Abstract

Motherhood is a rewarding, but challenging experience. Mothers are expected to balance parenting with multiple roles including employment. How mothers adjust is influenced by their confidence in their role, their mental health, the social support from their partner, family, and friends, and their perceptions of their infants (Mercer, 1995). Maternal confidence has been identified in the literature as an essential variable in the adaptation to motherhood and to the maternal role (Mercer, 1986; Walker, Crain, & Thompson, 1986). Low maternal confidence delays the transitioning into the maternal role/identity as well as limits the satisfaction in the mothering role (Mercer, 1986). Having infants with difficult temperament further impedes this transition resulting in frustration with new mothers and possibly depression (Andrews, 1990).

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3208770; ProQuest document ID: 305330920. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Kendra Russell, PhD, MSN, BSN

Sigma Membership

Psi Rho

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Confidence, First-Time Mothers, Infants, Mothering Role, Infant Temperment

Advisor

Cecelia Grindal

Second Advisor

Carol Howell

Third Advisor

Patsy Ruchala

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

Georgia State University

Degree Year

2006

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2022-06-23

Full Text of Presentation

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