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The effect of first-time childbearing on women 35 years or older as compared to younger women: Transition difficulty, maternal adaptations, and role satisfactions
Abstract
The purpose of this cross sectional, comparative study was to determine if there was a difference in transition difficulty, maternal adaptation, and role (parenthood, marriage, job) satisfactions among women over 35 years and younger women (20-29 years) whose infants were three months, six months, or one year postbirth. Family systems theory and family stress theory provided the framework. The Motherhood Demographic Questionnaire, the modified Transition Difficulty Scale (Steffensmeier, 1982), the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (McCubbin et al., 1981), the Parent Satisfaction Scale, (Meredith et al., 1986), the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm et al., 1981), the Job Satisfaction Scale (Campbell et al., 1976), and the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (Bates et al., 1979) were administered. Data were collected from 175 first time mothers. There was a significant interaction effect for transition difficulty, $F$ (2,169) = 3.38, $p$ = 0.0364. Older women experienced higher transition difficulty at three months and one year postbirth than younger women, which reversed at six months. There was a significant difference in internal resources of maternal adaptation at six months, $F$ (2,169) = 4.39, $p$ = 0.0138. There was a trend for marital satisfaction at one year to be rated highest for women in their 20's and rated lowest for women 35 years or older. Parenthood satisfaction had a significant relationship with transition difficulty for each of the six age groups. There was a significant time effect for the degree of fussiness, with all mothers expressing a higher degree of fussiness at three months compared to a lower degree of fussiness at one year postbirth. Infant fussiness was an indicator for the degree of transition difficulty for older mothers, while the degree of satisfaction with division of household tasks was an indicator for transition difficulty in younger women. The findings suggest that parenting classes should address the potential effects of maternal age and parenting.
Subject Area
Cellular biology|Nursing|Social psychology|Womens studies|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Twiss, Janice Jurene Gosch, "The effect of first-time childbearing on women 35 years or older as compared to younger women: Transition difficulty, maternal adaptations, and role satisfactions" (1989). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9023005.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9023005