Family routines during the adjustment and adaptation process of the transition to parenthood

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The family life cycle perspective (McGoldrick & Carter, 2003) recognises that one normativelife stressor for families is the transition to parenthood. Still, the Resiliency Model of FamilyStress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1996) holds that one protectiveresource that could help the family in the face of a stressor is family routines. Even thoughthe Ecological-cultural Niche Model (Gallimore, Goldenberg & Weisner, 1993) gives ussome understanding of the family routine as a psychological construct, many gaps exist in theliterature. The aim of this qualitative grounded theory study was to better understand familyroutines as a resilience resource during the transition to parenthood. This aim was brokendown into five research questions: (1) What do daily routines look like in the lives of firsttimeparents? (2) Why are these family routines important to first-time parents? (3) Whatchallenges do first-time parents face in sustaining their daily routines? (4) What assists firsttimeparents in maintaining their daily routines? (5) What accommodations do first-timeparents make to adapt to the arrival of their first child? In terms of methodology, tenColoured couples whose first child was between one and four years of age and who resided inone northern suburb of Cape Town took part in semi-structured interviews. In terms ofresearch question one, the data analysis revealed that family routines look like a sequence ofunfolding activities and that this sequence is situated within a temporal structure; that thespecific sequence and temporal structure are designed by the family to be functional; but thatthere also is temporal incongruence in the sequence of routines. Related to question two, theparticipants felt that their routines were important because a family routine is an opportunityto spend time together, and it is an opportunity for improving child development. Forquestion three, the data analysis revealed that the challenges first-time parents face insustaining their routines are extra-familial and intra-familial barriers that increase the task andtemporal complexity of routines. The analysis of question four revealed that what assists parents in maintaining routines are extra-familial and intra-familial resources that decreasethe task and temporal complexity of routines. Lastly, themes related to research question fiveshowed that the accommodations that parents make in routines that help them adapt aretemporal accommodations and idiosyncratic accommodations. In future, researchers andtheorists should not only investigate an individual family routine in isolation (e.g. justdinnertime or just bedtime), but also look at the structure of the entire daily schedule, thescheduling process, and how the functionality of this daily schedule affects the experience ofindividual routines. Greater emphasis should also be placed on diverse samples from manyecological and cultural contexts in order to identify more extra-familial and intra-familialbarriers and resources that affect the maintenance of a satisfying daily schedule.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University