The course of delayed parenthood: A cross-sectional study of selected psychological variables

A notable recent trend among an increasing number of American parents is to delay the birth of their first child, a phenomenon referred to as delayed parenthood. Research evidence from college undergraduates suggests this increase will continue. As this trend to delay first-births continues, it is important to investigate the psychological implications of delayed parenthood. The goal of this research investigation was to examine the parent-reported levels of depression, marital satisfaction, perceptions of children, childrearing attitudes, and social support of a large, cross-sectional sample of delayed parents with children from infants to adolescents. Almost 1200 American parents living throughout the United States, and in foreign countries, who had chosen to delay the birth of their first child agreed to complete several questionnaires. The responses from these parents yield for the first time a description of the course of delayed parenthood, from the infancy of the oldest child through adolescence. A two (parent gender) x five (developmental stage of oldest child) analysis of variance yielded several statistically significant differences; however, these differences may have little clinical utility. Overall, the parents responding to the measures used in this study seem to be functioning very well, and the relationships among the variables in this sample are similar to those relationships found among typical-timing parents. Exploratory regression analyses were used to determine significant predictors of marital satisfaction and parental depression, as well as to derive variance contributed to marital satisfaction by each of the variables of interest. Finally, limitations of the study are presented and suggestions for future research are offered