Intergenerational Influences on the Parent-Infant Relationship in the Transition to Parenthood

In this study, questions were addressed concerning the intergenerational transmission of parent-child relationships in couples going through the transition to parenthood. During the second trimester of their first pregnancy, couples provided information concerning experiences of parenting in their family of origin, then were reinterviewed and observed interacting with their infants at 3 months postpartum. It was expected that when these young adults had reported prenatally better parenting by their parents on specific parenting variables, they in turn would experience early parenthood more adaptively and would show better parenting with their own infants. The results provide support for this hypothesis.