The Relationship of Infant Crying to Parental Stress in the Transition to Parenthood

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Abstract
Thirty couples with firstborn 6-week-old infants were interviewed concerning their feelings about parenthood. They also completed questionnaires regarding themselves, their spouses, and their babies. Results showed that, although the amount of stress experienced by parents was not great, new parenthood had a greater general impact on women than on men. In contrast, the effects of infant crying were greater on fathers than on mothers. Infant crying was related to mothers rating their infants more negatively, but feeling less inadequate. For fathers, infant crying was associated with greater anxiety, more concern about lifestyle changes, and ratings of themselves and their wives as low in potency.

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