Essay On Parenting Stress

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Due to the responsibilities to care for a newborn, first-time mothers encounter parenting stress. Both married and single mothers experience parenting stress, but single mothers experience a higher amount of parenting stress. Copeland and Harbaugh proposed a series of factors that contributes to the development of parenting stress, which can diminish the likelihood of successful parenting. Lowering the amount of parenting stress can be beneficial for successful parenting, which is tremendously important for the well-being of the infant. According to the Belsky's Model of the Determinants of Parenting, there are three essential parenting domains which contribute to successful parenting. This includes parent contributions, child contributions,…show more content…
The transition to first-time motherhood can be a very stressful period. Parenting stress negatively affects the interaction between the mother and the infant, which affects the child's overall development (Copeland & Harbaugh, 2005). Many factors can contribute to parenting stress, like social support, everyday stressors, infant temperament, and sleep patterns (Copeland & Harbaugh, 2005). Infant temperament intimately relates to their feelings and needs. Parenting stress affects the mother's ability to determine infant cues, which hinders the mother to provide care and comfort for the infant (Copeland & Harbaugh, 2005). Income and educational level also contribute to parenting stress. The married mothers' group reported higher annual income and higher educational levels, whereas the single mothers' group reported lower income and educational levels (Copeland & Harbaugh, 2005). Higher educational level contributes to higher annual income, which secures a mother's financial status and is a significant aspect that contributes to stress. Single mothers have also reported to have more parenting stress in the parenting role due to the lack of social support, which associates to lower educational levels (Copeland & Harbaugh,

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