The purpose of this study was to describe the relative importance of aspects of the occupational environment in predicting personal strain and changes in the meaning of work (perceived changes in work role salience and work values) during the transition to parenthood. The aspects of the work environment under investigation were: work interference with family, family interference with work, supervisor support for combining work and family, and organization support (respect, separation, and integration types). Control variables were husband support, an important factor in adjustment during the transition to parenthood, and socioeconomic status. A sample of 118 women in dual career couples with one child under two years of age were recruited through childcare centers and newspaper announcements. The sample was predominantly Caucasian and middle or upper-middle class. Subjects completed self-report questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression. Results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that workplace support and work/family interference would contribute to personal strain. Only family interference with work emerged as a significant predictor. The results of this study provided partial support for the hypothesis that husband support, workplace support, and work/family interference would contribute to change in work values. Only husband support was a significant predictor. Having a traditional marriage in which the wife assumes greater responsibility than her husband for parenting and household tasks contributed to her altering work values. The results of this study did not support the hypotheses that husband support and workplace support would predict family interference with work or work interference with family. Also, the results did not support the hypothesis that husband support, workplace support, and work/family interference would predict change in work role salience during the transition to parenthood. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, infulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. NOVEMBER, 1987 / The present study is set within the broad area of adult development and functioning. It is primarily located within the developmental theory of Erik Brikson, who described development, not only frem the perspective of the growing child, hut with the understanding ox the continuity of development over the entire life cycle (1878). As this represents m area of relatively recent concern, there are many gaps in the literature. A cognitive map in the fom of a hypothetical construct ten&ad the- Transitional Space was described and developed in this woi-k, to facilitate tha undetstartiing of both, individual and cduyle development and functioning. This hypothetical construct was based on Winnicott's (1971) original notion of transitional phenomena, which he located as being between inner and outer reality. The Transitional space may be briefly described as that part of the inner world that is projected outwards, and both reflects the internal frame of reference through which the perception of the world is filtered, as well as those aspects of hidden inner reality that are perceived by others as being "me". The Transitional Space comprises three aspects, namely: boundary quality, content, and size. Boundary quality of the Transitional Space reflects the ability of the individual for intimate contact, and id described in terms of the parameters of flexibility and permeability. The content of the Transitional -pace is described as that aspect that is concerned with ego identity (Erikson 1968). Finally, the aspect of the size of the Transitional space isNa reflection of progression along the continuum of ego development as operationalizud by Loevinyer et al (1970):. ” " ' As it has been found that systems are most accessible to observation and study during periods of change, it was decided to locate the study at a point of developmental change or crisis. The period selected for investigation was the tisite around the birth of the first child, and thus the transition to parenthood. In response to evidence of a need in the literature, a model was derived to both describe and explain the changes over this period. The model of change was based on the findings of. Janis (1958), in terms of preparation for change, and regression in the face of stress, as well as the theory of "romantic solutions" to transitional periods (Becker, 1973) and the cyclicity of the romantic experience (Livingston, 1980). The model was integrated with tije sociological model of LaRossa and laRossa (1981), to form a more canprehensive description and explanation of the process of the ■ transition to parenthood. ; The first aim in the study was to describe and predict adult and couple functioning on the basis of the model of thi Transitional Space, with special reference to the changepoint of the transition to

Thesis advisor: Donald Cox / This dissertation contains three essays. It provides analysis on issues concerning about family economics. The first essay investigates issues about intergenerational transfer in China. Does parental support in China respond to low income of the elderly? Intergenerational transfers from adult children to their parents are thought to contribute a significant portion of old-age support in China. With a fast growing elder population and an increasing old-age dependency ratio, it is important to understand these transfers. This study investigates the determining factors of intergenerational transfers in China. This line of research is still lacking due to the scarcity of detailed household data. Past studies on private transfers in China could not differentiate between intergenerational versus intragenerational transfers. Using pilot data from the newly released China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), I found that around half of the sampled households received transfers from adult children and the amount of transfer is as much as two-thirds of household income per capita. Data also showed that poorer households are more likely to receive transfers. Data suggested that people in the poor province (Gansu) have a higher degree of dependence on adult children, as the source of providing old-age support and living arrangement. Seeing how private transfers are large, widespread, and responsive to income, the benefits from instituting appropriate public policy would likely accrue in part to younger generations by lessening their burden of familial support. The second essay examines the effect of social father on the well-being of out-of-wedlock children. Social fathers, defined as stepfathers or unrelated cohabiting romantic partners of biological mothers, have become more widespread as a result of the increasing out-of-wedlock childbearing. With more young children living with social fathers, it is important to understand the effect of social fathers on the well-being of children. Previous research focused more on such effect on older children or adolescents. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), I find that children with social fathers scored around three points less in a cognitive ability test than children living only with biological mothers. I used the propensity score matching method to address the selection issue for which the child's mother self-selected into having a new partner. Social fathers will be more common because of the widespread of non-marital births. Any negative effect caused by the social fathers will affect a large portion of child population. The third essay evaluates the association between the timing of parenthood and the timing of retirement. Is late parenting associated with late retirement? The trend of parenthood timing is under drastic change. The birth rate for women aged 30-34 rose from 52.3 births per 1000 women in 1975 to 96.5 births per 1000 women in 2010 while the birth rate for women aged 20-24 went down from 113 births to 90 births per 1000 women during the same period. The children may still be very young when their parents enter their retirement age. In the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 20% of respondents' children lived with them while nearly 30% of these children were below 18 years of age. Despite the potential importance of this issue, economists have not done much research on it. Using the HRS, this study found that parents who have their first child before or at age 30 retire earlier than parents who have their first child after age 30. This positive association holds for different sub-groups of the sample. With significant portion of people delaying their parenthood and a large group of people entering their retiring age, it is very important for policy makers and economists to understand how the timing of parenthood associates with the timing of retirement. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Previous research suggests that women without children are perceived negatively by others and experience adverse outcomes in various settings. This study investigated psychosocial justifications of prejudice toward childfree women. Participants (N = 891) completed measures of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), the internal (IMS-S) and external (EMS-S) motivations to respond without sexism, and prejudice toward childfree women (i.e., perceived disadvantages of being childfree, evaluations of childfree women, and perceptions of childfree women’s warmth). Most participants also completed one or more justification measures of hostile sexism (HS), benevolent sexism (BS), gender-specific system justification (GSSJ), and femininity ideology. Results indicated that greater RWA was directly associated with greater perceived childfree disadvantages and coldness in childfree women. Additionally, greater IMS-S was directly associated with fewer perceived disadvantages, favorable evaluations, and greater perceived warmth; and greater EMS-S was directly associated with more negative evaluations and perceived coldness. Greater BS and GSSJ were also associated with greater disadvantages. Furthermore, femininity ideology was directly associated with greater disadvantages, unfavorable evaluations, and perceived coldness. In mediational analyses, IMS-S and EMS-S were associated with greater disadvantages, unfavorable evaluations, and perceived coldness indirectly through femininity ideology. EMS-S was also associated with greater disadvantages and unfavorable evaluations indirectly through BS. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature on attitudes toward childfree women by not only replicating that childfree prejudice persists, but also documenting why it potentially exists. Additionally, by identifying several psychosocial constructs that may justify childfree prejudice, this study suggests future research and possible interventions to reduce childfree prejudice.

Thesis (M.S.) in Human Development--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-59).

This study explored how parents from care backgrounds viewed their experiences of childhood. It considered how these experiences influenced parents’ relationships with their children, their concepts and values of parenting and protective factors that contributed to resilience. Six parents were interviewed and gave detailed autobiographical narratives which were transcribed and processed using narrative analysis. Participants were 3 fathers and 3 mothers aged between 25 and 65 years. Participants expressed difficulties in relating to their children consistent with attachment theory, including role confusions, re-traumatisation and over-protectiveness. Despite traumatic childhood experiences participants lacked self-pity and were motivated by a determination to give their children a better experience of childhood than their own. Possible protective factors were indicated in experiences of consistent, stable foster-care and services and personal attributes. Participants described difficulties in making sense of their past lives and reappraised their experiences throughout their narratives. They described managing psychosocial transitions beyond the adolescent changes predicted by focal development theory. This study has implications for clinical practice with families, specifically in raising awareness of the long standing vulnerability that care histories may confer, informing therapeutic practice and the use of integrated models of intervention.

No description available.

This thesis explores the complex web of social relations created by the use of donor insemination (DI) in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The experiences of pursuing parenthood and creating a family using this method of assisted conception are contextualised through attention to the practices of Donor Insemination Programmes and the discourses used by parents, their families and health professionals. Sociologists and other social scientists have drawn attention to the social and cultural consequences of the fragmentation of biological/genetic, gestational and social parenting that follows the use of third party gametes. This thesis explores the implications of these procreative arrangements for the meanings attached to cultural concepts such as 'kinship', 'family', and 'parenthood'. Variation in the way these families respond to issues associated with the use of donor sperm in the conception of a child is also highlighted. The thesis also explores the dominant discourse in the New Zealand context of children's 'right' to know their genetic origins, and how this is played out in the perceptions and actions of health professionals, parents of children conceived by DI and their kin. The research is exploratory and qualitative, drawing on semi-structured interviews with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles of children conceived by DI, and with health professionals working in DI programmes. The inclusion of the perspectives of extended family members and health professionals constitutes a unique contribution to research on families with children conceived by DI. The secrecy, anonymity and confidentiality that have surrounded DI practices have long hindered the study of families with children conceived by DI. Despite a trend towards information-sharing in DI in New Zealand, the thesis shows that for these families, patterns of secrecy and disclosure are complex, variable and embedded in particular social and relational contexts.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2001.

[Truncated abstract] The transition to parenthood places a number of emotional, physical, and cognitive demands on individuals. It is also a role that many individuals choose, enjoy, and derive benefit from. This research examined how women's parenting expectations influence their adjustment to parenthood. Taylor & Brown (1988, 1994) suggest that unrealistically optimistic expectations are associated with positive psychological adjustment. However, research examining adjustment during the transition to parenthood has demonstrated that unrealistic expectations pertaining to some aspects of parenthood can have a negative effect on adjustment (Belsky, 1985; Hackel & Ruble, 1992). The primary aims of this thesis were to examine the relationship between optimistic expectations and adjustment, taking into account a broader range of expectations than previous work, and to examine how adjustment is influenced if expectations are overly optimistic relative to experiences.