The sense of happiness and the meaning of life among parents of children in early and middle childhood – research review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24917/20845596.11.3Keywords:
happiness, well-being, meaning of life, motherhood, parenthoodAbstract
This article addresses the issue of happiness among parents of children in early childhood (0-3 y.o.) and middle childhood (4-6 y.o.). The aim of this article is a systematic review of previous research in this field of science. The article presents a review of psychological research on parental happiness, sense of general well-being and meaning of life, and also satisfaction with the relationship. The analyzed issue is an important matter, especially from the perspective of marriage, because the first child is usually born within the first five years of a formal relationship, i.e. during the period when the risk of divorce is the greatest.References
Alesina, A., Di Tella, R., & MacCulloch, R. (2004). Inequality and happiness: Are Europeans
and Americans different? Journal of Public Economics, 88, 2009-2042.
Aassve, A., Goisis, A., & Sironi, M. (2012). Happiness and childbearing across Europe.
Social Indicators Research, 108(1), 65-86.
Baranowska-Rataj, A., & Matysiak, A. (2014). Jak zachowania w zakresie formowania
i rozwoju rodzin wpływają na zadowolenie z życia? W: A. Matysiak (red.), Nowe
wzorce formowania i rozwoju rodziny w Polsce: przyczyny oraz wpływ na zadowolenie
z życia (s. 187-208).Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar.
Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Meanings of life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Belsky, J., & Rovine, M. (1990). Patterns of marital change across the transition to parenthood:
Pregnancy to three years postpartum. Journal of Marriage and the Family,
52, 5-19.
Bramlett, M.D., & Mosher, W.D. (2001). First marriage dissolution, divorce, and remarriage:
United States. Advance data from vital and health statistics, no 323. Hyattsville,
MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Buddelmeyer, H., Hamermesh, D.S., & Wooden, M. (2018). The stress cost of children on
moms and dads. European Economic Review, 109, 148-161.
Burgess, E.W., & Wallin, P. (1953). Engagement and marriage. Chicago: J.B. Lippincott
and Co.
Cetre, S., Clark, A.E., & Senik, C. (2016). Happy people have children: Choice and self-selection
into parenthood. European Journal of Population 32(3), 445-473.
Clark, A.E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., & Lucas, R.E. (2008). Lags and leads in lifesatisfaction:
A test of the baseline hypothesis. Economic Journal, 118(529), 222-243.
Clark, A.E., Flèche, S., Layard, R., Powdthavee, N., & Ward, G. (2018). The origins of happiness:
The science of well-being over the life course. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Clark, A.E., & Oswald, A.J. (2002). Well-being in panels. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/
7364/98f9807569f96c59e6ba33a2785bf7ac735e.pdf (dostęp 20.09.2018)
Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (1992). When partners become parents: The big life change for
couples. New York: Basic Books.
Cowan, C. P.,& Cowan, P. A. (1995). Interventions to ease the transition to parenthood:
Why they are needed and what they can do. Family Relations, 44(4), 412-423.
Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (2000). When partners become parents: The big life change for
couples. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Czapiński, J. (2015). Indywidualna jakość i styl życia. W: J. Czapiński i T. Panek (red.),
Diagnoza społeczna 2015. Warunki i jakość życia Polaków (s. 200-331). Warszawa:
Rada Monitoringu Społecznego.
Dahl, G.B., & Moretti, E. (2008). The demand for sons. Review of Economic Studies, 75,
1085-1120.
Diener, E., Lucas, R.E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness
and life satisfaction. In C.R. Snyder, & S.J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology
(pp. 63-73). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Doss, B.D., Rhoades, G.K., Stanley, S.M., & Markman, H.J. (2009). The effect of the transition
to parenthood on relationship quality: An eight-year prospective study. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(3), 601-619.
Dyrdal, G.M., Røysamb, E., Nes, R.B., & Vittersø, J. (2011). Can a happy relationship predict
a happy life? A population-based study of maternal well-being during the life
transition of pregnancy, infancy, and toddlerhood. Journal of Happiness Studies,
12(6), 947-962.
Foster, C. (2000). The limits to low fertility: A biosocial approach. Population and Development
Review, 26, 209-234.
Gorchoff, S.M., John, O.P., & Helson, R. (2008). Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction
during middle age: An 18-year longitudinal study. Psychological Science,
19(11), 1194-1200.
Gottman, J.M. (1999). The marriage clinic: A scientifically based marital therapy. New
York: W. W. Norton & Co.
Hansen, T. (2012). Parenthood and happiness: A review of folk theories versus empirical
evidence. Social Indicators Research, 108(1), 29-64.
Hirschberger, G., Srivastava, S., Marsh, P., Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (2009). Attachment,
marital satisfaction, and divorce during the first fifteen years of parenthood. Personal
Relationships, 16(3), 401-420.
Hoffman, L.W., & Hoffman, M.L. (1973). The value of children to parents. In J.T. Fawcett
(Ed.), Psychological perspectives on population (pp. 19-76). New York: Basic Books.
Holmes, E., Sasaki, T., & Hazen, N.L. (2013). Smooth versus rocky transitions to parenthood:
Family systems in developmental context. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary
Journal of Applied Family Studies, 62(5), 824-837.
Huston, T.L., & Holmes, E.K. (2004). Becoming parents. In A.L. Vangelisti (Ed.), Handbook
of family communication (pp. 105-133). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A.B., Schkade, D.A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A.A. (2004).
A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The Day Reconstruction
Method, Science, 306, 1776-1780.
Kielar-Turska, M. (2009). Średnie dzieciństwo. Wiek przedszkolny. W: B. Harwas-Napierała
i J. Trempała (red.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Charakterystyka okresów
życia człowieka (t. 2, s. 83-129). Warszawa: PWN.
Kielar-Turska, M., & Białecka-Pikul, M. (2009). Wczesne dzieciństwo. W: B. Harwas-Napierała
i J. Trempała (red.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Charakterystyka okresów
życia człowieka (t. 2, s. 47-82). Warszawa: PWN.
Kohler, H.P., Behrman, J.R., & Skytthe, A. (2005). Partner + children = happiness? The
effects of partnerships and fertility on well-being. Population and Development Review,
31(3), 407-445.
Lavee, Y., Sharlin, S., & Katz, R. (1996). The effect of parenting stress on marital quality:
An integrated mother-father model. Journal of Family Issues, 17(1), 114-135.
Lawrence, E., Cobb, R.J., Rothman, A.D., Rothman, M.T., & Bradbury, T.N. (2008). Marital
satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1),
41-50.
LeMasters, E.E. (1957). Parenthood as crisis. Marriage and Family Living, 19, 352-355.
Margolis, R., & Myrskylä, M. (2011). A global perspective on happiness and fertility. Population
and Development Review, 37(1), 29-56.
Matysiak, A., & Vignoli, D. (2008). Fertility and women’s employment: A meta-analysis.
European Journal of Population, 24(4), 363-384.
McLanahan, S., & Adams, J. (1987). Parenthood and psychological well-being. Annual Review
of Sociology, 13, 237-257.
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C.E. (2002). Depression, parenthood, and age at first birth. Social
Science and Medicine, 54(8), 1281-1298.
Mitnick, D.M., Heyman, R.E., & Smith Slep, A.M. (2009). Changes in relationship satisfaction
across the transition to parenthood: A meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology,
23(6), 848-852.
Morgan, S.P., Lye, D.N., & Condran, G.A. (1988). Sons, daughters and the risk of marital
disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 94(1), 110-129.
Myrskylä, M., & Margolis, R. (2012). Happiness: Before and after the kids. MPIDR Working
Paper (WP 2012-013). https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2012-
013.pdf (dostęp 25.09.2018)
Nazarina, R.R., Schumm, W.R., & Britt, S. (2014). Relationship maintenance. In R.R. Nazarina,
Schumm, W.R., & Britt, S. (Eds.), Transition to parenthood (pp. 125-159). New
York: Springer.
Nelson, S.K., Kushlev, K., English, T., Dunn, E.W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). In defense
of parenthood: Children are associated with more joy than misery. Psychological
Science, 24(1), 3-10.
Nomaguchi, K.M., & Milkie, M.A. (2003). Costs and rewards of children: The effects of
becoming a parent on adults’ lives. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 356-374.
O’Brien, M., & Peyton, V. (2002). Parenting attitudes and marital intimacy: A longitudinal
analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(2), 118-127.
Patyjewicz, L. (2005). Zdrowie a poczucie sensu życia. Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-
Skłodowska, Sectio D, vol. LX, 250-254.
Powdthavee, N. (2008). Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbours: Using
surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships. Journal of Socio-Economics,
37(4), 1459-1480.
Ross, C.E., Mirowsky, J., & Goldsteen, K. (1990). The impact of the family on health: The
decade in review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52(4), 1059-1078.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological
well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-
1081.
Sanchez, L., & Thomson, E. (1997). Becoming mothers and fathers: Parenthood, gender,
and the division of labor. Gender and Society, 11, 747-772.
Seligman, M.E. (2005). Prawdziwe szczęście. Poznań: Media Rodzina.
Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J.M., & Carrère, S. (2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying
factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives.
Journal of Family Psychology, 14(1), 59-70.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., &Foster, C. A. (2003). Parenthood and marital satisfaction:
A meta-analytic review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 574-583.
Umberson, D., & Gove, W.R. (1989). Parenthood and psychological well-being: Theory,
measurement, and stage in the family life course. Journal of Family Issues, 10(4),
440-462.
Umberson, D., Pudrovska, T., & Reczek, C. (2010). Parenthood, childlessness, and well-
-being: A life course perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 612-629.
Vaillant, C.O., & Vaillant, G.E. (1993). Is the U-curve of marital satisfaction an illusion?
A 40-year study of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 55(1), 230-239.
Zimmermann, A.C., & Easterlin, R.A. (2006). Happily ever after? Cohabitation, marriage,
divorce, and happiness in Germany. Population and Development Review, 32(3),
511-528.
and Americans different? Journal of Public Economics, 88, 2009-2042.
Aassve, A., Goisis, A., & Sironi, M. (2012). Happiness and childbearing across Europe.
Social Indicators Research, 108(1), 65-86.
Baranowska-Rataj, A., & Matysiak, A. (2014). Jak zachowania w zakresie formowania
i rozwoju rodzin wpływają na zadowolenie z życia? W: A. Matysiak (red.), Nowe
wzorce formowania i rozwoju rodziny w Polsce: przyczyny oraz wpływ na zadowolenie
z życia (s. 187-208).Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar.
Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Meanings of life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Belsky, J., & Rovine, M. (1990). Patterns of marital change across the transition to parenthood:
Pregnancy to three years postpartum. Journal of Marriage and the Family,
52, 5-19.
Bramlett, M.D., & Mosher, W.D. (2001). First marriage dissolution, divorce, and remarriage:
United States. Advance data from vital and health statistics, no 323. Hyattsville,
MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Buddelmeyer, H., Hamermesh, D.S., & Wooden, M. (2018). The stress cost of children on
moms and dads. European Economic Review, 109, 148-161.
Burgess, E.W., & Wallin, P. (1953). Engagement and marriage. Chicago: J.B. Lippincott
and Co.
Cetre, S., Clark, A.E., & Senik, C. (2016). Happy people have children: Choice and self-selection
into parenthood. European Journal of Population 32(3), 445-473.
Clark, A.E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., & Lucas, R.E. (2008). Lags and leads in lifesatisfaction:
A test of the baseline hypothesis. Economic Journal, 118(529), 222-243.
Clark, A.E., Flèche, S., Layard, R., Powdthavee, N., & Ward, G. (2018). The origins of happiness:
The science of well-being over the life course. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Clark, A.E., & Oswald, A.J. (2002). Well-being in panels. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/
7364/98f9807569f96c59e6ba33a2785bf7ac735e.pdf (dostęp 20.09.2018)
Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (1992). When partners become parents: The big life change for
couples. New York: Basic Books.
Cowan, C. P.,& Cowan, P. A. (1995). Interventions to ease the transition to parenthood:
Why they are needed and what they can do. Family Relations, 44(4), 412-423.
Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (2000). When partners become parents: The big life change for
couples. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Czapiński, J. (2015). Indywidualna jakość i styl życia. W: J. Czapiński i T. Panek (red.),
Diagnoza społeczna 2015. Warunki i jakość życia Polaków (s. 200-331). Warszawa:
Rada Monitoringu Społecznego.
Dahl, G.B., & Moretti, E. (2008). The demand for sons. Review of Economic Studies, 75,
1085-1120.
Diener, E., Lucas, R.E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness
and life satisfaction. In C.R. Snyder, & S.J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology
(pp. 63-73). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Doss, B.D., Rhoades, G.K., Stanley, S.M., & Markman, H.J. (2009). The effect of the transition
to parenthood on relationship quality: An eight-year prospective study. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(3), 601-619.
Dyrdal, G.M., Røysamb, E., Nes, R.B., & Vittersø, J. (2011). Can a happy relationship predict
a happy life? A population-based study of maternal well-being during the life
transition of pregnancy, infancy, and toddlerhood. Journal of Happiness Studies,
12(6), 947-962.
Foster, C. (2000). The limits to low fertility: A biosocial approach. Population and Development
Review, 26, 209-234.
Gorchoff, S.M., John, O.P., & Helson, R. (2008). Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction
during middle age: An 18-year longitudinal study. Psychological Science,
19(11), 1194-1200.
Gottman, J.M. (1999). The marriage clinic: A scientifically based marital therapy. New
York: W. W. Norton & Co.
Hansen, T. (2012). Parenthood and happiness: A review of folk theories versus empirical
evidence. Social Indicators Research, 108(1), 29-64.
Hirschberger, G., Srivastava, S., Marsh, P., Cowan, C.P., & Cowan, P.A. (2009). Attachment,
marital satisfaction, and divorce during the first fifteen years of parenthood. Personal
Relationships, 16(3), 401-420.
Hoffman, L.W., & Hoffman, M.L. (1973). The value of children to parents. In J.T. Fawcett
(Ed.), Psychological perspectives on population (pp. 19-76). New York: Basic Books.
Holmes, E., Sasaki, T., & Hazen, N.L. (2013). Smooth versus rocky transitions to parenthood:
Family systems in developmental context. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary
Journal of Applied Family Studies, 62(5), 824-837.
Huston, T.L., & Holmes, E.K. (2004). Becoming parents. In A.L. Vangelisti (Ed.), Handbook
of family communication (pp. 105-133). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A.B., Schkade, D.A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A.A. (2004).
A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The Day Reconstruction
Method, Science, 306, 1776-1780.
Kielar-Turska, M. (2009). Średnie dzieciństwo. Wiek przedszkolny. W: B. Harwas-Napierała
i J. Trempała (red.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Charakterystyka okresów
życia człowieka (t. 2, s. 83-129). Warszawa: PWN.
Kielar-Turska, M., & Białecka-Pikul, M. (2009). Wczesne dzieciństwo. W: B. Harwas-Napierała
i J. Trempała (red.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Charakterystyka okresów
życia człowieka (t. 2, s. 47-82). Warszawa: PWN.
Kohler, H.P., Behrman, J.R., & Skytthe, A. (2005). Partner + children = happiness? The
effects of partnerships and fertility on well-being. Population and Development Review,
31(3), 407-445.
Lavee, Y., Sharlin, S., & Katz, R. (1996). The effect of parenting stress on marital quality:
An integrated mother-father model. Journal of Family Issues, 17(1), 114-135.
Lawrence, E., Cobb, R.J., Rothman, A.D., Rothman, M.T., & Bradbury, T.N. (2008). Marital
satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1),
41-50.
LeMasters, E.E. (1957). Parenthood as crisis. Marriage and Family Living, 19, 352-355.
Margolis, R., & Myrskylä, M. (2011). A global perspective on happiness and fertility. Population
and Development Review, 37(1), 29-56.
Matysiak, A., & Vignoli, D. (2008). Fertility and women’s employment: A meta-analysis.
European Journal of Population, 24(4), 363-384.
McLanahan, S., & Adams, J. (1987). Parenthood and psychological well-being. Annual Review
of Sociology, 13, 237-257.
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C.E. (2002). Depression, parenthood, and age at first birth. Social
Science and Medicine, 54(8), 1281-1298.
Mitnick, D.M., Heyman, R.E., & Smith Slep, A.M. (2009). Changes in relationship satisfaction
across the transition to parenthood: A meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology,
23(6), 848-852.
Morgan, S.P., Lye, D.N., & Condran, G.A. (1988). Sons, daughters and the risk of marital
disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 94(1), 110-129.
Myrskylä, M., & Margolis, R. (2012). Happiness: Before and after the kids. MPIDR Working
Paper (WP 2012-013). https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2012-
013.pdf (dostęp 25.09.2018)
Nazarina, R.R., Schumm, W.R., & Britt, S. (2014). Relationship maintenance. In R.R. Nazarina,
Schumm, W.R., & Britt, S. (Eds.), Transition to parenthood (pp. 125-159). New
York: Springer.
Nelson, S.K., Kushlev, K., English, T., Dunn, E.W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). In defense
of parenthood: Children are associated with more joy than misery. Psychological
Science, 24(1), 3-10.
Nomaguchi, K.M., & Milkie, M.A. (2003). Costs and rewards of children: The effects of
becoming a parent on adults’ lives. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 356-374.
O’Brien, M., & Peyton, V. (2002). Parenting attitudes and marital intimacy: A longitudinal
analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(2), 118-127.
Patyjewicz, L. (2005). Zdrowie a poczucie sensu życia. Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-
Skłodowska, Sectio D, vol. LX, 250-254.
Powdthavee, N. (2008). Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbours: Using
surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships. Journal of Socio-Economics,
37(4), 1459-1480.
Ross, C.E., Mirowsky, J., & Goldsteen, K. (1990). The impact of the family on health: The
decade in review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52(4), 1059-1078.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological
well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-
1081.
Sanchez, L., & Thomson, E. (1997). Becoming mothers and fathers: Parenthood, gender,
and the division of labor. Gender and Society, 11, 747-772.
Seligman, M.E. (2005). Prawdziwe szczęście. Poznań: Media Rodzina.
Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J.M., & Carrère, S. (2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying
factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives.
Journal of Family Psychology, 14(1), 59-70.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., &Foster, C. A. (2003). Parenthood and marital satisfaction:
A meta-analytic review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 574-583.
Umberson, D., & Gove, W.R. (1989). Parenthood and psychological well-being: Theory,
measurement, and stage in the family life course. Journal of Family Issues, 10(4),
440-462.
Umberson, D., Pudrovska, T., & Reczek, C. (2010). Parenthood, childlessness, and well-
-being: A life course perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 612-629.
Vaillant, C.O., & Vaillant, G.E. (1993). Is the U-curve of marital satisfaction an illusion?
A 40-year study of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 55(1), 230-239.
Zimmermann, A.C., & Easterlin, R.A. (2006). Happily ever after? Cohabitation, marriage,
divorce, and happiness in Germany. Population and Development Review, 32(3),
511-528.
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Published
2018-12-01
How to Cite
Dankiewicz, M., & Pieniążek, S. (2018). The sense of happiness and the meaning of life among parents of children in early and middle childhood – research review. Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Psychologica, 11, 39–55. https://doi.org/10.24917/20845596.11.3
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