Anxiety across the transition to parenthood: change trajectories among low-risk parents.

Background And Objectives: A number of sources suggest changes in anxiety across the transition to parenthood may be experienced by parents in different ways, yet no studies have examined whether new parents experience changes in anxiety in distinct subgroups.

Design: We conducted a longitudinal study of 208 first-time parents (104 couples) from a low-risk population. Parents were interviewed from the third trimester of pregnancy to nine-months postpartum.

First-time parents' expectations about the division of childcare and play.

The current study examines violated expectations regarding the division of childcare and play in first-time parents during the initial transition to parenthood. The study's goal was threefold: (a) to compare prenatal expectations with the reported postpartum division of childcare and play, (b) to compare the influence of the reported division versus violated expectations on postpartum relationship satisfaction and depression, and (c) to examine the role of persistent violations of expectations on these outcomes. Couples expecting their first child were interviewed during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 1 and 4 months postpartum.