Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 19, No. 5, 1990

Parenting Satisfaction of Mothers During Midlife 1 Kelly J. Koski 2 and Laurence Steinberg 3

ReceivedAugust 22, 1988; acceptedFebruary 14, 1990 The present investigation explores the relations among midlife identity concerns, marital satisfaction, mental health, and parenting satisfaction among mothers o f preadolescents and early adolescents. Data were obtained from 129 intact families with a firstborn child between the ages o f lO and 15. The results suggest that intense midlife concerns are associated with diminished satisfaction with parenting, although this relation is moderated by the mother's reported marital satisfaction and her overall psychological wellbeing. Specifically, mothers with intense midlife crisis symptoms report higher parenting satisfaction when their marital satisfaction is high, but lower parental satisfaction when their midlife concerns are accompanied by psychological distress. The relations among midlife concerns, marital satisfaction, psychological symptoms, and mothers" satisfaction with parenting are not moderated by the sex of the adolescent.

INTRODUCTION A l t h o u g h s e v e r a l studies o f f a m i l i e s w i t h a d o l e s c e n t s (e.g., H i l l et al., 1985a, 1985b; S t e i n b e r g , 1987) h a v e l o o k e d at t h e i m p a c t o f p u b e r t a l c h a n g e s

~The research reported here is part of a larger investigation supported by grants to the second author by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Graduate School Research Committee of the University of Wisconsin- Madison. This paper is based on a senior thesis completed by the first author in the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. 2Formerly, Senior in Child and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Interests are in adolescent development and sex differences. 3Professor of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Interests are in adolescent development and family relations. To whom correspondence should be addressed. 465 0047-2891/90/1000-0465506.00/0

9 1990 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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on family relations, none has examined the impact that the psychological changes of midlife, apart from the changes of adolescence, have on parenting satisfaction during this time. Midlife, like adolescence, is a time of changes in self-conceptions and social roles. The changes occurring during the midlife transition often involve a shift in time perspective, a change in physical appearance and ability, a realistic look at one's achievements and occupation, a realization of one's limitations, and increased financial responsibilities (Fartell and Rosenberg, 1981; Levinson, 1978; Gould, 1972). Typically, these changes involve an intense internal search for self (Rubin, 1979; Scarf, 1986). Midlife concerns over one's identity, particularly when they are intense, may negatively influence mothers' parenting satisfaction for several reasons. First, dissatisfaction with parenting may arise among individuals engaged in especially extensive introspection and soul-searching, because questioning one's current identity or the correctness of one's previous life choicestwo hallmarks of itense midlife concerns-may lead mothers to have misgivings about their competence as parents. Ballenski and Cook (1982), for example, found that mothers of adolescents often felt more inadequate as parents than at any other time in the family life cycle. Although their study did not measure the influence midlife has on parenting, one might reasonably speculate that intense midlife concerns would heighten feelings of inadequacy within the parenting sphere. The coincidence of the adult's midlife years with the child's adolescence may serve to exacerbate these feelings, especially among parents who are significantly invested in the parenting role (cf. Powell, 1977). The adolescent son's or daughter's emerging cognitive capabilities (Hill, 1986), for example, may contribute to feelings of diminished control or power during midlife. These changes may heighten fears that one may never realize his or her potential (Levinson, 1978), and increase one's awareness of the distance between oneself and the young (Neugarten, 1968). Second, the negative effect the midlife transition has on parenting satisfaction could result from the disruption heightened midlife concerns has on the adult's performance of parenting role itself. The more one questions one's choices (e.g., "I wonder how my life could have been different if I had made other choices"), the less energy one would expect to expend coping with the transitions associated with rearing an adolescent son or daughter. For in addition to feeling overwhelmed with one's own concerns, the mother of an adolescent must confront changes such as increased adolescent autonomy, parent-child distance, and parent-child conflict (Steinberg, 1987). Silverberg and Steinberg (1990) report that these developmental changes of adolescence are especially likely to affect parents who are relatively less invested in their work role outside the home.

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Although it is reasonable to expect that parenting satisfaction and midlife identity concerns are negatively correlated, it is likely that other factors may strengthen or weaken this association. Three such moderating factors are the degree to which the adult experiences psychological distress at midlife, the sex of the adolescent child, and the mother's level of satisfaction with her marriage. With regard to the first of these, it is hypothesized that the presence of psychological symptoms such as nervousness, headaches, and tension will amplify the relation between midlife concerns and dissatisfaction with parenting, because the presence of palpable symptoms will heighten the salience of the identity crisis to the adult. With regard to the second, it is hypothesized that a mother's midlife identity concerns will have a greater influence on parental satisfaction if the adolescent is female. Studies of the transition into adolescence, especially those examining pubertal timing, suggest that sex differences occur in the extent to which pubertal maturation influences the parent-adolescent relationship (Steinberg, 1987a). In particular, parents of early maturing girls tend to experience greater conflict (Hill et al., 1985b. Furthermore, Silverberg and Steinberg (1990) found that mothers of adolescent girls reported more intense midlife identity concerns if their child was more physically mature. In addition, sex differences may arise because the mother's midlife identity concerns are more closely reflected in the changes occurring with an adolescent daughter rather than an adolescent son (Silverberg & Steinberg, 1990; Steinberg & Silverberg, 1987). Finally, because of the influence marital satisfaction has been found to have on mothers' psychological well-being (Steinberg and Silverberg, 1987; Baruch et al., 1983), we hypothesize that marital satisfaction influences the parenting satisfaction of mothers experiencing intense midlife concerns. A satisfying marriage, in this case, might serve as a buffer and support in dealing with both the transitions of midlife and the transitions occurring with adolescent sons and daughters. Satisfaction in the marriage might make those problems associated with adolescence less psychologically troublesome, and therefore attenuate the spillover into the parenting domain. This investigation examines parenting satisfaction among mothers during midlife. Four hypotheses are examined: (1) The more intense a mother's midlife concerns, the less satisfied with parenting she is; (2) among mothers with high midlife crisis scores, psychological symptoms will be associated with lower parenting satisfaction; (3) a mother's midlife crisis scores will be more strongly correlated with parental satisfaction if the child is female than if the child is male; and (4) parental satisfaction among women with high midlife crisis scores will be higher if their marital satisfaction is high.

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METHOD Sample The sample for the present study is composed of 129 intact families with a firstborn child between the ages of 10 and 15 at the time of the data collection. The families are participants in a larger study of family relationships during the transition into adolescence. Participating families were selected via a two-step process. First, an initial sample of 865 adolescents attending Grades 5, 6, 8, or 9 in the Madison (Wisconsin) school district was surveyed in order to collect information on the youngsters' family background, and on their psychological development and social relations. These data were collected via a questionnaire battery administered to the youngsters in classroom-size groups (generally, 25-30 students) at their schools. Participating schools were selected in order to provide a representative cross section of the city's population of adolescents in this age group. Within schools, classrooms were randomly selected, and letters describing the study were sent to the parents of all enrolled students (1038 youngsters). Only 43 youngsters (4%) declined to take part in the study or did not have their parents' permission to participate. One hundred thirteen youngsters (11%) were absent from school on the day of questionnaire administration, and 16 youngsters' (2%) questionnaires were discarded due to a large number of incomplete or suspect responses. The sample of 865 preadolescents and adolescents represented 83% of the total population of youngsters whose participation was sought, and 94% of the youngsters who were present in school when questionnaires were administered. Subsequent comparisons between the demographic characteristics of the study sample and that of the district's student population as a whole, based on information provided by the district, indicated that the study sample is indeed representative of the district population with respect to race, socioeconomic status, and family structure. From the initial sample of 865 youngsters, all families in which the youngster was the oldest child (and not a twin) were identified as potential participants in the second phase of the research program; 354 (41%) families met these criteria and were contacted by mail. (Only families with firstborn children were contacted so as to limit the investigation to families who are negotiating the transition into adolescence for the first time.) The letter explained that the purpose of the research was to better understand the family relationships of families with preadolescent and early adolescent children, and informed the parents that a member of the research staff would be calling to set up an appointment for a home visit. Of these 354 families, we were able to reach 298 families (84%) by phone; 56 families (16~ were unreachable by mail (i.e., the letter was returned undeliverable) or by phone after

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repeated attempts by our staff to make contact. Of the 298 families who were contacted, 209 (70%) agreed to participate in the study; the remaining 89 families were either unwilling to participate or impossible to schedule. Ultimately, 5 of the 209 families were dropped from the sample due to incomplete questionnaires, yielding a final sample of 204 families varying in family structure among intact families (N = 129), single-parent families (N = 43), and stepfamilies (N = 32). The sample of 204 participants did not differ from the sample of 89 eligible nonparticipants with respect to child sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or family structure (for all comparisons, p > .05). Families with employed mothers were more likely than those of nonemployed mothers to participate in the home visit portion of the study, however. The present analyses include only those families who had not experienced divorce or separation. This subsample is predominantly white (92%) and evenly divided with respect to the sex of the target adolescent. The vast majority of families (86~ had more than one child. Analyses of parental occupations indicate that the subsample is evenly divided among blue-collar (33%), white-collar (36%), and professional (31%) families. In 51% of the households, the mother was employed full time, in 40%, part time, and in 9%, the mother was not employed. At the time of the survey, the average length of marriage was 15.62 years (SD = 2.69). The average age of mothers was 37.77 (SD = 4.10), and of the children, 12.64 (SD = 1.65). Procedures and Measures

Home visits were conducted between April and June 1985. During the home visit, questionnaire batteries were administered to children, mothers, and fathers independently. During the home visits, ratings were made of the youngster's pubertal status, and an interview designed to tap the youngster's persuasive reasoning abilities was administered and the response to this interview was transcribed. Of interest in the present analyses are four measures of parental psychological well-being: intensity of midlife identity concerns, psychological symptoms, marital satisfaction, and parenting satisfaction. Mothers' midlife identity concerns were assessed via a scale that incorporated items from Farrell and Rosenberg's (1981) "midlife crisis scale," and from the work on adult development and well-being by Gould (1972) and Keniston (1963). This 10-item scale inquires about the degree to which parents are experiencing a period of reevaluation of their life situation, their life choices, and themselves. Its focus is on self-reflection and introspection (e.g., "I think about how my life could have been different if I had made other choices when I was younger"). The internal consistency of the measure is .79. Mothers' psychological symptoms were assessed via a checklist adapted from the Center

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for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977). This scale was developed for use with nonclinical samples and asks parents to indicate the frequency, during the past year, of feelings of tension, depressed mood, and similar problems. The internal consistency of the scale is .77. Parenting satisfaction was assessed via an 8-item semantic differential scale developed by Campbell et al. (1976) for use in their national study of the quality of adult life. It asks respondents to describe their present life according to a series of adjective pairs (e.g., miserable-enjoyable; useless-worthwhile). In the present study, the measure has an internal consistency of .94. Finally, the measure of marital satisfaction is a 9-item semantic differential instrument developed by Campbell et al. (1976) for use in their national study of the quality of adult life. Each item has a 7-point scale, and marital satisfaction scores are expressed in terms of the average rating given across the 9 items (i.e., a range from 1.0 to 7.0), with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. The instrtiment asks respondents to rate their marriage along such continua as "miserable-enjoyable," "interesting-boring," and "empty-full." In the present sample, the internal consistency of the measure is .93. RESULTS

Hypothesis 1 The more intense a mother's midlife concerns, the less satisfied with parenting she will be. This hypothesis is supported. In order to examine this hypothesis, two analyses were conducted. First, the correlation between mothers' midlife identity concerns and mothers' parenting satisfaction was examined. This analysis indicates that the greater the intensity of a mother's midlife concerns, the less satisfied with parenting she is (r[127] = . - 4 5 , p < .0001). Second, the mothers were divided into low-, medium-, and highintensity midlife groups. Mothers whose scores fell in the lower one-third of possible scores were placed in the low midlife intensity group (N = 40), mothers in the middle one-third range in the medium group (N -- 38), and those in the upper one-third range in the high-intensity midlife group (N = 51). Through the use of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), these groups were then used to compare parenting satisfaction scores. The results of the ANOVA indicate that mothers with higher midlife scores had lower parenting satisfaction (F[2,126] = 9.17, p < .0002). The mean parenting scores for the midlife groups are as follows: low midlife crisis group (5.9), middle midlife crisis group (5.7), and high midlife crisis group (5.0).

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Hypothesis 2 Among mothers with high midlife crisis scores, psychological symptoms will be associated with lower parenting satisfaction. This hypothesis is also supported. Within the high midlife crisis group the correlation between psychological symptoms and parenting satisfaction is significant and negative. The greater the number of psychological symptoms, the lower the parenting satisfaction score (r[51] = - . 4 9 , p < .0001).

Hypothesis 3 A mother's midlife crisis score will be more strongly correlated with parental satisfaction if her child is female. This hypothesis was not supported. In order to test this hypothesis, two analyses were conducted. First, a correlation between mothers' midlife scores and parenting satisfaction was computed among mothers with daughters. The resulting correlation was r(65) = . - 378, p < .001. Second, the correlation between mothers' midlife scores and parenting satisfaction was computed using only those mothers with sons. The correlation was r(62) = . - 4 9 7 5 , p < .001, and not significantly different from the correlation among mothers of daughters. Evidently, whether a child is female or male does not affect the size of the correlation between mothers' midlife concerns and parenting satisfaction.

Hypothesis 4 Parental satisfaction among women with high midlife crisis scores will be higher if their marital satisfaction is high. This hypothesis is supported. The correlation between mothers' marital satisfaction and parenting satisfaction is positive and significant (r[49] = .60, p < .0001).

DISCUSSION The present study supports the notion that the midlife concerns of mothers may be related to their level of parenting satisfaction. Furthermore, it appears that marital satisfaction and psychological symptoms moderate the association between midlife identity concerns and parenting satisfaction. Taken together, the results suggest that a complete understanding of transformations in the family system at adolescence must consider the interplay of the developmental changes of adolescence, the psychological developments

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of midlife, changes in the parent-child dyad, and dynamics of the husband-wife relationship. As hypothesized, the more intense a mother's midlife concerns, the less satisfied with parenting she is. Decreased parenting satisfaction may be due to the ways in which the mother perceives not only the changes taking place within herself, but also the changes occurring in her family during the transition into adolescence. Mothers with intense midlife concerns might view midlife more as a time of loss of control rather than a time of acquiring new roles and transforming family relationships. Since it seems likely that intense midlife identity concerns involve increased introspection, the negotiation of changes in the parenting role might be seen as overwhelming and burdensome. In view of other studies suggesting that mothers' midlife identity concerns negatively affect marital satisfaction (e.g., Steinberg and Silverberg, 1987), it would seem important for researchers to study further the vicissitudes of the self-image among middle-aged women and the implications of these changes for understanding changes in family relations. The present study does not support the hypothesis that a mother's midlife concerns will be more strongly correlated with parental satisfaction if her child is female. One possible explanation might be that the dynamics of raising a preadolescent or young adolescent child may be more similar than different in households of girls vs. boys (see Steinberg, 1987b), making the gender of the child less important than his or her developmental status. It may be the case that sex differences in the dynamics of the mother-child relationship do not emerge until later in adolescence, when the pubertal and sexual changes of the period are fully in place. Alternatively, it might be that for many mothers, midlife is a time of coming to terms with the choices made thus far in life, and these choices would have been made regardless of the sex of the child. To the extent that parenting satisfaction may reflect, at least in part, the degree of satisfaction one feels toward oneself (rather than the degree of satisfaction one feels about the relationship), the sex of the child may have little, if any, impact on this variable. Mothers experiencing psychological symptoms along with midlife concerns report lower parenting satisfaction than do mothers with comparable midlife concerns but fewer psychological symptoms. One can speculate that symptoms such as headaches might affect parenting satisfaction much the same way that introspection and questioning does, leading to one's energy being directed toward one's own concerns that would interfere with parenting. Mothers may associate their psychological symptoms with parenting, and this may lead to even less satisfaction with the role. On the other hand, it might be that parenting dissatisfaction or having a dissatisfying relationship with one's child itself leads to symptoms such as headaches. In the absence of longitudinal data, we cannot rule out this possibility. The results also suggest that a satisfying marriage may buffer women against the adverse impact that a midlife crisis may have on parenting satis-

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faction. Specifically, for those mothers experiencing intense midlife identity concerns, higher marital satisfaction is associated with higher parenting satisfaction. Perhaps the pleasure and satisfaction found in one realm of the family system spills over into other realms, such as parenting. Support received from the marital relationship could make the adjustments to changes within the self and with the adolescent less overwhelming. The issues raised in the present research warrant further investigation in several respects due to the limitations of this study. First, the cross-sectional nature of the data makes it impossible to speak with any certainty about cause and effect. Parental dissatisfaction may provoke midlife identity concerns, rather than the reverse; alternatively, some third variable, unmeasured in this study, may affect both parental satisfaction and midlife introspection. In order to untangle these possibilities, longitudinal research is required. Second, although the analyses show that midlife identity concerns are associated with diminished parenting satisfaction of mothers, we do not know how actual parenting behaviors and p a r e n t - a d o l e s c e n t c o m m u n i c a t i o n s are affected by midlife concerns. Mothers' lessened satisfaction with parenting may reflect a genuinely less satisfying parent-child relationship. For example, mothers with high midlife identity concerns may spend less time, or less pleasurable time, communicating with their adolescents than do other women. In order to address this issue, further research in this area should examine parenting behaviors (not only parenting satisfaction) as a function of midlife concerns. Finally, the present analyses were based on a sample only of mothers in intact families, and only of parent-child relations among firstborn children. We must be cautious about generalizing these findings to families whose composition is different. In particular, it would be beneficial to examine the issues raised here in samples of mothers who are single parents or stepparents, and in samples of later born children. This is especially important not only as divorce and remarriage become more and more the norm, but also as delayed childbearing becomes more popular, since a different fertility timetable will juxtapose parental and adolescent stages along a different developmental schedule. The later born child's adolescent years will thus not coincide with the parent's midlife decade, and it is important tO ask whether this has implications for understanding parent-child relations.

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Gould, R. L. (1972). The phases of adult life: A study in developmental psychology. Am. J. Psyehiat. 6: 16-20. Hill, J. P. (1986). Family relations in adolescence: Myths, realities, and new direction. Genet. Psychol. Monogr. Hill, J. P., Holmbeck, G., Marlow, L., Green, T., and Lynch, M. (1985a). Pubertal status and parent-child relations in families of seventh-grade boys. J. Early A doles. 5:31-44. Hill, J. P., Holmbeck, G., Marlow, L., Green, T., and Lynch, M. (1985b). Menarcheal status of seventh-grade girls. J. Youth Adoles. 14: 301-316. Keniston, K. (1963). Scales for the measurement of identity. Unpublished manuscript. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Levinson, D. (1978). The Seasons of a Man's Life. Knopf, New York. Neugarten, B. L. (Ed.). (1968). MiddleAge andAging. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Powell, B. (1977). The empty nest, employment, and psychiatric symptoms in college educated women. Psyehol. Women Quart. 2: 35-43. Radloff, L. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl. Psychol. Measure. 1: 385-401. Rubin, L. B. (1979). Women of a Certain Age: The Midlife Search for Self. Harper & Row, New York. Scarf, M. (1986). Unfinished Business. Doubleday, New York. Silverberg, S. B., and Steinberg, L. (1990). Psychological well-being of parents at midlife: The impact of early adolescent children. Develop. Psychol. 26: 658-666. Steinberg, L. (1987a). Impact of puberty on family relations: Effects of pubertal status and pubertal timing. Develop. Psyehol. 23: 451-460. Steinberg, L. (1987b). Recent research on the family at adolescence: The extent and nature of sex differences. J. Youth Adoles. 16: 191-198. Steinberg, L., and Silverberg, S. B. (1987). Influences on marital satisfaction during the middle stages of the family life cycle. J. Marriage Family 49: 751-760.