“The way she smiles brightens me up”: Highlights of parenting an infant in a large Nationally diverse cohort

Abstract

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Although there is a growing body of literature examining the positive aspects of being a parent, very few studies have considered the highlights mothers experience in parenting their infants. In particular, neither mothers’ own perceptions of the highlights of parenting infants nor the factors that increase the odds of mothers experiencing these highlights have been identified within a representative, contemporary sample. To address this gap, the current study used mixed methods to explore the highlights reported by New Zealand mothers of infants in a large (N = 6383), demographically diverse cohort taking part in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study. Our sample included primiparous (42%) and multiparous (58%) mothers aged 15–47 years, of European (55%), Māori (13%), Pacific Peoples (14%), Asian (15%), Middle Eastern, Latin American or African (2%), and New Zealand (1%) ethnicities. We used thematic analysis to identify eight broad highlights that fitted within the PERMA™ model of wellbeing, and then identified the variables that make it more likely for mothers to experience these highlights using logistic regression. We found that parity, ethnicity, parental satisfaction, external support, family support, maternal education, and the child exceeding the mother’s expectations for social development were each predictive of at least one highlight, with parity and ethnicity being the two strongest predictors. Overall, our study helps to highlight the positive aspects of parenting infants and identifies some of the factors that may help to promote a positive response to parenthood, and ultimately lead to greater maternal wellbeing.