Satisfaction with Life, Emotions, and Identity Processes in Polish First-Time Mothers and Fathers and Their Child’s Age

Abstract

The experiences of women regarding conception, the birth of the first child, and care of an infant in the perinatal period have long attracted the attention of researchers, but the knowledge about the experiences of men entering the role of fathers for the first time is still insufficient. The aim of the research was to identify the level of satisfaction with life, emotions and identity formation of first-time parents depending on the gender and age of the child. Seventy-five pairs of Polish first-time parents participated in the study. The research used the SUPIN scale (Polish adaptation of Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Dimension of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), and a questionnaire prepared by the authors. On the basis of the conducted research, it can be concluded that there is a similarity of satisfaction with life, experienced emotions, and identity processes of first-time mothers and fathers, as well as the importance of the child’s age for the specificity of developmental changes in women and men. Understanding development changes which include identity, emotional functioning, and life satisfaction of first-time parents can provide bases for creating supporting programs in the case that problems in undertaking the role of a parent emerge.

Young Muslim couples’ experiences when having the first child: A narrative inquiry

“…Differences in male and female responses were also investigated through differences in the level of welfare of a husband and wife at the beginning of their wife's pregnancy (Alam, 2020;Lou et al, 2017), as well as developments from early pregnancy until sometime after the wife gave birth (Liberska & Deja, 2021;Lou et al, 2017;Nelson-Coffey et al, 2019;Pearson et al, 2019). Some other researchers interpret the term welfare broadly.…”