Single motherhood is known to be distressing, and to be associated with poor mental health. However, less is known about the pathways into and out of single motherhood, or about the mental health ...trajectories of single mothers. We used total population registry data on Finnish women who experienced the life events of separation (616,762), widowhood (43,355), or child birth (515,756) during the 1995–2018 period while between the ages of 15–64. Single mothers were compared with women who experienced the same life event, but without becoming a single mother. The results for women who separated showed that among single mothers, there was a substantial increase in antidepressant use at the time of separation, and only a moderate decline after separation. Among women who experienced widowhood, those who had underage children initially had lower antidepressant use than women without children, but this gap narrowed in the post-widowhood period. In addition, single women experienced more unfavorable mental health trajectories than partnered women around the time they gave birth. Re-partnering was associated with more favorable mental health among all groups of single mothers. Given the growing prevalence of single-parent households, our results underscore the need for context-specific interventions to support single mothers’ mental health.
Disillusioned by long hours at home alone and by demands from the older generation, Japanese women are marrying later, resulting in a sharp decline in the Japanese birth rate. Muriel Jolivet ...considers the reasons why Japanese women are finding it increasingly difficult to accept the terms and conditions of motherhood.Japan: The Childless Societyexplores the major factors contributing to maternal malaise in Japan including:* the 'Ten Commandments of the Good Mother'* the changing role of the father* education and careers* nostalgia from older generationsDrawing on extensive interviews with Japanese women and translated into English for the first time, this innovative study examines the implications behind the declining birth rate and looks towards the future of a country that is in danger of becoming a 'childless society'.
Understanding how mothers negotiate the expectations of good motherhood ideology is vital for supporting mothers of children with ASD. This paper explored how Chinese mothers of children with ASD ...constructed the concept of good motherhood, and how this construct was formed, resisted and negotiated in the reality of caregiving.
In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 mothers, revealing three major themes: (1) negotiating the role expectation of a super mother; (2) negotiating the emotional expectation of a rational mother; and (3) negotiating the moral expectation of a selfless mother.
Findings indicate that when caring for children with ASD, mothers were expected to assume multiple roles responsibilities, perform emotion work and sacrifice their own needs to become good mothers. Instead of simply conforming to the good motherhood ideology, mothers employed various strategies to reflect on and even resist these expectations. Through these efforts, mothers actively constructed their own perceptions of good mothering based on their individual experiences, contributing to diverse knowledge of motherhood.
The findings underscore the importance of future support services to acknowledge the agency of mothers of children with ASD and utilize empowering approaches to accommodate their comprehensive needs.
•Mothers of children with ASD were expected to play multiple roles, manage negative emotions and sacrifice their own needs.•Mothers employed various strategies to reflect on and even resist the expectations of good motherhood.•Mothers actively constructed their own perceptions of good mothering based on their individual experiences.•Mothers from low-income families or those with limited family support are more vulnerable.•This study contributes to a more diverse understanding of maternal experiences in the context of ASD.
Emotion regulation in parenthood Rutherford, Helena J.V.; Wallace, Norah S.; Laurent, Heidemarie K. ...
Developmental review,
06/2015, Letnik:
36
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•Emotion regulation (ER) is a critical faculty of parenthood.•ER is important for both parent and child development.•Changes in neurophysiology and psychology may facilitate parental ER.•Parental ER ...is an important area for experimental and clinical research.
Emotion regulation, defined as the capacity to influence one's experience and expression of emotion, is a complex skill now recognized to evolve throughout the lifetime. Here we examine the role of emotion regulation in parenthood, and propose that regulatory function during this period is distinct from the emotion regulation skills acquired and implemented during other periods of life. In this review, we consider the unique demands of caring for a child and recognize that parents have to maintain a regulated state as well as facilitate regulation in their child, especially early in development. We examine neurobiological, hormonal and behavioral shifts during the transition to parenthood that may facilitate parental regulation in response to infant cues. Furthermore, we consider how parents shape emotion regulation in their child, and the clinical implications of regulatory functioning within the parent–child relationship.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is altering dynamics in academia, and people juggling remote work and domestic demands – including childcare – have felt impacts on their ...productivity. Female authors have faced a decrease in paper submission rates since the beginning of the pandemic period. The reasons for this decline in women’s productivity need to be further investigated. Here, we analyzed the influence of gender, parenthood and race on academic productivity during the pandemic period based on a survey answered by 3,345 Brazilian academics from various knowledge areas and research institutions. Productivity was assessed by the ability to submit papers as planned and to meet deadlines during the initial period of social isolation in Brazil. The findings revealed that male academics – especially those without children – are the least affected group, whereas Black women and mothers are the most impacted groups. These impacts are likely a consequence of the well-known unequal division of domestic labor between men and women, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic. Additionally, our results highlight that racism strongly persists in academia, especially against Black women. The pandemic will have long-term effects on the career progression of the most affected groups. The results presented here are crucial for the development of actions and policies that aim to avoid further deepening the gender gap in academia.
Motherhood is a cultural process that has traditionally anchored women's identities in their ability to nurture infants and children (Ross, 2018). As a cultural and dynamic construct, it not only ...shapes women's social identity but also plays a pivotal role in influencing gender roles. The aim of the present study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Motherhood Belief Scale, which explore Sense of Life and Social Duty as two dimensions of motherhood in a general sample (n = 6207) with different sex, age, education, and parenthood status. The reliability of the Motherhood Belief Scale in our sample showed low fitted scores, low variability, and a floor-like effect, which was more eminent for the Social Duty dimension. These findings showed differences in motherhood beliefs across sex, age, education, and parenthood. Additionally, we explored answers for two open questions about motherhood with a sentiment analysis which showed a more significant bias to positive emotional valence in people without professional studies out professional studies. These findings suggest a more stereotypical view of motherhood in populations with low education, very young or elderly, men, and with parenthood status.
The monster within Almond, Barbara
2010., 20100904, 2010, 2010-10-04, 20100101
eBook
Mixed feelings about motherhood--uncertainty over having a child, fears of pregnancy and childbirth, or negative thoughts about one's own children--are not just hard to discuss, they are a powerful ...social taboo. In this beautifully written book, Barbara Almond brings this troubling issue to light. She uncovers the roots of ambivalence, tells how it manifests in lives of women and their children, and describes a spectrum of maternal behavior--from normal feelings to highly disturbed mothering. In a society where perfection in parenting is the unattainable ideal, this compassionate book also shows how women can affect positive change in their lives.
Brown Bodies, White Babiesfocuses on the practice of cross-racial gestational surrogacy, in which a woman - through in-vitro fertilization using the sperm and egg of intended parents or donors - ...carries a pregnancy for intended parents of a different race. Focusing on the racial differences between parents and surrogates, this book is interested in how reproductive technologies intersect with race, particularly when brown bodies produce white babies. While the potential of reproductive technologies is far from pre-determined, the ways in which these technologies are currently deployed often serve the interests of dominant groups, through the creation of white, middle-class, heteronormative families.Laura Harrison, providing an important understanding of the work of women of color as surrogates, connects this labor to the history of racialized reproduction in the United States. Cross-racial surrogacy is one end of a continuum in which dominant groups rely on the reproductive potential of nonwhite women, whose own reproductive desires have been historically thwarted and even demonized.Brown Bodies, White Babiesprovides am interdisciplinary analysis that includes legal cases of contested surrogacy, historical examples of surrogacy as a form of racialized reproductive labor, the role of genetics in the assisted reproduction industry, and the recent turn toward reproductive tourism. Joining the ongoing feminist debates surrounding reproduction, motherhood, race, and the body,Brown Bodies, White Babiesultimately critiques the new potentials for parenthood that put the very contours of kinship into question.
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