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Although coparenting has been widely studied, little is known about the daily processes of coparenting between mothers and fathers in early parenthood. Based on family systems theory and the ecological model of coparenting, we investigated new parents' day-to-day within-family processes of cooperative and tensioned coparenting. Mothers and fathers from 144 Finnish first-time couples completed daily mobile diaries for 7 consecutive days when their firstborn was 4–6 months old. The random-intercept cross-lagged panel model showed three types of within-family processes in daily coparenting, which we named continuity, spread, and shift. Continuity in cooperative coparenting occurred when a parent's previous-day cooperative coparenting positively predicted his or her own cooperative coparenting experiences the next day. We also found that coparenting experiences spread from one spouse to another: A parent's cooperative coparenting on the previous day negatively predicted his or her spouse's experiences of tensioned coparenting the following day. Finally, daily coparenting experiences also shifted from day to day: One parent's experience of tensioned coparenting the previous day positively predicted that parent's cooperative coparenting experiences the next day. No gender differences were found. These findings emphasize that the two daily coparenting dimensions seem to operate partly differently in daily life, as cooperative coparenting was slightly more often a cause and consequence in the observed processes than tensioned coparenting. Therefore, it seems that interventions should focus on enhancing cooperative coparenting. Moreover, the new concepts of continuity, spread, and shift are proposed as better descriptions of the three daily processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the emergence of the New Parents' Rights Movement, analyzing its proposed policies that aim to impose anti-egalitarian views on all children under the guise of parental rights. It explores the movement's implications for educational decision-making authority and the values transmitted by public education, urging a recommitment to current legal frameworks that balance parental authority with societal interests in education.

Research shows that sexist attitudes are deeply ingrained, with adverse consequences in the socioeconomic and political sphere. We argue that parental leave for fathers—a policy reform that disrupts traditional gender roles and promotes less stereotypical ones—has the power to decrease attitudinal gender bias. Contrasting the attitudes of new parents who were (and were not) directly affected by a real-world policy reform that tripled the amount of fathers' leave, we provide causal evidence that the reform increased gender-egalitarian views in the socioeconomic and political domains among mothers and fathers, and raised support for pro-female policies that potentially displace men among mothers. In contrast, informational, indirect exposure to the reform among the general public produced no attitudinal change. These results show that direct exposure to progressive social policy can weaken sexist attitudes, providing governments with a practical and effective tool to reduce harmful biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to parenthood is complex and influenced by interacting factors related to society, the parents and the child. Professional support is considered to be one of the societal factors affecting this transition by facilitating parents' sense of confidence and their competence as parents. In this study, we aimed to explore first-time parents' support needs and experiences of support from a child health service with the integrated New Families home visiting programme, in the context of their transition to parenthood in the first year postnatally. Interpretive description guided this qualitative study. Six couples and one mother, all well-educated and employed, were interviewed individually (N = 13). The parents were recruited from the research project 'New Families – Innovation and Development of the Child Health Service in Oslo'. We found that being a first-time parent is perceived as overwhelming and that defining support needs may be challenging, particularly in the first period postnatally. In addition, the support needs are constantly changing due to the complexity of interacting factors and the ongoing development of confidence in the parental role. Retrospectively, the parents were satisfied overall with the support from the child health service. The home visit during pregnancy facilitated management and relational and informational continuity. However, we identified a need for even more proactive information provision and communication to optimise the service's availability and efficiency postnatally. In addition, the importance of peers and of approaching both mothers and fathers must be acknowledged in facilitating parental confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both parental psychological well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms) and parental relationship functioning (e.g., negative communication) are common parental risk factors for dysfunctional parenting. The spillover process from these parental characteristics to dysfunctional parenting is assumed to be amplified by parental stress, which is particularly common among mothers and fathers of young children. However, few studies have examined dyadic spillover processes from parental risk factors and parental stress on parenting in early childhood. In the current study, we first examined direct actor and partner effects of parents' depressive symptoms and negative communication at 10 months postpartum on dysfunctional parenting at 48 months postpartum in 168 primiparous mixed-gender couples. Second, we analyzed indirect effects via one's own and the partner's parental stress at 36 months postpartum using Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Models (APIMeM). We found direct actor effects for mothers' depressive symptoms and negative communication on their dysfunctional parenting. Additionally, indirect actor effects were found for depressive symptoms and negative communication among mothers and fathers. Specifically, mediating effects of depressive symptoms and negative communication on one's dysfunctional parenting through one's parental stress were found. There were no indirect partner effects through parental stress. These findings highlight the important role of parental stress in early childhood as a mediator between both individual and relationship parental risk factors and dysfunctional parenting. These results further underscore the importance of longitudinal dyadic analyses in providing early and tailored interventions for both mothers and fathers of young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The birth of the first child is a period of transformation and adjustments for the whole family system which results in dynamics that influence its development and tend to remain stable during the child's first years of life. The present study sought to identify the impact of the social and health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction of coparenting in first-time parental couples. To determine the evolution of the dynamics of caregiving tasks, we employed a qualitative and longitudinal methodology in our study of 12 heterosexual couples of legal age who co-resided in Santiago de Chile. The main impact of the social-health crisis was the novel opportunity for the triad to spend the first year of life of the baby in the same space, which is interpreted positively by the parental couple. Even though there persist some traditional representations and beliefs that portray mothers as experts in upbringing, the pandemic context has made it possible to problematize this view, in a process that can be interpreted as a transition toward equitableness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to explore the lived experience of well‐satisfied couples (as established by the short form of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale) through the transition to parenthood (TTP) to understand what they perceived has facilitated their relationship adaptation. Background: Most couples experience a decline in relationship satisfaction through the TTP. However, there is important variability in the couples' experience, and few researchers have examined positive adaptation. Method: Semistructured individual interviews were conducted with both partners of seven first‐time parental couples (N = 14) and then were transcribed and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Result: The results showed two interrelated superordinate themes, each including four subordinate themes. Interviewed couples remained satisfied due to the strong foundations of their relationship, namely security, commitment, compassionate love, and intimacy, and due to their effective management of changes together by teaming up, balancing the different spheres of their lives, enjoying and valuing family life together, and communicating. Conclusion: Our findings support the relevance of studying positive couple processes for prevention efforts to ease the transition to parenthood. Implications: Professionals working with expectant and new parents could target relational processes related to strong foundations as well as the partners' joint management of change to strengthen couple relationships and promote the positive adaptation to parenthood of partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research has demonstrated that higher mean (average) levels of social support often produce robust relational benefits. However, partners may not maintain the same level of support across time, resulting in potential fluctuations (i.e., within-person variations across time) in support. Despite the theorizing and initial research on fluctuations in relationship-relevant thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, little is known about (a) who is most likely to fluctuate in support and (b) the degree to which fluctuations, in combination with and beyond mean levels, impact relationships across time. The current preregistered research examined two dyadic longitudinal samples of first-time parents undergoing the transition to parenthood, a chronically stressful time that often entails the provision and receipt of support involving one's partner. Across both studies, we found that individuals who reported greater mental health problems, more situational stress, and more destructive dispositional attributes tended to report lower mean levels and higher fluctuations in provided and received support at subsequent assessments. Moreover, we found that greater fluctuations in perceptions and observations of support predicted decreases in relationship satisfaction over time, above and beyond the effect of mean levels. Implications for theory and studying nonlinear effects in relationships are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the conceptual argument that constructive and explicit couple communication may reduce gender inequalities in couples' division of family work. We focus on the transition to parenthood which for most couples in Germany results in a shift towards a more traditional division of labour. Using 314 first-time parents from the German Family Panel, we apply growth curve models to assess whether partners' prenatal characteristics explain the division of housework and childcare around the time of childbirth and in the following years. After controlling for gender ideologies and economic resources, male partners' frequency of positive communication is associated with greater father involvement in housework and childcare from the start. However, neither men's nor women's communication behaviours dampen the shift towards a more traditional division of housework and childcare in the first years after childbirth. The frequency of negative communication does not correlate with the division of family work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are not only caregivers to their children; they also have leisure routines that can impact their own well-being. However, little is known about how leisure activities change within the context of a couple during the transition to parenthood. This study uses latent growth curve models and data from the Swedish Pregnancy Panel to examine how often 918 first-time, heterosexual couples participated in six leisure activities from around pregnancy week 19 to one year postpartum. Compared to fathers, mothers less frequently exercised and listened to news, and more frequently read newspapers, spent time for themselves, and spent time with friends. Over time, mothers increased their frequency of praying to God and decreased spending time for themselves and with friends. Fathers decreased frequency of exercise. Within couples, there was a positive correlation between mothers' and fathers' frequency of engaging in leisure activities, although most changes over time were not associated. Our finding that two individuals within a couple may change their leisure activities independently of each other during the transition to parenthood can help healthcare professionals and researchers prepare expectant couples for upcoming changes (or lack thereof) and promote parent well-being. Our findings also highlight the possibility that in contexts with more state support for families, parenthood may not exacerbate gender gaps in leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers regularly fail to habituate newly adopted practices. In contrast to established practices, this often occurs because understanding a practice is different from actually doing it. Our work explores this "messiness of doing" and explains why consumers successfully habituate some newly adopted practices after experiencing obstacles (i.e. misaligned practice elements) but not others. Utilizing a longitudinal approach that follows first-time parents from pregnancy through the first eight months postpartum, we track how parents plan for practices and how those plans unfold. We document a process whereby parents first engage in extensive planning and preparation prior to the birth of their child, during which parents build two realignment capabilities (anticipation and integration). After the baby's arrival, some practices invariably do not work. Parents respond to these misalignments by following one of five paths—differentiated by the capabilities parents build while planning—that result in practice abandonment, vulnerable habituation, or habituation. Our work highlights the challenges associated with translating a social practice into an enacted practice and the corresponding importance of accumulating realignment capabilities during planning. To facilitate habituation of newly adopted practices, how consumers make plans for these practices may ultimately matter more than what they actually plan to do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility research and theory suggests that new parents often develop a car-dependent way of living that runs counter to prevailing climate policies. In this context, the current study investigates the influence of public transport accessibility on car ownership among first-time parents in the Oslo region. Specific attention is paid to how the effect of accessibility varies with different income levels. Linear probability and fixed-effects models are applied to parents and a control group of non-parents to explore these relationships. The results show that public transport accessibility reduces the likelihood of car ownership in the years after family formation, although with larger impacts for some income groups than for others. Households with a high income combine car ownership with high access, whereas others seem to sacrifice one for the other. These findings have several policy implications. First, urban regions with a combination of gentrification in the central city and increasing poverty in suburban areas face a potential conflict between environmental and social sustainability. Finding ways to increase central-city opportunities for low- and medium-income families is a difficult but important step towards greater overall sustainability. Second, the reduction of car ownership among high-income households appears to require supplementary measures. The article ends with a discussion of the findings in the context of broader urban policy development, particularly in relation to the prioritisation of collective consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space for You and Your Baby is a preventative support programme for new parents based on the Australian supported playgroup model. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Space is provided to approximately 2000 participants each year but has never been formally evaluated. This study employed a cross-sectional retrospective research design and examined why new parents attend Space and how Space contributed to their adjustment to parenthood. Over 500 current and former participants completed a mixed-methods survey. The results showed that participants were primarily motivated to attend Space for social support and highly endorsed the programme across all of the targeted outcomes. Facilitator competency moderated these generally positive findings. The results have implications for facilitator training, community partnerships, and point to opportunities for further evaluation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cohabitation is more common than marriage when couples are expecting their first child in Finland. However, little is known about possible differences in wellbeing between the two groups. In this study, we examined differences in parental wellbeing, relationship satisfaction, infant health outcomes, and use of social support among cohabiting and married first-time parents. Survey data was collected from 903 parents during pregnancy and at one month postpartum. Cohabiting parents had more depressive symptoms than married parents. They were also less satisfied with their relationships and expressed less satisfaction with the quality of support they got from their partner. Cohabiting fathers did not use the cost-free support from maternity clinics as often as married fathers. Our results show differences in well-being between married and cohabiting first-time parents and that the support from maternity clinics should better acknowledge diversity and address the different needs of different types of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most first-time parents experience novel concerns about their sexuality such as worries about the effects of labor and delivery on their sex lives. The link between postpartum depressive symptoms and problems with sexual function is bidirectional; however, associations with postpartum sexual concerns (i.e., worries about one's sexuality that are not necessarily related to sexual function) have not been examined. First-time parent couples (N = 99) completed measures assessing their postpartum sexual concerns and depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum. Dyadic latent growth curve modeling revealed that mothers' and partners' initial frequencies of postpartum sexual concerns were positively associated, with significant declines in the frequency of these concerns over time for both partners. Mothers' and partners' initial depressive symptoms were also positively associated; however, mothers' depressive symptoms did not change over time whereas partner's depressive symptoms worsened. Mothers' and partners' higher initial depressive symptoms were associated with partners' higher frequency of postpartum sexual concerns. Mothers' depressive symptoms at 3 months postpartum and the degree to which these symptoms changed over time were associated with a steeper decline in partners' postpartum sexual concerns over time. Results provide preliminary support for depressive symptoms as a risk factor for partners' postpartum sexual concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship difficulties are common during the transition to parenthood and may persist for years. Strategies that enhance couples' daily relational experiences early in the parenting years may serve a protective role. In general, engaging in a capitalization attempt (i.e., sharing personal good news) with one's romantic partner and perceiving the partner to be responsive are associated with better relationship outcomes among committed couples. However, it is unknown whether these relational benefits extend to the early parenting years or to other relational domains such as coparenting, which plays a central role in family functioning. The current study examined same-day associations between couples' capitalization process and relationship closeness and perceived coparenting support in a dyadic context during the first year of parenthood. A subsample of primarily non-Hispanic White coresident mixed-gender couples who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a transition to parenthood program (N = 141) completed daily diaries at 10 months postpartum for 8 consecutive days. On days when mothers shared, both partners reported greater closeness. On days when fathers shared, mothers reported greater closeness and perceived coparenting support. Furthermore, perceived partner responsiveness was associated with greater closeness for both partners and greater coparenting support for fathers. Fathers also perceived greater closeness and coparenting support on days when mothers shared about the child. Findings highlight the potential benefits of capitalization in early parenthood for both closeness and perceived coparenting support and suggest that capitalization may be a low cost, high yield strategy for enhancing new parents' daily relational experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION This scoping review aims to identify the evidence and the factors influencing the outcomes of early discharge of both healthy first-time mothers and newborns. METHODS Systematic searches were conducted using four databases up to February 2021, and a search for grey literature was performed. A total of 2030 articles were identified and reduced to 13 articles, and one article was added through chain search in reference lists. The aims of the identified studies, the methodology, participants, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the setting, context, and findings are summarized. RESULTS A total of 14 studies were included. A thematic analysis identified the following factors influencing the outcomes of discharge within 24 hours after birth: parental education in pregnancy, perinatal information before discharge, sources of support, and follow-up strategies after discharge. Also, the analysis identified outcomes such as breastfeeding, parents' experience and readmission of the newborn that may be influenced when first-time parents are discharged within 24 hours after birth. Findings in this review highlight the importance of identifying factors and outcomes related to early discharge. However, because of the heterogeneity in methodology, terminology and assessment procedures used in the retrieved articles, the generalization of study results is limited. CONCLUSIONS A gap in the literature about the outcomes of discharge within 24 hours after birth has been identified. Future studies with strong evidence are needed, defining criteria, context, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to parenthood can evoke a range of concerns in parents, profoundly impacting their psychological well-being. The literature regarding the transition to parenthood focuses primarily on functional aspects of parenthood, generally overlooking the psychological well-being of parents. This comprehensive review synthesized studies describing emotional and psychological interventions during the transition to parenthood among participants between 2013 and 2022. A rigorous screening process, conducted by three of the authors, resulted in 18 studies that met the inclusion criteria. This report provides detailed descriptions of these studies, including their characteristics, demographics, types of interventions, and main outcomes. The majority of interventions focused on mothers and mother-infant dyads, with fewer interventions targeting couples, and none addressing fathers or father-infant dyads. The interventions examined were found to be effective in reducing symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress among mothers and had positive effects on infants' behaviors, mother-infant synchrony, and co-parenting. This review stresses the necessity of interventions targeting the transition to parenthood, especially among fathers and marginalized populations, as well as serves to identify barriers faced by vulnerable and minority populations. • Literature on interventions for new parents has frequently focused on functional guidance in areas such as breastfeeding and infant sleep. • It is necessary to incorporate measures assessing parents' psychological well-being to gain a understanding of the efficacy of interventions. • The review found interventions are effective in reducing symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress among mothers. • The interventions were found to have a positive impact on infants' behavioral aspects, mother-infant synchrony, and co-parenting. • The results highlight the need for interventions tailored to fathers, non-clinical populations, and minority populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the mediating role of dyadic coping (DC) in the association between internalizing symptoms and dyadic adjustment in a sample of 184 couples expecting their first child. Each partner completed self-report questionnaires assessing symptoms of depression and anxiety, dyadic adjustment and DC during the second trimester of pregnancy. An extension of the actor-partner interdependence model for testing direct and indirect effects was used. Compared to men, women presented higher levels of internalizing symptoms and dyadic adjustment and engaged more in DC by self. Significant indirect effects of internalizing symptoms on dyadic adjustment via common DC and DC by one’s partner were found. Specifically, higher internalizing symptoms were associated with lower common DC and DC by one’s partner, which, in turn, were associated with lower dyadic adjustment. This mediation occurred either within person as well as across partners and occurred similarly for women and men. These results suggest that primiparous couples may benefit from DC-enhancing interventions, such as the cognitive-behavioral couple-based programs Couples Coping Enhancement Training (CCET) and Coping-Oriented Couple Therapy (COCT), to assist them in responding sensitively to their partners’ psychological symptoms, which may have a positive effect on marital adjustment.

Cohabitation is more common than marriage when couples are expecting their first child in Finland. However, little is known about possible differences in wellbeing between the two groups. In this study, we examined differences in parental wellbeing, relationship satisfaction, infant health outcomes, and use of social support among cohabiting and married first-time parents. Survey data was collected from 903 parents during pregnancy and at one month postpartum. Cohabiting parents had more depressive symptoms than married parents. They were also less satisfied with their relationships and expressed less satisfaction with the quality of support they got from their partner. Cohabiting fathers did not use the cost-free support from maternity clinics as often as married fathers. Our results show differences in well-being between married and cohabiting first-time parents and that the support from maternity clinics should better acknowledge diversity and address the different needs of different types of families.

Background: The division of non-paid labor in heterosexual parents in the West is usually still gender-based, with mothers taking on the majority of direct caregiving responsibilities. However, in same-sex couples, gender cannot be the deciding factor. Inspired by Feinberg’s ecological model of co-parenting, this study investigated whether infant temperament, parent factors (biological relatedness to child, psychological adjustment, parenting stress, and work status), and partner relationship quality explained how first-time gay, lesbian, and heterosexual parents divided labor (childcare and family decision-making) when their infants were 4 and 12 months old. We also tested whether family type acted as a moderator.Method: Participants were drawn from the new parents study. Only those who provided information about their biological relatedness to their child (N = 263 parents) were included. When infants were 4 months (T1), parents completed a password-protected online questionnaire exploring their demographic characteristics including work status and standardized online-questionnaires on task division (childcare and family decision-making), infant temperament, parental anxiety, parental depression, parental stress, and partner relationship satisfaction. When infants were 12-months-old (T2), parents provided information about task division and their biological relatedness to their children.Results: Linear mixed models showed that no factor explained the division of family decision making at T1 and T2. For relative time spent on childcare tasks at T1, biological relatedness mattered for lesbian mothers only: biologically related mothers appeared to spend more time on childcare tasks than did non-related mothers. Results showed that, regardless of family type, parents who were not working or were working part-time at T1 performed more childcare tasks at T1. This was still true at T2. The other factors did not significantly contribute to relative time spent on childcare tasks at T2.Conclusion: We had the opportunity to analyze the division of non-paid tasks in families where parenting was necessarily planned and in which gender could not affect that division. Although Feinberg’s model of co-parenting suggests that various factors are related to task division, we found that paid work outside the home was most important during the first year of parenthood in determining caregiving roles.

Objective: This study explores how low‐income mothers and fathers who recently have had a child avoid and access financial and other instrumental support from kin, and the statements they make about kin support. Background: New parents without significant financial capital have a strong need for social support from family members. Yet some with access to assistance from family do not activate it, and avoiding support can leave them facing dire circumstances alone. Method: This article uses data from all four waves of the Time, Love, and Cash among Couples with Children study (TLC3), a qualitative study embedded in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Researchers used a stratified random sampling scheme to select 25 couples from each of three cities. Analysis used open and axial coding techniques on interview transcript data. Results: Reports of kin support are widespread, but help is not universally activated. Parents often talk in contradictory ways about activating and avoiding support. Those who access help from family often employ the language of avoidance, particularly when it comes to asking for help. Those who avoid it or claim to avoid it say they do so because of individualistic pride, the pressure of reciprocity, and understandings of what it means to be an independent adult. Conclusion: This study illustrates the complexity and contradictions in how participants think and talk about kin support, and demonstrates that having to ask for help presents a key barrier to support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The division of non-paid labor in heterosexual parents in the West is usually still gender-based, with mothers taking on the majority of direct caregiving responsibilities. However, in same-sex couples, gender cannot be the deciding factor. Inspired by Feinberg's ecological model of co-parenting, this study investigated whether infant temperament, parent factors (biological relatedness to child, psychological adjustment, parenting stress, and work status), and partner relationship quality explained how first-time gay, lesbian, and heterosexual parents divided labor (childcare and family decision-making) when their infants were 4 and 12 months old. We also tested whether family type acted as a moderator. Method: Participants were drawn from the new parents study. Only those who provided information about their biological relatedness to their child (N = 263 parents) were included. When infants were 4 months (T1), parents completed a password-protected online questionnaire exploring their demographic characteristics including work status and standardized online-questionnaires on task division (childcare and family decision-making), infant temperament, parental anxiety, parental depression, parental stress, and partner relationship satisfaction. When infants were 12-months-old (T2), parents provided information about task division and their biological relatedness to their children. Results: Linear mixed models showed that no factor explained the division of family decision making at T1 and T2. For relative time spent on childcare tasks at T1, biological relatedness mattered for lesbian mothers only: biologically related mothers appeared to spend more time on childcare tasks than did non-related mothers. Results showed that, regardless of family type, parents who were not working or were working part-time at T1 performed more childcare tasks at T1. This was still true at T2. The other factors did not significantly contribute to relative time spent on childcare tasks at T2. Conclusion: We had the opportunity to analyze the division of non-paid tasks in families where parenting was necessarily planned and in which gender could not affect that division. Although Feinberg's model of co-parenting suggests that various factors are related to task division, we found that paid work outside the home was most important during the first year of parenthood in determining caregiving roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present research was to test the efficacy of the Bringing Baby Home couple-focused psychoeducational program for promoting father involvement and related satisfaction. A randomized clinical trial design was used to randomly assign 136 pregnant couples to either an intervention or control group. Father involvement post-intervention was assessed through self-report of engagement in parenting tasks. Intent-to-treat analysis of covariance analyses indicated that fathers who participated in the Bringing Baby Home program reported significantly more involvement in parenting tasks, satisfaction with the division of parenting labor, and feeling appreciated by their wives. Both husbands and wives were also more satisfied with the division of labor when fathers were more involved in parenting. Results suggest that couple-focused psychoeducational programs can be successful for promoting father involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To examine gender equality in the family and sick leave among first-time parents. Methods : Heterosexuals who became first-time parents between 2002 and 2009 (N = 223,332) were identified in national registers. Gender equality in the family was evaluated by parental insurance and income from gainful employment representing the domestic and work spheres respectively and was defined as each parent contributing 40–60% of the family total. The risk of a new medically certified sick-leave spell (>14 days) was evaluated by hazard ratio (HR) using the Cox proportional hazard regression, adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Results : Gender equality was associated with an increased risk of sick leave compared with traditional roles where women had the main responsibility in the domestic sphere and men in the work sphere (HR 1.30 in women and 1.19 in men). In addition, situations with one partner exposed to double burden or untraditional settings were associated with an increased risk. Conclusions : Equal sharing or taking the lion's share of paid work and domestic responsibilities were associated with an increased risk of sick leave among first-time parents in Sweden. Family-friendly policies are important for facilitating the life of dual earner families, but do not fully counteract the work–life demands of first-time parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article examines whether family resilience can be enhanced among military families via an online prevention program for military couples at the transition to parenthood. Background: Military families experience normative stressors similar to those of civilian families, as well as military‐specific stressors, such as deployment, frequent moves, and uncertainty. Method: Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who, at the time of recruitment, were expecting their first child and were living together (regardless of marital status). Mothers and fathers completed measures online: Pretest was administered upon recruitment during pregnancy, and posttest was administered at 6 months postpartum. After pretest, couples were randomized to control and intervention conditions; intervention couples were provided access to the online version of Family Foundations. Results: Although outcomes require replication given the sample size and issues with attrition, results indicated significant program impact, with moderate to strong effect sizes, on parent depression, mothers' report of coparenting support, and infant mood and soothability. Conclusion: These results suggest online delivery of prevention programming is a potentially effective means of enhancing military family well‐being—and thus resilience. Implications: Low‐cost and effective support for military families is possible via online modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pregnancy is an important period to promote healthy behaviors, prevent and identify diseases early and treat them to maximize the health and development of both the woman and her unborn child. A new World Health Organization antenatal care model recommends the initiation of antenatal care visit within the first trimester of gestation. This study sought to examine the timing of initiation of antenatal care among first-time mothers and associated factors in rural Southern Ghana.Methods: Information on gestational age, timing of antenatal care, demographic and socioeconomic status of 1076 first-time mothers who gave birth in 2011 to 2013 in the Dodowa Health and Demographic Surveillance System were included in the study. The time of initiation of antenatal clinic attendance was calculated. The associations between dependent and independent variables were explored using logistic regression at 95% confidence interval in STATA version 14.2.Results: The mean gestational age at which the first-time mothers initiated antenatal care attendance was 3 month. Maternal age, level of education and household socioeconomic status were statistically significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care attendance.Conclusion: Although more than half of the study participants initiated ANC visit in the first trimester of pregnancy, a high proportion also started ANC attendance after the World Health Organization recommended period. Maternal age is significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care visit among first-time mothers; older women were more likely to initiate antenatal care visit in the first trimester of gestation compared to the younger women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthy eating behavior throughout pregnancy and postpartum is important. This study aimed to investigate the perceived sex-specific importance of determinants of changes in eating behavior during pregnancy and postpartum. Methods: Fifty-four determinants were rated by first-time parents (n = 179) on their impact. Experts (n = 31) rated the determinants in terms of their modifiability, relationship strength, and population-level effect from which a “priority for research”-score was calculated. Results: During pregnancy, the three highest rated determinants by women were “health concerns”, “physiological changes”, and “fatigue”. Men perceived “health concerns”, “health consciousness”, and “influence of the pregnant partner” as important. Postpartum, the three highest rated determinants by women were “adaptation to rhythm of baby”, “baby becomes priority”, and “practical constraints because of the baby”. Men perceived “adaptation to rhythm of baby”, “fatigue”. and “(lack of) anticipation” as important. According to the experts, “professional influence”, “food knowledge”, and “home food availability” received high priority scores for both sexes and during both periods. Conclusions: Priority for research and interventions should go towards tailored family-based approaches focusing on food education in a broad sense taking into account aspects such as health consciousness, self-efficacy skills, and the social and home food environment while being supported by healthcare professionals.

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The couple and coparenting relationships are demonstrated to be prospectively and bidirectionally associated over months to years during the early parenting years. However, little is known about these associations at the daily level within the first year of parenthood, when coparenting first emerges. The goal of the current study was to examine the association between couples' daily feelings of relationship closeness and coparenting support in first-time parents and determine directionality of these effects using a dyadic daily diary design. At 10 months postpartum, heterosexual couples (N = 141 dyads) completed daily diaries for 8 consecutive days. An autoregressive cross-lagged model was incorporated within an Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling framework to examine at the daily level: (a) within-person cross-day associations between relationship closeness and coparenting support, (b) cross-partner cross-day associations within relationship closeness and coparenting support, (c) cross-partner cross-day associations between relationship closeness and coparenting support, and (d) gender differences in these associations. Results revealed a prospective, within person bidirectional link between daily relationship closeness and perceived coparenting support for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, an indirect effect from mothers' experiences of coparenting support to fathers' relationship closeness through fathers' experiences of coparenting support was found at the daily level. Findings highlight the interdependent nature of the couple and coparenting relationship at the daily level during the first year of parenthood and suggest that mothers' feeling supported by their coparenting partners may facilitate a "virtuous cycle" between coparenting support and relationship closeness early in the coparenting relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gender imbalance in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has remained constant for decades and increases the farther up the STEM career pipeline one looks. Why does the underrepresentation of women endure? This study investigated the role of parenthood as a mechanism of gender-differentiated attrition from STEM employment. Using a nationally representative 8-year longitudinal sample of US STEM professionals, we examined the career trajectories of new parents after the birth or adoption of their first child. We found substantial attrition of new mothers: 43% of women leave fulltime STEM employment after their first child. New mothers are more likely than new fathers to leave STEM, to switch to part-time work, and to exit the labor force. These gender differences hold irrespective of variation by discipline, race, and other demographic factors. However, parenthood is not just a "mother's problem"; 23% of new fathers also leave STEM after their first child. Suggesting the difficulty of combining STEM work with caregiving responsibilities generally, new parents are more likely to leave full-time STEM jobs than otherwise similar childless peers and even new parents who remain employed full time are more likely than their childless peers to exit STEM for work elsewhere. These results have implications for policymakers and STEM workforce scholars; whereas parenthood is an important mechanism of women's attrition, both women and men leave at surprisingly high rates after having children. Given that most people become parents during their working lives, STEM fields must do more to retain professionals with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a randomized study of a home visiting program implemented in Germany for low-income, first-time mothers. Besides improving child health and development, a major goal of the program is to improve the participants' economic self-sufficiency and family planning. I use administrative data from the German social security system and detailed telephone surveys to examine the effects of the intervention on maternal employment, welfare benefits, household composition, well-being, and fertility behavior. The study reveals that the intervention decreased maternal employment by 9.3 percentage points and increased subsequent births by 6.4 percentage points, in part through a reduction in abortions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigated the relationship of daytime maternal napping, exercise, caffeine, and alcohol intake to objective and subjective sleep indices. Participants: Sixty healthy, nondepressed, first-time mothers between 3 and 6 months postpartum. Methods: Seven consecutive days of online behavior diaries, sleep diaries, and wrist actigraphy, collecting Total Sleep Time (TST), Sleep Onset Latency (SOL), and Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO). Results: After controlling for infant age, employment status, infant feeding method, and infant sleeping location, mixed linear models showed that longer average exercise durations were associated with longer average TST, and longer average nap durations were associated with longer average WASO durations. Significant within-person differences in TST and SOL were also observed, such that, on days when participants exercised and napped longer than average, their respective TST and SOL durations that night were longer. Conclusion: Shorter nap durations and longer exercise durations were associated with longer TST, shorter SOL, and reduced WASO. Even small changes in daily exercise and napping behaviors could lead to reliable improvements in postpartum maternal sleep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Poor adjustment during early parenthood often leads to low feelings of parental self-efficacy, which influences parents’ behaviours towards their infants. The long-term consequences on infant development warrant the need for more attention on the efficacy of universal parent education interventions to empower parents and enhance their self-efficacy. Objectives To synthesise available evidence and explore the efficacy of universal parent education interventions on the parental self-efficacy of first-time parents. Design A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Data sources A literature search of 10 databases was conducted to identify randomised controlled trials from each database’s point of inception to November 2016. Methods Based on the inclusion criteria, 24,062 articles were screened for their titles and abstracts. Two hundred and eighty articles were identified for full-text screening. Risks of bias posed by the selected articles were assessed using Cochrane’s Risk of Bias instrument. Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.3. The overall intervention effect was evaluated using z tests at p < 0.05, while I 2 and Cochran Q tests were used to measure heterogeneity. Results Ten randomised controlled trials were selected; eight trials were combined in meta-analyses and two trials were synthesised narratively. A meta-analysis revealed that universal parent education interventions significantly enhanced parental self-efficacy (p < 0.001) among first-time parents and these effects were also maintained over time (p < 0.001). The extent of improvement in parental self-efficacy was affected by the duration of the interventions. Conclusion This review provides sufficient evidence to support the use of universal interventions to enhance new parents’ self-efficacy. While intervention effects were sustained at the two-month follow-up, further research using randomised controlled trials and longitudinal studies are needed to determine long-term effects. The findings serve as an impetus for hospitals and healthcare professionals to integrate universal interventions in perinatal care to guide first-time parents’ transition into parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identifying critical life transitions in people's physical activity behaviors may illuminate the most opportune intervention apertures for chronic disease prevention. A substantive evidence base now indicates that parenthood is one of these critical transition points for physical activity decline. This study will examine whether a brief theory-based intervention can prevent a decline in physical activity among new parents over 6 months following intervention. This study protocol represents the first dyad-based physical activity initiative in the parenthood literature involving both mothers and fathers; prior research has focused on only mothers or only fathers (albeit limited), and has shown only short-term changes in physical activity. This study will be investigating whether a theory-based physical activity intervention can maintain or improve moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity measured via accelerometry of new parents over a 6 month period following intervention compared to a control group.Methods: This study is a 6-month longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Parents are measured at baseline (2 months postpartum) with two assessment points at 6 weeks (3.5 months postpartum) and 3 months (5 months postpartum) and a final follow-up assessment at 6 months (8 months postpartum). The content of the theory-based intervention was derived from the results of our prior longitudinal trial of new parents using an adapted theory of planned behavior framework to predict changes in physical activity.Results: A total of 152 couples have been recruited to date. Sixteen couples dropped out after baseline and a total of 88 couples have completed their 6-month measures.Discussion: If the intervention proves successful, couple-based physical activity promotion efforts among parents could be a promising avenue to pursue to help mitigate the declines of physical activity levels during parenthood. These findings could inform public health materials and practitioners.Trial Registration: This trial has been registered with the Clinical Trials Registry maintained by the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health on April 19, 2014. The registration ID is NCT02290808 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines female and male first-time parents in Spain between 1999 and 2015. Based on the Labor Force Survey in its panel version, the probability of having a first child is controlled by age and observation period, using the independent variables of place of birth, educational attainment and employment status. Results confirm a delay in first parity births for men and women having a higher education level. The continuance of a gender pattern explains the higher probability of first-time maternity in inactive women, whereas work is indispensable for being a first-time father. However, unemployment and temporary employment negatively affect both genders. The contribution of the immigrant population is confirmed, especially due to its early timetable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Social Work is the property of Canadian Association of Social Workers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We examined first-time fathers’ and mothers’ perspectives about their ideal world of support in the context of dominant social ideology, ethno-cultural ideals, and the pragmatics of their everyday family, workplace, and socioeconomic circumstances during their first 18 months as parents. Twelve Canadian-born and six Chinese immigrant couples participated in individual in-depth interviews. We conducted a three-part analysis: fathers’ perspectives, mothers’ perspectives, and couples’ perspectives. Fathers focused on fulfilling dual fathering ideals of ‘time with family’ and ‘providing for family’; mothers emphasized fulfilling a mothering ideal of ‘caring for children'. Examining couples’ perspectives revealed a more nuanced understanding of their shared focus on ‘caring for family'. Parents in this study found the current social ideal of the ‘new’ father, who is both financial provider and nurturing co-parent, appealing, yet difficult to achieve. Couples wanted informal (i.e. family and social network) support, along with formal (i.e. workplace and childcare) support to enable them to provide family care and financial stability for their family. Findings contribute to understanding family and paid work experiences and decision-making among couples as new parents. We offer insights into the complexity of intersections among social ideals, personal expectations, family care, and paid work for fathers and mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the birth of a child, new mothers and fathers commonly have a substantial amount of contact with their parents and in-laws. However, this contact may not always result in emotional support. We tested if contact, rather than geographical distance, influenced emotional support received from parents and in-laws and whether there were gender differences in these associations. Online questionnaire data were collected in 2008 from a community sample of U.S. first-time mothers ( n = 93) and fathers ( n = 93) who were in a heterosexual relationship and living together. Results indicated that for new mothers, greater contact with own parents and in-laws was related to receiving more emotional support. However, for mothers, greater contact with parents also was related to less emotional support from in-laws. For new fathers, contact was not related to emotional support from either parents or in-laws. These findings suggest that receiving support as a result of contact with family members may be gendered, particularly for new mothers' and fathers' relationships with their in-laws. The current study highlights the importance of reducing stigmas about men and their emotional needs and of encouraging new fathers to seek and receive support from family during the transition to parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reports on longitudinal associations between parenting stress and sexual satisfaction among 169 heterosexual couples in the first year after the birth of a first child. Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) was used to model the effects of the mother's and father's parenting stress at 6 months after birth on sexual satisfaction at 1 year after birth. Based on social constructivist theory and scarcity theory, two hypotheses were posed: (a) mothers' parenting stress will predict their own later sexual satisfaction whereas fathers' parenting stress will not predict their own later sexual satisfaction (actor effects) and (b) mothers' parenting stress will predict fathers' later sexual satisfaction but fathers' parenting stress will not predict mothers' later sexual satisfaction (partner effects). On average, parents were only somewhat satisfied with their sex life. The first hypothesis was supported as greater parenting stress significantly predicted lower sexual satisfaction for mothers but not for fathers. The second hypothesis was also supported as mothers' greater parenting stress significantly predicted less sexual satisfaction in fathers, whereas fathers' parenting stress did not significantly predict mothers' sexual satisfaction. We discuss how our results may be interpreted considering the social construction of gendered family roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the impact of having a first-born child on couples' work and family, which covers economic resources, gender attitudes, workplace flexibility and availability of non-parental childcare. Topics discussed include factors playing on mothers' decision to continue working, how work hours govern mothers' decision to stay or change her occupation, and factors that affect allocation of childcare time for both first-time parents.

The article discusses the task of raising a human and an Arendtian investigation into the act of child-rearing in the recent era of technological advancement. It also discusses the Internet searches a new parent usually do to find out how to make the baby sleep, the best baby carrier, etc., including the child-rearing industry explode with the mobile apps, parent blogs, and training coaches.

Purpose: The present study aimed to examine the relationship between sociodemographic factors and domains of quality of life (QOL) among married adults in Japan who were either rearing or expecting their first child. Our research focus was on whether different sociodemographic variables interacted with each other in predicting the first-time parents' QOL.Method: In total, 4374 (mean age = 34.9 years, SD = 8.4, range 18-71) community-based married couples pooled from two surveys provided their sociodemographic information (i.e., age, years of education, and annual income) and responded to the brief version of the QOL instrument developed by the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF in Psychological Medicine 28(3):551-555, 1998).Results: Series of multilevel regression analyses revealed that household annual income and education were associated with all domains of QOL, and other sociodemographic variables worked in a domain-specific manner. In addition, the effect of educational attainment on psychological domain was significant for mothers only, whereas the effects of household income on psychological and environmental domains were stronger for the younger (below age 26) than the older (over 43) couples.Conclusion: The effects of sociodemographic factors at couple as well as individual levels on the first-time parents' QOL were examined for the first time in Japan using couple data. In addition to corroborating previous findings on the main effects concerning these variables, the present study demonstrated the complex patterns of interaction across different levels. These findings provide evidence for the need for financial and health measures targeted at specific parent populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]