Parenthood Is Associated With Greater Well-Being for Fathers Than Mothers

Abstract

The experiences of mothers and fathers are different in ways that could affect their well-being. Yet few studies have comprehensively examined gender differences in parents’ well-being. In the current research, we investigated such gender differences in a large representative sample (Study 1a; N = 13,007), in a community sample using validated well-being measures (Study 1b; N = 472), and in a large experience sampling study measuring happiness during caregiving activities and during interactions with children (Study 2; N = 4,930). Fathers reported greater happiness, subjective well-being, psychological need satisfaction, and daily uplifts than did men without children (Studies 1a and 1b). During caregiving experiences, fathers reported greater happiness, whereas mothers reported lower happiness, compared with their other activities. Fathers also reported relatively higher happiness when interacting with their children than did mothers (Study 2). Across all three studies and more than 18,000 participants, parenthood was associated with more positive well-being outcomes for fathers than for mothers.

On Attenuated Interactions, Measurement Error, and Statistical Power: Guidelines for Social and Personality Psychologists

“…We emphasize that we are not saying that the attenuated interactions reported in these studies do not exist. Likewise, we emphasize that p-values in all studies with large sample sizes were close to or less than p = .01 (Sparks & Ledgerwood, 2019;Bahamondes et al, 2019;Nelson-Coffey et al, 2019). In two of the papers, authors also conducted internal metaanalyses across multiple studies, which yielded evidence that suggests effects are real (Wang & Ackerman, 2019;Hasan-Aslih et al, 2019).…”

The impact of having children on domain-specific life satisfaction: A quasi-experimental longitudinal investigation using the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data.

“…However, besides being rewarding, the transition can also be challenging, and put a strain on a couple's relationship (Kluwer, 2010). The positive effects of childbirth have been reported to be more pronounced for fathers than mothers (Balbo & Arpino, 2016;Nelson et al, 2013;Nelson-Coffey, Killingsworth, Layous, Cole, & Lyubomirsky, 2019). However, Polish panel data indicate a gender interaction that favors primiparous mothers' well-being (Baranowska & Matysiak, 2011).…”

Number of children and the prevalence of later-life major depression and insomnia in women and men: findings from a cross-sectional study of 0.5 million Chinese adults.

“…Pregnancy and parenthood have been associated with physical and psychological health through physiological and socioeconomic mechanisms in previous literature [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Previous epidemiological research also showed that parity and parenthood were related to major diseases, including cardiovascular [1,2], endocrine disease [3,4], and cancer [5].…”

“…There was also a growing body of literature focusing on the psychological impacts of pregnancy, parity, and parenthood [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Physiological research found that estrogen level was affected by women's reproductive history and subsequently influenced mental health outcomes [15][16][17].…”