This essay is based on the assumption that a long-neglected topic of socialization, the determinants of individual differences in parental functioning, is illuminated by research on the etiology of child maltreatment. Three domains of determinants are identified (personal psychological resources of parents, characteristics of the child, and contextual sources of stress and support), and a process model of competent parental functioning is offered on the basis of the analysis. The model presumes that parental functioning is multiply determined, that sources of contextual stress and support can directly affect parenting or indirectly affect parenting by first influencing individual psychological well-being, that personality influences contextual support/stress, which feeds back to shape parenting, and that, in order of importance, the personal psychological resources of the parent are more effective in buffering the parent-child relation from stress than are contextual sources of support, which are themselves more effective than characteristics of the child.

The determinants of parenting: A process model.

We obtained normative information for the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) scale from 297 mothers and 215 fathers of 4- to 9-year-old boys and girls. Principal-components analysis of the PSOC revealed two factors: Satisfaction, an affective dimension reflecting parenting frustration, anxiety, and motivation; and Efficacy, an instrumental dimension reflecting competence, problem-solving ability, and capability in the parenting role Significant inverse relationships were found between perceptions of child behavior problems and of parenting. For mothers, reported child behavior problems related to parenting satisfaction. For fathers, child behavior problems related both to satisfaction and efficacy as a parent. Mother and father reports of parenting were positively correlated; however, fathers obtained significantly higher scores than mother, particularly on the Satisfaction dimension. PSOC scores did not vary as a function of child age or sex.

A Measure of Parenting Satisfaction and Efficacy

We define social support as “an exchange of resources between two individuals perceived by the provider or the recipient to be intended to enhance the well-being of the recipient.” We then discuss the assumptions and implications of this definition and address several gaps in the support literature. Specifically, we consider the costs and benefits of supportive exchanges for both participants, the dual and possibly incongruent perceptions of support held by the provider and the recipient, and the importance of non-network sources of support. In addition, we distinguish between the health-sustaining versus health-compensating functions of support and how these functions link with the resources provided in supportive exchanges. We next address the factors that can influence support effects and suggest a broad range of outcomes for both the provider and the recipient. Finally, we distinguish the dimensions of support from the contextual variables that can influence its quality and effectiveness.

/pdf/toward-a-theory-of-social-support-closing-conceptual-gaps-47uegs88tx.pdf

Toward a Theory of Social Support: Closing Conceptual Gaps

This article presents a 3-component model of parenting that places emotion at the heart of parental competence. The model emphasizes (a) child, parent, and contextual factors that activate parents' emotions; (b) orienting, organizing, and motivating effects that emotions have on parenting once aroused; and (c) processes parents use to understand and control emotions. Emotions are vital to effective parenting. When invested in the interest of children, emotions organize sensitive, responsive parenting. Emotions undermine parenting, however, when they are too weak, too strong, or poorly matched to child rearing tasks. In harmonious relationships emotions are, on average, positive because parents manage interactions so that children's and parents' concerns are promoted. In distressed relationships chronic negative emotion is both a cause and a consequence of interactions that undermine parents' concerns and children's development.

The affective organization of parenting: Adaptive and maladaptative processes.

Self-Efficacy and Parenting Quality: Findings and Future Applications

The study explored the effects of different types of social support on the adjustment of first time parents in the postpartum period. At three months and nine months postpartum, questionnaires were filled out by 18 fathers and 23 mothers who attended parenting groups, and 23 mothers and 24 fathers in a comparison group. Four types of early postpartum social support (parenting group, marital instrumental, marital emotional, and network) were related to later postpartum adjustment (well-being, marital interaction, and parental sense of competence). The results suggest that the importance of a particular type of support may be different for fathers and mothers. Parenting group support and emotional marital support were found to be related to well-being, marital interaction, and parental competence for fathers. Emotional marital and network support were positively related to well-being and marital interaction for mothers. Implications for the provision of support by the naturally occurring informal networks of family and friends, and by specific group support systems were suggested. The limitations of the impact of social support and its assessment were discussed.

Social support in the transition to parenthood

Two longitudinal studies examined the influences of social support, networks, and support interventions on the adjustment of teenage mothers and their babies. Structured interviews were conducted prenatally and during postnatal follow-up in both studies. Group and home-based educational support interventions were also conducted through the baby's first year of life. Perceived support, social network resources, and support interventions were related to better postpartum adjustment for young mothers and improved health and development for their babies. Some negative effects were also suggested. The results confirm the importance of assessing specific sources of support and of distinguishing between the concepts of perceived support and social networks. Implications for future social support research and interventions are discussed.

Social Support and Adolescent Mothers: Action Research Contributions to Theory and Application

The influence of teenage mothers' perceptions of family and partner social support on their postpartum adjustment was examined in this study. A structured interview with teenage mothers was conducted prenatally and a follow-up assessment was done when their children were 8 months of age. Both partner and family support were related to greater satisfaction with life, but each was associated in a different way with parenting and concerns about daily living. The results indicate the importance of distinguishing between specific sources of social support and different aspects of adjustment to teen parenthood.

The Relation of Family and Partner Support to the Adjustment of Adolescent Mothers.

Forty-seven first-time fathers from Lamaze classes were studied by means of self-reports of their feelings of well-being, sense of competence as parents, views of their babies’temperaments, marital relationships and social support systems. These self-reports were recorded at 2–3 months, 5–6 months and 9–10 months after childbirth. Twenty of the fathers were attending parenting groups during this period, while 27 fathers expressed interest but did not attend. Fathers participated more in baby care and felt more comfortable as parents as their babies become older, but they reported a slight decrease in marital satisfaction. Although fathers who attended parenting groups showed the same pattern of adjustment as did fathers who did not participate in the groups, they reported significantly lower feelings of relaxation and health for themselves, and more fussy moods in their babies at each of the three points during the first year. The quality of the marital relationship and attendance at parenting groups were associated with positive over-all adjustment to the baby at 9–10 months.

The Adjustment of Fathers to their First Baby: The Roles of Parenting Groups and Marital Relationship

This paper draws upon an observational study of interaction in Family Day Care homes (FDC) and other research to develop hypotheses about the factors that affect children's experiences in FDC. The research suggests that characteristics of children, caregivers and settings in FDC are ecologically balanced in different models of FDC. The implications of different models for children's development are discussed.

Lois Pall Wandersman

Papers

Social support in the transition to parenthood

Social Support and Adolescent Mothers: Action Research Contributions to Theory and Application

The Relation of Family and Partner Support to the Adjustment of Adolescent Mothers.

The Adjustment of Fathers to their First Baby: The Roles of Parenting Groups and Marital Relationship

Ecological Relationships in Family Day Care