This longitudinal study examined factors that contribute to change in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance over the transition to parenthood. Participants were a community sample of 98 heterosexual couples expecting their first child who were recruited through maternity resources in the Victoria, B.C. area. Specifically, this study considered whether prenatal perceived stress levels predicted change in adult attachment security. For men, higher stress levels predicted more change in attachment security. We also examined whether increases in stress levels from the prenatal to the postnatal period predicted changes in attachment security and found that increases in stress from the prenatal to postnatal period were associated with more change in attachment for men; results were marginally significant for women. In addition to examining the impact of stress on the absolute value of change in attachment, this study considered perceived support and perceived anger as moderators of the relationship between stress and directional change in attachment. Measures of general support and perceived anger did not moderate this relationship. Observational ratings of partner’s positive and negative support behaviours during support-seeking interactions were examined as potential moderators. The interaction between stress and positive emotional support predicted decreasing avoidance for women. Interactions between stress and negative affect marginally predicted increasing anxiety for men and women. Dyadic analyses were also used to clarify how changes in participants’ attachment security over time were influenced by their partners’ prenatal attachment security. For women, partner levels of attachment avoidance at the prenatal period predicted increasing attachment anxiety. These findings emphasize that adult attachment exists in the context of interpersonal relationships, and demonstrate the importance of using dyadic and longitudinal data to study attachment. Implications for attachment theory and intervention are discussed. / Graduate / 0451 / 0621 / 0622 / taracg@uvic.ca

In order to better understand how viewers, critics, journalists and series producers help shape the “quality TV” discourse and position shows within it, this project uses case studies of 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Parenthood to dissect how style, narrative and paratexts influence public discourse about “quality” programs both in print and on the Internet. Using Kristen Marthe Lentz’s theories on “quality TV” and “relevance programming,” I examine how each show uses a cinematic style in combination with various strategies such as special episodes, narrative complexity, intertextuality, patriarchal narrative and feminism to align themselves with other “quality” series more readily found on basic and pay-cable, while also allowing viewers and critics on popular culture sites like the A.V. Club to make “quality” comparisons. / text

Section A provides a critical review of the research literature relating to the legal and ethical rights to awareness of genetic origins in the context of donor conception. Definitions and a historical context of the pertinent issues are provided, followed by a discussion of understanding drawn from theoretical literature and a systematic review of research related to openness in donor conception. Potential gaps and requirements of future research are highlighted. Section B presents the findings of a grounded theory study which aimed to explore the experience of openness in donor conception families, in relation to the social and emotional experience of young people. Participants were 8 mothers, 7 fathers and 5 young people from 11 UK heterosexual families. Young people were aged between 12 and 25 years. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analysed using Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory model (2006). The constructed grounded theory extends current research and highlights the complexity involved in the process of being open about donor conception. The constructed model presents a cyclical process reflecting the on-going nature of the experience and demonstrates that openness is not a one-off event, but is continually negotiated throughout the development of the child and family. The model suggests that positive outcomes for the child and family can be achieved through openness. Section C provides a critical appraisal of the research methodology and findings, as well as clinical implications and suggestions for future research.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Parenthood is generally marked as a joyous event, though some research indicates that the birth of a child can possibly involve a difficult and complicated adjustment period for new parents (Ceballo, Lansford, Abbey, & Stewart, 2004). Questions regarding heritage and biological ties typically occur after developmental milestones, for example, births, marriages, and deaths, for adult adoptees. Horowitz (2011) offered that in order to understand the uniqueness of adoptees’ experiences and the specific needs they may have during childhood, it is vital to study the entire adoptee trajectory into adulthood, in order for adoptive parents and society to prepare successfully and launch adoptees into adulthood. This study explored how adult adoptees view parenthood through the lens of their own upbringing in Canada. There are gaps of information in the literature on how adoptees undertake parenting and how they approach becoming parents. In addition, how adoptees recognize themselves in their own children whether their children are adopted or not and how adoptees bond with their children. This study is an effort to address this gap offering recommendations for future research. Using an attachment theory framework while employing a mixed methods approach through an exploratory-sequential design, highlighted results include: adult adoptees struggle with identity issues and their adoption experiences do impacted the way they become parents and how they view themselves as parents.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka blivande mammors och pappors upplevelser av stress inför och under föräldraskapet och jämföra eventuella skillnader. Metod. Blivande föräldrar i Västernorrland rekryterades till studien i samband med rutinultraljudet. Föräldrarna besvarade en enkät vid tre tillfällen, i mitten på graviditeten, två månader samt ett år efter förlossningen. Svaren har analyserats med SPSS. Resultat. Resultatet visade att det föreligger skillnader mellan blivande föräldrars upplevelser av stress. Stress mätt över tid minskade bland mammor respektive bland pappor. Det fanns även skillnader i upplevelser av stress i relation till bakgrundsfaktorer. Under graviditeten var upplevelsen av stress störst bland de i åldersgruppen 25-35 år, de som väntade sitt första barn samt de med en högre utbildning. Två månader efter förlossningen uppgav nyblivna mammor, de i åldersgruppen 25-35 samt de som fått sitt första barn en högre stress. Ett år efter förlossningen förelåg endast en skillnad mellan mammor och pappor, där mammor var mer stressade. Konklusion. Det föreligger skillnader mellan mammor och pappors upplevelser av stress. För ökad förståelse och för att kunna erbjuda adekvat stöd till blivande föräldrar bör ytterligare forskning bedrivas. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the prospective mothers 'and fathers ' experiences of stress before and during parenthood and compare any differences. Method. Expectant parents in Västernorrland enrolled in the study in conjunction with routine ultrasound. Parents answered a questionnaire on three occasions, in the middle of pregnancy, two months and one year after childbirth. The responses were analyzed with SPSS. Results. The results showed that there are differences between the prospective parents' experiences of stress. Estimated stress measured over time fell among mothers and among fathers. There were also differences in the experience of stress in relation to background factors. During pregnancy, the experience of stress was greatest in those aged 25-35 years, those who were expecting their first child and those with a higher education. Two months after delivery indicated that mothers,those who were aged 25-35 years, and those who had their first child a higher level of stress. A year after giving birth was only one difference between mothers and fathers, where mothers were more stressed. Conclusion. There are differences between mothers 'and fathers ' experiences of stress. For better understanding and to provide adequate support to expectant parents, further research should be conducted.

Physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) are deleterious to the physical and mental health of romantic partners and their children, yet both forms of aggression continue to be prevalent even when couples become pregnant with their first child. This study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to IPV in couples experiencing the transition to parenthood. A community sample of 98 heterosexual couples undergoing the transition to parenthood was recruited from Victoria, BC. Couples self-reported levels of depressive symptomatology, attachment anxiety and avoidance, relationship satisfaction, and frequency of physical and psychological IPV perpetration and victimization. Men with greater attachment anxiety perpetrated both forms of IPV at a higher rate than men with lower levels of anxiety. Women with greater depressive symptoms were more psychologically aggressive towards their partners. Women who were more depressed, or more anxiously or avoidantly attached were less satisfied with their relationships, and decreased satisfaction was in turn related to greater perpetration of physical and psychological aggression. Women’s relationship satisfaction mediated the effects of their depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety and avoidance on their perpetration of psychological IPV, and the effects of their attachment insecurity on their perpetration of physical IPV. Relationship satisfaction did not mediate these associations for men. Men’s avoidance did not moderate the association between women’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration; a model with genders reversed testing the moderating effect of women’s avoidance on the association between men’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration was also not significant. Men’s anxiety also predicted women’s psychological IPV perpetration, controlling for their own anxiety and psychological victimization. The results illuminate the ways in which men and women may be affected differently by the factors contributing to risk for violence during the transition to parenthood. Implications for prenatal interventions targeting depression, attachment insecurity, and relationship satisfaction in order to reduce the risk of IPV are discussed. / Graduate / 0622 / 0451 / lisagou@uvic.ca

Aims: The overall aims were to study depressive symptoms among mothers and fathers in early parenthood and how depressive symptoms are related to dyadic consensus (DCS), sense of coherence (SOC), perceiving of the child temperament, separation within the couple and bonding to the infant. Methods: Study I-III was based on the BiT-study, a longitudinal project where 393 couples answered 3 questionnaires including instruments measuring DCS at one week after childbirth, depressive symptoms at 3 months and parental stress at 18 months after childbirth. Study IV was based on the UPPSAT-study, a population based cohort project, where 727 couples answered questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms at 6 weeks and 6 months after childbirth, and impaired bonding at 6 months after childbirth. Results: In the BiT-study, 17.7% of the mothers and 8.7% of the fathers scored depressive symptoms at 3 months after childbirth, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) cut-off of ≥10. There was an association between depressive symptoms and less consensus (DCS), and the parents partly differed regarding which areas of their relationship they perceived that they disagreed about. Parents with depressive symptoms had a poorer SOC and perceived their child as more difficult than parents without depressive symptoms. Among the couples, 20% were separated 6-8 years after childbirth. Separation was associated with less dyadic consensus, more depressive symptoms and parental stress. In the UPPSAT-study, 15.3% of the mothers and 5.1% of the fathers scored depressive symptoms 6 weeks after childbirth, using the EPDS cut-off of ≥10. Further, there was an association between impaired bonding at 6 months and the parents’ depressive symptoms, as well as experience of deteriorated relationship with the spouse. Conclusions and clinical implications: Health professionals need the knowledge that depressive symptoms are common in both mother and fathers in early parenthood. It is also important to understand how depressive symptoms are associated to dyadic consensus, SOC, separation and impaired bonding in order to optimize conditions for the whole family. This knowledge is also important for the public, so those who are pregnant and new parents as well as the society are aware that there might be problems in early parenthood as depressive symptoms.

This creative thesis is a work of fiction exploring the family dynamics of the Van Der Weerd family, told from the point of view of three main characters: Katie (age 30) and her parents, Donna and Harold. Donna and Harold are about to divorce and their son, Brett is estranged from the entire family, including the young daughter he’s never known. The novel spans a year’s time, with the final chapter moving forward another year. Estrangement, addiction, death, and the custody of a four-year old niece and granddaughter are part of this story. (Preliminary pages only)

This study investigates the effect of current place of residence on the transition to parenthood and the extent to which place of growing up influences childbearing decisions. It controls for the effects of demographic characteristics, economic situation and respondents’ values and attitudes on the transition to parenthood so the residential impact measured won’t be biased. We analyze data on childless persons aged 22, 26, 30 and 34 from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS) wave 2003 enriched with register data on births for the study period 2003 to 2006. Multivariate logistic regression is the tool of analysis. We find no significant effect of place of residence on the transition to parenthood among female young adults, and only limited significant effect among men. More specifically men living in the countryside are much less likely to become fathers than are men in metropolitan areas. Contrary to place of residence, the place of growing up has significant effect on first births for both males and females. Women who grew up in the countryside or small towns have higher risk to become mothers than women who grew up in bigger cities but the reverse is significantly true for the men.