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Division of Baby Care in Heterosexual and Lesbian Parents: Expectations Versus Reality
dc.contributor.authorAscigil, Esra
dc.contributor.authorWardecker, Britney M.
dc.contributor.authorChopik, William J.
dc.contributor.authorEdelstein, Robin S.
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-06T02:10:31Z
dc.date.available2022-05-05 22:10:30en
dc.date.available2021-04-06T02:10:31Z
dc.date.issued2021-04
dc.identifier.citationAscigil, Esra; Wardecker, Britney M.; Chopik, William J.; Edelstein, Robin S. (2021). "Division of Baby Care in Heterosexual and Lesbian Parents: Expectations Versus Reality." Journal of Marriage and Family 83(2): 584-594.
dc.identifier.issn0022-2445
dc.identifier.issn1741-3737
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/167038
dc.description.abstractObjectiveWe examined the extent to which prenatal expectations matched postpartum reality, and the implications of expectancy violation for relationship quality at postpartum, among heterosexual and lesbian couples transitioning to parenthood.BackgroundDuring the transition to parenthood, soon‐to‐be parents form expectations about how their lives will change after their baby is born; however, these expectations may not match reality.MethodWe longitudinally examined (a) expectancy violation in division of baby care among 47 heterosexual and lesbian couples transitioning to first‐time parenthood (total N = 94 participants) and (b) the associations between expectancy violation and relationship quality at 3 and 10‐months postpartum.ResultsWe found that expectations matched reality for lesbian couples, but not for heterosexual couples: Heterosexual mothers did more baby care than they expected, and fathers did less. Heterosexual birth mothers were less satisfied when they did more baby care than they expected, whereas fathers were both less satisfied and less invested in their relationship when they did more baby care than they expected. In contrast, for lesbian birth mothers and nonbirth mothers, doing more baby care than anticipated was not associated with postpartum relationship quality. These results remained even after controlling for prenatal relationship quality and timing of postpartum assessments.ConclusionThe extent to which prenatal expectations match postpartum reality, and the outcomes of expectancy violation, may be different for heterosexual and lesbian couples.
dc.publisherWiley Subscription Services, Inc.
dc.subject.otherchild care
dc.subject.othertransition to parenthood
dc.subject.otherdyadic data
dc.subject.otherrelationship quality
dc.subject.otherpregnancy
dc.subject.othergender
dc.titleDivision of Baby Care in Heterosexual and Lesbian Parents: Expectations Versus Reality
dc.typeArticle
dc.rights.robotsIndexNoFollow
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelFamily Medicine and Specialties
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelPsychiatry
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelHealth Sciences
dc.description.peerreviewedPeer Reviewed
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167038/1/jomf12729.pdf
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167038/2/jomf12729_am.pdf
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jomf.12729
dc.identifier.sourceJournal of Marriage and Family
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dc.working.doiNOen
dc.owningcollnameInterdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed


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