Alpha 8 .64
1. If a woman waits too long, she won't have enough energy to have a baby.

2. I'm glad I didn‘t wait any longer to have this baby or I'd be too set in
my ways.

3. A woman has a hard time adjusting to motherhood when she's been free for
too long.

4. If I'd have waited any longer to have this child, I'd have been too old.

5. I feel too old to be the mother of an infant.

9
-

6. If only - had waited longer to have this baby, my husband and I might
agree more on things.

7. I wish I had done more things before becoming a parent.

8. Most mothers are not mature enough when their first child is born.

Note: These scales were used in the causal analyses and in all parametric
tests. An exception was made in the computation of the ”Active Coping" Scale
in the path analysis of the working mother subsample in which items 3 and 5
were omitted due to lack of parallelism.

R represents reflected items.

\IO‘lflL‘LJ-JIQH

C"

Scale

Responsiveness to Infant

STANDARD SCORE COEFFICIENT ALPHAS

TABLE 6

TOTAL SAMPLE

Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

Maternal Role Definition
Dislike of Early Infancy

Missing Work

Work Problems
Active Coping
Regret

l 2 3
100 -41 3
~41 100 ~1

-1 100

6 35 9

2 26 -29

22 16 11
32 ~49 -1
~32 71 27

CORRECTED I'TERSCALE CORRELATIONS

6
35

100
11

-4
19

TABLE 6A

TOTAL SAMPLE

26
-29
16
100
-31
19
39

32
-49
~1
-4
19
-16
100
-63

-32

100

141
TABLE 7

PATH ANALYSIS: FULL SAMPLE
ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION

PATH COEFFICIENTS

Infant Maternal Dislike of Maternal Respon-

Illness Education Infancy Age siveness
Infant illness 0 0 0 0 0
Maternal education 0 0 0 0 0
Dislike of infancy 44 0 0 0 0
Maternal age 0 50 0 0 0
Responsiveness 0 -29 0 0 0
Active coping 0 0 0 0 27
Dissatisfaction O 0 36 0 -35
Regret 0 O 0 0 0
REPRODUCED CORRELATIONS
Infant illness 100 11 44 5 -3
Maternal education 11 100 5 50 -29
Dislike of infancy 44 5 100 2 -1
Maternal age 5 50 2 100 -14
Responsiveness -3 -29 -1 -14 100
Active coping -1 ~8 0 ~4 27
Dissatisfaction 17 14 36 7 -44
Regret 10 ll 21 5 -34
OBSERVED MINUS PREDICTED CORRELATIONS
Infant illness 0 0 0 -3 l
Maternal education 0 0 14 0 0
Dislike of infancy 0 14 0 3 8
Maternal age -3 0 3 0 -3
Responsiveness 1 0 8 -3 0
Active coping -6 ~3 -3 l4 0
Dissatisfaction 3 -1l -2 -7 3
Regret -8 5 -4 -l4 2

Active

Dissatis-

coping faction

-1
-8

-4
27
100
-41
-54

-6
-3
-3
14

0

0
-1
'1

SUM OF SQUARED DEVIATIONS 8 .11 Chi square 8 5.278

ns

mOOOOOOO

LN

17
14
36

-44
-41
100

71

~11
-2

~7

-l

Regret

-8
-5
-4

I
' H

~1

O‘KflbbeQH

C‘kflbbJNk‘

TABLE 10

STANDARD SCORE COEFFICIENT ALPHAS, NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE

Responsiveness to infant .78
Dissatisfaction with parenthood .92
Dislike of infancy .76
Missing work .56
Active coping .71
Regret .66
TABLE 10A

CORRECTED INTERSCALE CORRELATIONS, NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE

1 2 3 4 5 6
100 -49 8 -24 35 -26
~49 100 36 61 -35 79

8 36 100 47 -l 18
-24 61 47 100 2 66

35 -35 -1 2 100 -28

-26 79 18 66 -28 100

143

TABLE 9

PATH ANALYSIS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
WORKING SUBSAMPLE

PATH COEFFICIENTS

Infant Maternal Infant Respon- Work Active Dissatis- Dislike Regret
Illness Education Feeding siveness Problems Coping faction Infancy

Infant illness 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O
Maternal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

education

Infant feeding O 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 0
Responsiveness 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Work problems 0 25 0 40 0 0 0 0 0
Active coping 0 0 0 39 ~44 O 0 0 0
Dissatisfaction -1 O 28 2 -9 -72 0 0 0
Dislike infancy 46 40 43 -9 0 0 0 0 O
Regret 0 0 -29 -12 0 -72 9 0 0

REPRODUCED CORRELATIONS

Infant illness 100 -7 8 2 -1 1 2 47 -3
Maternal ~7 100 21 -69 -3 ~26 24 26 23
education

Infant feeding 8 21 100 12 10 O 27 58 -29
Responsiveness 2 -69 12 100 23 29 -18 ' 7 -38
Work problems -1 -3 10 23 100 ~35 19 9 21
Active coping 1 -26 O 29 -35 100 -69 -1 -82
Dissatisfaction 2 24 27 -18 19 -69 100 17 53
Dislike infancy 47 26 58 7 9 -l 17 100 -15
Regret -3 23 -29 -38 21 -82 53 -15 100

OBSERVED MINUS PREDICTED CORRELATIONS

Infant illness 0 0 25 -14 7 0 9
Maternal 0 0 0 0 0 -9 -7 0 ~3
education

Infant feeding 0 0 0 0 2 ~8 6 0 7
Responsiveness 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Work problems 25 0 2 0 0 O 1 9 3
Active coping -l4 -9 -8 0 0 0 -2 -10 2
Dissatisfaction 7 -7 6 0 1 -2 0 l4 0
Dislike infancy 0 0 0 0 9 -10 14 0 29
Regret 9 -3 7 0 3 2 0 29 0

SUM OF SQUARED DEVIATIONS 8 .25 Chi square 8 4.712 ns

146

TABLE 12
PATH COEFFICIENTS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
NON-WORKING SUBSAMPLE
PATH COEFFICIENTS

Infant Missing Dislike Dissatisfaction Infant

Illness Work Infancy Feeding
Infant illness 0 0 0 0 0
Missing work 0 0 0 0 0
Dislike infancy 46 52 0 0 0
Dissatisfaction 37 65 0 0 0
Infant feeding 0 0 0 ~28 O

REPRODUCED CORRELATIONS

Infant illness 100 -11 40 30 -8
Missing work ~11 100 47 61 -17
Dislike infancy 4O 47 100 45 -13
Dissatisfaction 30 61 45 100 -28
Infant feeding -8 -17 ~13 -28 100

OBSERVED MINUS PREDICTED CORRELATIONS

Infant illness 0 0 0 0 -1
Missing work 0 0 0 0 13
Dislike infancy 0 0 0 -9 9
Dissatisfaction O 0 -9 0 0
Infant feeding -l 13 9 0 0

SUM OF SQUARED DEVIATIONS 8 .03 Chi square 8 .882 ns

Work problems
Infant illness
Infant feeding
Dissatisfaction
Dislike infancy

Work problems
Infant illness
Infant feeding
Dissatisfaction
Dislike infancy

Work problems
Infant illness
Infant feeding
Dissatisfaction
Dislike infancy

147

TABLE 13

PATH ANALYSIS, ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES SOLUTION
WORKING SUBSAMPLE

PATH COEFFICIENTS

Work Infant Infant Dissatisfaction Dislike
Problems Illness Feeding Infancy
O 0 0 0 0
O 0 0 0 0
C 0 0 0 0
l6 0 31 0 0
O 43 55 0 0

REPRODUCED CORRELATIONS
100 24 12 20 7
24 100 8 6 47
12 8 100 33 58
20 6 33 100 21
17 47 58 21 100
OBSERVED MINUS PREDICTED CORRELATIONS
0 O O 0 1
0 0 0 3 0
0 0 0 0 0
O 3 0 0 10
1 0 0 10 0

SUM OF SQUARED DEVIATIONS 8 .01 Chi square 8 .046 ns

Mean Responsiveness to Infant for 3 Levels of Maternal Age

Table

148

Q '7
14

 

 

Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F(2,1221 P
19-27 28-32 33-40 Between .9811 .4906 2.553 .08
-.1321 2 1598 1.8838 Within 23.4380 .1921
Total 24.4191

Table 15

Mean Active Coping and Maternal Age

 

Mean Mean Source (35) (MS) F(1,119) P
Age 19-29 Age 30-40 Between 1.9495 1.9495 9.68 .002
1.922 2.083 Within 23.9682 .2014

Total 25.9177

Table 16

Available Coping Facilities and Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood

 

 

 

Mean Mean Source (SS) (MS) F(1,123) F
Greater Available Lesser Available Between 3.2186 3.2186 14.384 .0002

Coping Coping Within 27.5219 .2238

3.9263 3.5976 Total 30.7405

Note: The Available Coping variable was derived by performing a median split on
the Active Coping Scale. Greater Available Coping was defined as scores
above the median value.

Bork StatusLiRole Conflict and Dissatisfaction With Maternal Role

 

Mean Mean Source (SS) (HS) F
High Role Low Role
Conflict Conflict
Non-Korkers 3.4381 3.8616 Between 3.3184 3.3184 (1.72) 13.577
Dissatisfaction Within 17.5978 .2444
Total 20.9162
Non-Workers
Dislike 1nfancy 2.7568 3.2297 Between 4.1385 4.1385 (1.72) 5.084
Within 58.6081 .8140
Total 62.7466
Workers
Dissatisfaction 3.8431 3.9021 Between .0433 .0433 (1,48) .255
Within 8.1444 .1697
Total 8.1877
Workers .
Dislike Infancy 2.8889 3.2174 Between 1.3403 1.3403 (1,48) 1.712
Within 37.5797 .7829
Total 38.9200

Note: Worker role conflict was derived by performing a median split on the "Work
Problems” scale. High role conflict was defined as a score above the median.
Nonworker role conflict was derived from a median split of the "Miss Work" scale.
High role conflict was defined as a score above the median.

Miss Work

Work Problems

152

Table 17A

Mean Age and Mean Role Conflict Scores

 

Age 19-29 Age 30-40 Source (55) (MS) F P
1.4902 1.5217 Between .0158 .0158 (1,72) .061 R.S.
Within 18.4842 .2567
Total 18.5000
(3.36) .43 N.S.

Responsiveness

Dissatisfaction

Dislike Infancy

Active Coping

Regret

Table 18

Mean Scale Scores for Infant Sex

 

Female Male Source (SS) (MS) F(1,12317 P
2.05 2.17 Between .4802 .48020 2.47 N.S
Within 23.9470 .1947

Total 24.4272

3.73 3.75 Between .9805 .9805 .04 N.S
Within 30.7070 .2496
Total 31.6875

3.02 3.01 Between .2097 .2097 .00 5.5
Within 101.7299 .8271
Total 101.9396

1.94 2.02 Between .2001 .2001 .90 N.S
Within 27.3518 .2224
Total 27.5519

3.71 3.67 Between .3842 .3842 .15 ’ N.s.
Within 31.5212 .2563
Total 31.9054

Table 18A

Mean Scale Scores for Infant Illness/Irrggularitv

 

Present Absent Source (SS) (HS) P(1,121) P

Responsiveness 2.085 2.003 Between .3813 .3813 .11 R.S.
Within 23.4116 .1935
Total 23.7929

Dissatisfaction 3.865 3.892 Between .2721 .2721 .78 N.S.
Within 28.8776 .2387
Total 29.1497

Dislike Infancy 2 929 3 174 Between 1.1321 1.1321 2.91 .09
Within 98.4894 .8140
Total 99.6215

Active Coping 2.017 2.022 Between .7228 .7228 .35 N.S.
Within 26.6861 .2205
Total 27.4089

Regret 3.792 3.710 Between .1393 .1393 .02 N.S.

Within 30.7074 .2538 '
Total 30.8467

Note: Illness/Irregularity is defined as the presence of one or more of the following
conditions: minor illness, rashes, colic or irregularities of sleep or feeding.
This is contrasted to the absence of any illness or irregularity.

Table 19

Mean Scale Scores for Planned vs. Unplanned Pregnancies

0"

 

Planned Unplanned Source (SS) (MS) Fflll'
Responsiveness 2.13 2.04 Between .1148 .1148 .58
Within 24.3124 .1977
Total 24.4272
Dissatisfaction 3.73 3.82 Between .1241 .1241 .50
Within 30.5928 .2487
Total 30.7169
Dislike Infancy 3.04 2.87 Between .4619 .4619 .56
Within 101.2701 .8233
Total 101.7320
Active Coping 1.99 1.92 Between .9113 .9113 .41
Within 27.4608 .2233
Total 28.3721
Regret 3.68 3.77 Between .1201 .1201 .47
Within 31.4395 .2556

Total 31.5596

Table 19A

Mean Scale Scores for Duration of Marriage

<1 Yr. 1-3 Yrs. >3-6 Yrs. >6 Source (SS) (MS) F(3,113)

’YJ

 

IJ
[J
[J
k)

.06

k)

.33 1.91 Between .3425 .1142 .61
Within 21.2956 .1885
Total 21.6380

Responsiveness

3
L.)
\1
Ln
p)
U!
L
b)
\ 1
b.)

Between .5447 .1816 .70
Within 29.1523 .2580
Total 29.6970

Dissatisfaction 3.80

Dislike Infancy 2.97 3.18 2.73 2.94 Between 2.1216 .7072 .82
Within 96.9903 .8583
Total 99.1119

Active Coping 1.92 1.95 2.09 2.29 Between .7068 .2356 1.05
Within 25.3136 .2240
Total 26.0205

Regret 3 75 3.68 3.55 3.71 Between .3189 .1063 .40

Within 30.3160 .2683
Total 30.6349

(n

\J

Table 20

Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Infant Age and Maternal Work Status

 

Infant Age Infant Age Source (SS) (MS) F P
< 3 Months > 3 Months
Workers 2.2053 1.8557 Between 1.5432 1.5432 (1,49) 10.727 .001*
Within 7.0492 .1439
Total 8.5924
Non-Workers 2.1530 2.1694 Between .0038 .0038 (1.72) .018 N.S.
Within 15.4606 .2147
Total 15.4643

“Student Newman-keuls significant .05 level

Table 21

Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal Work Status

Workers Non-Workers Source (58) (MS) F(1,123) P
3.6449 3.8762 Between 1.5462 1.5462 6.514 .01*

Within 29.1943 .2374
Total 30.7405

”Student Newman-Keuls significant at .05 level

159

Table 22

Mean Scale Scores for Method of Feeding Infant

 

Breast Feeders Bottle Feeders Source (SS) (MS) F(l,123) F
ReSponsiveness 2.0368 2.3327 Between 2.0853 2.0853 11.484 .009“
Within '.3339 .1816

7)
Total 24.4191
Dislike Infancy 2.9086 3.3125 Between 3.8839 3.8839 4.882 .C2*
Within 97.8481 .7955
Total 101.7320

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at .05 level

160

Table 23

Mean Scale Scores for Maternal Work Status and Method of Feeding Infant

 

Breast Feeders Bottle Feeders Source (SS) (MS) F P

Workers 3.8005 4.0974 Between .8540 .8540 (1,49) 5.637 .02
Dissatisfaction Within 7.4241 .1515

Total 8.2781
Non-Workers 3.7199 3.4472 Between 1.0502 .050- (1,72) 3.806 .05
Dissatisfaction Within 19.8660 .2759

Total 20.9162
Workers 2.8158 3.6923 Between 7.4418 4418 (1,49)11.584 .001*
Dislike Infancy Within 31.4798 6424

Total 38.9216
Non-Workers 2.9727 3.0526 Between .0902 .0902 (1,72) .104 N.S
Dislike Infancy Within 62.6565 8702

Total 62.7466 .
*Student Newman-keuls significant at the .05 level

161

Table 24

Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal Work Status,
Method of Feeding Infant and Maternal Age

 

Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F P
19-29 30-40
Workers:
breast 2.0808 1.9010 Between .2992 .2992 (1,36) 2.040 N.S
Within 5.2794 .1466
Total 5.5785
bottle 2.1424 2.2197 Between .0184 .0184 (1,11) .074 N.S
Within 2.7253 .2478
Total 2.7437
Non-Workers:
breast 2.1651 1.8399 Between 1.2806 .2806 (1,53),7.268 .009*
Within 9.3392 .1762 '
Total 10.6199
bottle 2.3864 2.6000 Between .1681 .1681 (1,17) 1.102 N.S.
Within 2.5945 .1526
Total 2.7627

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at the .05 level

1

62

Table 25

Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two Levels of
Maternal Age at Two Levels of Work Status for
Breast and Bottle Feeding Mothers

 

Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F
19-29 30-40
Workers:
breast 3.8523 3 7293 Between .1401 1401 (1.36) .936 ’.S.
Within 5.3865 1496
Total 5.5265
bottle 3.9282 4.3681 Between .5954 .5954 (1.11) 5.030 .04
Within 1.3021 1184
Total 1.8976
Non-Workers:
breast 3.6833 3.7951 Between .1512 .1512 (1,53) .601 '.S.
Within 13.3295 .2515
Total 13.4807 '
bottle 3.6724 2.8167 Between 2.6976 2.6976 (1.17) 12.436 .002*
Within 3.6877 .2169
Total 6.3853

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at the .05 level

163

Table 26

Mean Responsiveness to Infant for Maternal Education

(College Graduate College Graduate Postgraduate Source (SS) (MS) F(2J222) P
2.2157 2.2105 1.9060 Between 2.6016 1.3008 7.274 .001*

Within 21.8175 .1788
Total 24.4191

“Student Newman-Keuls significant at the .05 level

Table 27

Mean Scale Scores for Postponement of Childbearing

Years Postponed
0 <2 Yrs 3-5 Yrs >6 Yrs Source (SS) (MS) F(3,47) F

 

Dissatisfaction 3.8473 3.6780 4.1851* 3.6964 Between 1.9151 .6384 4.715 .005*
Within 6.3630 .1354
Total 8.2781

Active Coping 2.0083 2.0707 1.7842** 2.4048 Between 1.7901 .5967 2.335 .08**
Within 12.0135 .2556
Total 13.8036

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at .05 level
**Least Significant Differences test significant at .05 level v

Table 28

Mean Scale Scores for Percentage of lime Worked

"5

 

Full Time Part Time Source (SS) (MS) F P
Work Problems 2.1667 2.8841 Between 6.1651 6.1651 (1,46) 6.017 .01*
Within 47.1353 1.0247
Total 53.3003
Active Coping 2.1822 1.8426 Between 1.4124 1 4124 (1,47) 5.469 .02*
Within 12.1373 2582
Total 13.5498

*Student Newman-Reuls significant at the .05 level

M

Means and Standards Deviations for Background Variables and Maternal Age

Maternal Age

 

19-29 SD 30-40 SD Source (55) (MS) F(1,122 P
Duration of 1.519 .69 2.186 1.08 Between 12.5161 12.5161 17.61 .0001
Marriage Within 86.7339 .7109
Total 99.2500
Education 1.753 .80 2.349 75 Between 9.9692 9.9692 16.25 .01
Within 74.8292 .6134
Total 84.8261
585 1.901 .82 2.302 .74 Between 4.5187 4.5187 7.23 .008
Within 76.2796 .6252
Total 80.7983
Yrs. Childbearing 1.543 .58 2.512 1.03 Between 26.3425 26.3425 35.38 .00001
Postponed Within 90.8429 .7446
Total 117.1854
Planned Pregnancy 1.210 .17 1.047 .21 Between .7496 .7496 5.96 .01
Within 15.3391 .1257
Total 16.0887
Infant Age 1.247 .43 1.512 .51 Between 1.9683 1.9683 9.31 .002
Within 25.8059 .2115
Total 27.7742
Infant Feeding 1.272 .45 1.233 .43 Between .4283 .4283 .22 N.S
Within 23.6991 .1943
Total 24.1274
Infant Illness/ 1.506 .50 1.558 .50 Between .7585 7585 .30 N.S
Irregularity Within 30.8516 2529
Total 31.6101
Work Status 1.630 .49 1.512 .51 Between .3911 3911 1.61 N.S
Within .2429 0020
Total .6341
Note: Duration of Marriage: 1-<2 years 2-3-4 years 385-6 years 4->6 years
Education: 1-some college 2-college graduate 3-postgraduate
SES: l-low 2-medium 3=high Based on current sample means
Years Postponed Childbearing: If: year 2-2-3 years 3-4-6 years 4=>6 years
Planned Pregnancy: ltyes 2-no
Infant Age: 1353 months 2->3 months
Infant Feeding: l-breast 2-bott1e
Infant Illness/Irregularity: l-yes 2=no

Work Status: l-working 2-not working

Mean Traditional Feminine Role Identification Scores for Different Levels
of Maternal Age in Bottle Feeding Mothers

 

 

 

Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F P
19-29 30-40
Workers 3.1667 4.1333 Between 2.8752 2.8752 (1.11) 5.559 .03
Within 5.6889 .5172
Total 8.5641
NoneWorkers 3.1905 3.4000 Between .1617 .1617 (1.17) .140 5.5.
Within 19.5810 1.1518
Total 19.7427
Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F(1,30) P
(33 >33
3.2 4.0 Between 1.3366 1.3366 1.451 E.S.
Within 27.6322 .9211 .
Total 28.9687
Maternal Age Source (55) (MS) F(l,30) P
<28 >28
2.9167 3.6333 Between 3.8521 3.8521 4.601 .04*
Within 25.1167 .8372
Total 28.9687

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at the .05 level

168

Table 31

Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two Levels of Maternal Age
at Two Levels of Work Status and Two Levels of Responsiveness to Infant

Workers:
Greater
Responsiveness

Lesser
Responsiveness

Non-Workers:
Greater
Responsiveness

Lesser
Responsiveness

 

Maternal Age Source (SS) (MS) F(7,117) P
19-29 30-40
3.9059 3.9055 Between 4.4854 .6408 2.855 .008*
Within 26.2551 .2244

3.8225

3.8755

3.5644

Total 30.7405

3.8492

3.8322

3.3098*

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at .05 level

Note: The ”Responsiveness Towards Infant" variable was derived
on the Responsiveness scale.

by performing a median split

A score of 1 denotes a value above the median, 2 denotes a value below the median.

169

Table 32

Mean Dissatisfaction with Parenthood for Two Levels of Maternal Work Status
and Two Levels of Traditional Role Identification

Maternal Work Status

 

 

Workers Non-Workers Source (SS) (MS) F(3,121) P
Greater Traditional 3.9645* 3.7135 Between 2.3454 .7818 3.332 .02
Role Identification Within 28.3951 .2347

Total 30.7405

Lesser Traditional 3.8144 3.5392*
Role Identification

*Student Newman-Keuls significant at .05 level

Note: "Traditional Role Identification" was derived by performing a median split on the

”Maternal Role Definition" Scale.
A lower score denotes stronger identification with traditional feminine values.

APPENDIX B

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

170

QUESTIONNAIRE

Holding and caressing a baby when he cries is good for him.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

A woman's personality suffers when she is only involved in
keeping house and raising children.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Sometimes I feel like I'm home alone too often.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

If I had had this baby earlier, I might not have appreciated
him as much as I do now.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

When I'm unsure about what to do, I try to find the answers
in childcare books.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Being a mother is much harder than I expected.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

A newborn baby doesn't cry unless something is wrong.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

A woman does not find her true self until she is a mother.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Sometimes I wonder if all the bad times are worth it.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

1o)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

16)

17)

171

If only I had waited longer to have this baby my husband and
I might agree more on things.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Taking care of babies is hard but I know it will get easier
when the baby gets older.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Being a mother is much more rewarding than I expected.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Babies wish that their mothers would stop fussing over them
too much.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Raising children and keeping house is more interesting than
the kind of work most men do for a living.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Having a baby has not been as enjoyable as I expected it to
be.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I am the only one of my friends with a child in diapers.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Since I've had this baby I eat more than I should.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

172

18) Cleaning, diapering and caring for a baby can get a woman down.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

19) Parents often over-estimate the importance of encouraging
children's curiosity about the world around them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

20) I sometimes miss the stimulation and challenge of work while
I am at home with the baby.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

21) On the whole, I'm satisfied with myself.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

22) When a couple waits too long to have a baby, they may resent
the baby for coming between them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

23) Sometimes it feels like the only person who is not taken
care of in this family is me.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

24) Compared to most mothers I am having a much easier time of
it.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

25) A three month old baby can't really tell you what he is
thinking by a smile.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

26)

27)

28)

29)

3o)

31)

32)

33)

173

I sometimes think that I may be missing out on maternal
pleasures by working.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

The experience of having a baby has made me a happier
person.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

People who don't have time to experience work before
starting a family miss out.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

When things get rough, I try and put my trust in the Lord.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Taking care of the baby leaves me on edge and tense.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

In deciding when a baby is really ready to give up the
bottle, a mother's judgement should be more important than
what the baby seems to want.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I sometimes worry that the child may be sick or hurt while I
am at work.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

All parents have moments when they wish they didn't have
children.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

174

34) Most mothers are not mature enough when their first child is
born.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

35) When I feel myself getting down, I try to get out of the
house.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

36) Compared to most mothers I am having a much harder time.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

37) Newborn babies are much more like each other than they are
different from each other.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

38) Most men have more interesting work to do then their wives
have.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

39) Taking care of a baby is much more work than pleasure.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

40) Since I've had this baby I have begun smoking cigarettes
more often.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

41) People don't respect me enough for being a mother.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

42)

175

If I had known what it was like, I doubt I would have had
this baby.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

43) Most of the time small babies don't even understand it when

44)

45)

46)

their mothers smile at them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I sometimes worry that my child will not be adequately cared
for while I am at work.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Babies are more difficult to take care of when they are very
young than when they are older.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

If a woman waits too long she won't have enough energy to
have a baby.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

47) Running a household and raising a child are not that

48)

49)

difficult if you are organized.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I've been nervous and jumpy since having this baby.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

The six-month-old baby can tell you exactly what he wants if
you watch and listen.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

176

50) I sometimes miss contacts with people at work while I am at
home with the baby.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

51) One big trouble about having babies is that you can't do the
things you liked before the baby was born.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

52) I wish I had done more things before becoming a parent.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

53) Even though I have little time to myself these days, I know
how to take care of my needs.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

54) Now that I am a mother, I will never reach my career dream.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

55) A baby's crying gets on your nerves after a while.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

56) A seven-month-old infant should be picked up when he cries.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

57) Even the best mother feels some disgust when cleaning up the
mess in her infant's diaper.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

58)

59)

6o)

61)

62)

63)

64)

65)

177

If I'd have waited longer to have this baby I'd probably
have more patience.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I still am involved in at least one activity outside the house.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I lost a lot of respect from people when I quit work to
become a mother.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

My mother was more mature than I am now when she had her
first child.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

If a mother plays very much with her seven-month-old baby he
will want her to be around all the time.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

A woman's life is really not complete unless she has a
child.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to have this baby or I'd
be too set in my ways.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Sometimes it is so hard taking care of a baby that I just
want to go to sleep.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

66)

178

I enjoy the responsibility of being a mother.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

67) A mother gets physical pleasure out of holding, hugging and

kissing her child.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

68) A mother has more pride in herself than a childless woman.

69)

70)

71)

72)

73)

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

What bugs me is when people tell me I'll get bored just
being a mother.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I feel too old to be the mother of an infant.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Since I've had this baby I drink alcoholic beverages more
often.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I find it hard to be patient with my child.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Babies need love and attention, but not nearly as much as
most mothers give them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

179

10
74) A mother has to make great sacrifices for her child.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

75) A woman has a hard time adjusting to motherhood when she's
been free for too long.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

76) Parents should ignore their child's crying when it is just
for attention.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

77) Children should be more considerate of their mothers, since
their mothers do so much for them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

78) If only I had waited longer to have this baby my husband
might have had more time to help around the house.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

79) I worry about what's happening to my career while I am
taking time off for mothering.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

80) When things get this bad, nothing you can do will help.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

81) Sometimes it's hard to put the baby's needs first.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

82)

83)

84)

85)

86)

87)

88)

89)

180

11

Things may be difficult now but I know things will not
always be this hard.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I have more patience for my child than I ever imagined I
would.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

A child should be fed when he is hungry.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I wish more of my friends were having their babies now too.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I there's one thing I know it's how to organize my time.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I am more mature than a lot of the new mothers I see.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Babies act like they are the most important people in the
household and are always demanding things.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

The pain of childbirth is so great that a woman sometimes
wonders if it's worthwhile.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

9o)

91)

92)

93)

94)

95)

96)

97)

181

12

Now that I am a mother, there are a lot of things I'll never
get to try.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

When things get me down, I just try and put it out of my
mind.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Being able to watch while she gives birth is one of the most
thrilling experiences of a mother's life.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

If I'd have waited any longer to have this child, I'd have
been too old.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I have had to give up all my activities outside the home
since the baby was born.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

Even though time is short, I still make time for some
physical excercise.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

When problems come up in the house, I'm the one who can
solve them.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

I just take each day as it comes and don't worry about the
future.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

182

13

98) When things get rough, I try and talk about them with my
husband.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

99) People say I have a good attitude.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

100) I'm the kind of person that is basically happy.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

101) If I have any problems with the baby, I can talk to my
mother about it.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

102) When I'm not sure about something, I can always call my
pediatrician.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

103) I get all the emotional support I need from my family.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

104) When I have questions about taking care of my baby, I can
talk to other mothers about it.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

105) I see friends at least once a week.

(strongly agree undecided disagree strongly)
agree disagree

183

14

106) I attend meetings at a parents organization.

Yes . No

 

107) Did you postpone having this child?

Yes No

 

If your answer to question 107 was yes,
answer questions 108 and 109.
If your answer to question 107 was no, go to question 110.

108) How long did you postpone having this child (Circle the
appropriate response)

less than one year
1-2 years

3-5 years

6-8 years

. 9-10 years

over 10 years

O‘LflbWNt—t

184

15

109) Why did you postpone having this child? (circle up to three
responses)

1) to have time to establish a strong relationship with my
husband

2) To get settled in my job so I could come back to it after
the baby was born

3) to allow time for my husband to get settled in his job
4) to have a chance to work before being a full time mother
5) to finish my education

6) to allow my husband to finish his education

7) to wait until I felt emotionally ready for a child

8) to wait until my husband felt emotionally ready for a
child

9) to save up some money before having a child
10) to buy a house before having a child

11) to find the right relationship with a man before
starting a family

12) I could not conceive

13) other

 

 

 

110) Overall, how would you rate the degree of difficulty you've
had in adjusting to this baby? (please circle one response)

1 2 3 4 5

none slight moderate extensive severe

 

 

ulI::r—————————————-------f—-———r* j,
- 16

185 -- - ..- -.___-.___1

 

Subject I.D.

 

(1-3)
Card No. 01 Date Type

(4-5) (6-11) (1

 

 

 

BEIWISALISTOFQJESTICNSABOJTYOJANDYCURFAMIIX. THEINFCRMATICNWIILBE
USEDTOREPGU‘THEGHTERALQMRACTERISHCSGFTHElfln-IERSDQTMISSNDY. CNLYGROUP
RESULTSWHLBEWEISIEDAMDMWG‘DEWWHLWANWS.
MAMWWNMMMRMBESTDWYWGYQRFMY.

1. that is your marital status? (13)
( ) 1. Married
( ) 2. Single
( ) Divorced

( ) Separated
( ) Widowed

9‘?!”

2. How 1mg have you beai married? (144-5)
3. Ifyouareurmarried, howlmghaveywbeeninyocn'cm'rmt

relaticnship? (16-17)
4. That is the last school grade that you cmpleted? (18)

( ) 1. lst to 8th grade

( ) 2. 9th to 12th grade

( ) Sane college but did not graduate

( ) 4. Graduated college

( ) Postgraduate college or professiaial

U)

U!

5. What is the last school grade canpleted by your hisband (19)
'<) 1. lat to 8th grade
()2. 9tht012thgrade

 

 

( ) 3. Sane college but did not graduate
( ) 4. Graduated college
( ) 5. Postgraduate college or professimal g
6. That is your age? (20-21)
7. mat is your husband's age? (22-23)
(24-25)

8. What is your baby's age inmonths?

 

186

that is your baby's birth date?

 

What is your bab;,"s sex?

()1. Fanale

ii.

()2. Male

Did you participate in any p: enatal training classes?
( ) 1. Yes
( ) 2. No

Appzmdmately what is your "-::esent ammal family income?
( ) 1. Under $4,000

() 2. $4,001 - $7,000

() 3. $7,001 - $10,000

( ) 4. $10,001 - $13,000

( ) 5. $13,001 - $16,000

( ) 6. $16,001 - $20,000

( ) 7. $20,001 - $30,000

( ) 8. Over $30,000

Phat is your racial or e :hnic backround?
( ) 1. Write

( ) 2. Black

( ) 3. Maxim-America

( ) 4. American Indian

'( ) 5.- Oriental

( ) 6. Other (Specify)

 

Wat is M occupati n?

 

What is your husband' 3 occupation?

 

Are you cm'rently wc Icing?

 

()1. Yes
()2. No

17

_ <26)

'(27)

(28)

(29)

(3.0)
(31)

(32)

17.

18 .

19.

20.

187

If you are currently worldng, what is yam: work status? (33)
( ) 1. Full time
( ) 2. Pat time

If your are not currently working, have you ever worked in the past?

( ) 1. Yes (34)
( ) 2. No

Ifyouaremt arraitlyworking, doyouplan toworkinthe future?

( ) 1. Yes (35)
( ) 2. No

Did you plan to have this baby? (36)
( ) 1. Yes ‘

()2.N0

25.

26.

. Howmmy stepchildrm do you have? '

19

188

How is your infant fed? (55)
( ) 1. Breast fed

( ) 2. Bottle fed

() 3. Sane oanbinatim of breast am! bottle

( ) 4. Other (Specify)
“at was your infant's weight at birth? (57.59)

 

That was your infant's length at birth? (GO-61)

Baa yan: infant had any prolonged or general illness since birth? (52)

( ) 1. Yes

() 2. N0 ‘

If yes, please describe the problem A (63-64)

 

 

Has your infant: had any special problem with:

Colic: ( ) 1. Yes < (65)
, ( ) 2. No . . -
Rashes (’ ) 1. Yes _, (66)
- . ( ) 2. N0
Feedim ( ) 1. Yes (67)
( ) 2. No
Sleeping( ) l. . Yes (68)
y ( ) 2. No I fit?- ’
If yes, please describe the problem. (69-70)

 

 

 

How many biological children do you have?

 

189
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY UCHRIS PERMISSION FORM

 

[\IVI'RSI I'Y (()\HIII I'IiI: ()\ RIM .-\R(‘H l\\‘OI.\'I.\(i EAST LANSING ' MICHIGAN ' 48824
HL’MAN SUBJECTS (UCRIHS)

235 AI)\II\I\IRAIIO\ BLII I)I\(;

(51'13‘5-21811 April 7, 1982

.Ms. Esther Dienstag
Department of Psychology
Psychology Research Building

Dear Ms. Dienstag:

Subject: Proposal Entitled, "Parenting Study:
Maternal Age as a Variable in Transition
to Parenthood"

I am pleased to advise that because of the nature of the proposed
research, it was eligible for expedited review. This process has
been completed, the rights and welfare of the human subjects
appear to be adequately protected, and your project is therefore
approved. ,
You are reminded that UCRIHS approval is valid for one calendar
year. If you plan to continue this project beyond one year,
please make provisions for obtaining appropriate UCRIHS approval
prior to April 7, 1983.

Any changes in procedures involving human subjects must be
reviewed by the UCRIHS prior to initiation of the change. UCRIHS
must also be notified promptly of any problems (unexpected side
effects, complaints, etc.) involving human subjects during the
course of the work.

Thank you for bringing this project to our attention. If we can
be of any future help, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,

WW2

Henry E. Bredeck
Chairman, UCRIHS

HEB/jms

cc: Dr. Fitzgerald

PARENTING PROJECT
190

PARENT RECRUITMENT LETTER
Dear Parent,

Thank you for agreeing to participate in the parenting
project. This is a study of first time mothers which
looks at responses to the demands of being a parent.
Please read each question carefully and circle the response
that best describes your feelings at the present time.
If you find that a particular question does not apply
to you, simply write "NA" ( not applicable) next to that
question.

Please answer each question as honestly as possible
trying not to skip any. Do not discuss your answers
with your husband or friends until after you have completed
the entire questionnaire.

After you have completed the questionnaire, please
return it along with the signed consent form which I have
enclosed. This form assures me that you understand the nature
of the study and have agreed to participate. You will find
a self-addressed, stamped envelope in the packet. Please
return the completed questionnaire and the signed consent form
in this envelope.

Participation in this research project is completely anonymous.
You will.be assigned a code number and your name will not be .
attached to any of the information which is received. Confidentiality
and anonymity will be assured. The general group results of the study
will be available to you if you are interested but individual
records will not be available. If you wish to receive the group
results, simply indicate this by checking the "Yes" response
on the informed consent statement.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me during
the day at (301) 528-2160 and during the evening at (301) 366-4629.

Thank you.
Cordially,

Esther Dienstag

191

Parenting Project

Informed Consent Statement

I have freely consented to take part in a study of parents being conducted
by Esther Dienstag of the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University
and the University of Maryland Hospital under the supervision of Professor

Hiram Fitzgerald, the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.

The study has been explained to me and I understand the explanation

that has been given and what my participation will involve.

I understand that I am free to discontinue my participation in the study

at any time without penalty.

I understand that the results of the study will be treated in strict
confidence and that I will remain anonymous. Within these restrictions,

results of the study will be made available to me at my request.

I understand that my participation in this study does not guarantee any

beneficial results to me.
I understand that, at my request, I can receive additional explanation

of the study after my participation is completed, but that procedures used

to assure confidentiality prevents the release of individual results.

Signed:

 

Date:

 

Do you wish to receive summaries of research reports that will be developed

from the results of this study? Yes No

 

192

SUBJECT FEEDBACK FORM
Esther Dienstag
910 Light St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

Dear Parent,

As you may recall, last year you participated in a research
project for new mothers. At that time, you completed a questionnaire
about your experiences with being a new parent. I'd like to share the
results of this study with you.

The purpose of this study was to understand women's adjustment
to parenthood. One hundred and twenty five women participated in this
study. The average age of the mothers was 28 and most of the mothers
had attended some college, though many held postgraduate degrees. All
had recently delivered their first child. The average age of the
infants was three months old. All of the women had worked at some time
and all but eight believed they would return to work sometime in the
future. Fifty-one were working at the time of the study and 74 were
not employed outside the home.

Approximately half the mothers reported having postponed the
birth of their first child, most for only a year or two but some for as
many as 10 years. The most common reasons for postponing parenthood
were to establish a strong marital relationship, financial reasons, or
for one of the parents to feel emotionally prepared for parenthood, to
finish an education or become established in a job.

When all of the mothers were considered together, the following
observations were made about adjustment to parenthood. Mothers who
were older tended to hold more advanced educational degrees and these
mothers tended to more strongly hold attitudes that encouraged
responsiveness to infant cues like picking the child up when he cries
for attention. Mothers who held these "responsive attitudes" were more
satisfied with parenthood. Those mothers who did not experience enough
support from friends and relatives or who did not feel they had enough
outside activities were more dissatisfied with parenthood.

Some of the infants in the study had been mildly ill, colicky,
or had some difficulty with eating or sleeping. Mothers of these
infants thought that having a young infant was difficult but had
confidence that things would improve as the infants became older.

These mothers were also more dissatisfied with parenthood.

Some of the mothers who worked felt they were missing out on
benefits of being at home with the baby full time. The higher the
mother's education, the less likely she was to feel this way but the
more responsive her attitudes toward the baby, the more likely she was
to regret not being home full time. Working mothers who worked full
time were more likely to feel torn between home and work than part time
workers. Many of these working mothers felt that time pressures
necessitated reducing outside activities and social time with friends.
Although mothers who felt this role conflict did not enjoy parenthood
less than other mothers, working mothers who were not satisfied with
their social support were much more likely to be dissatisfied with
parenthood.

Working mothers who breast fed their infants felt the early
infancy period was more difficult than did working mothers who bottle
fed their infants.

193

For nonworking mothers, those mothers who missed the stimulation
and challenge of work while they were at home full time were more
likely to be dissatisfied with parenthood and to think early infancy
was hard. Mothers who held higher educational degrees were more likely
to miss work but mothers who held more "responsive attitudes" were less
likely to miss work. Having a sick or difficult infant was harder for
nonworking than for working mothers. They were more disstisfied with
parenthood, possibly because they had fewer outlets and less time away
from caretaking than their working counterparts. Nonworking mothers
who breast fed their babies were not more likely to think early infancy
was especially hard.

In general, mothers who had the easiest time during their
adjustment period had more social support and outlets outside the home,
were happy with their work decision whether or not they decided to
return to work right away, and believed that motherhood was an
important and fulfilling role for women. Women who had a more
difficult time experienced less social contacts (and this was
especially difficult for those working outside the home), had
temperamentally difficult or ill infants, or felt a loss of some valued
activities either at work or at home with the baby. Women who valued
the mothering role less also tended to enjoy parenthood less,
especially if they were not working outside the home where they might
have the opportunity for other kinds of activities.

Thank you for your help in completing this project. Your
assistance has helped to clarify some of the predictors of fulfillment
in early mothering and to provide some clues for successful combination
of work and motherhood. This is very useful since now about half of
all mothers with children under age three work outside the home. If
you have any further questions, please feel free to write for more
information.

Sincerely,

Esther Dienstag

 

 

”Illllllllllwill?