Parental Satisfaction: The Effects of Perceived Parental Self Efficacy, CareGiving Role and Child Ag

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Parental Satisfaction The Effects of Perceived
Parental Self Efficacy, Care-Giving Role and
Child Age Hamill, N. R., Fleming, M. J.,
(University of Canberra) Neill, J. T.
(University of New Hampshire).
Abstract Research into parental satisfaction
has found no predictors that can be determined
with assurance. Conflicting research abounds in
areas such as parent gender and partner status in
relation to parental satisfaction. This study was
designed to examine the effect of parental
self-efficacy, care-giving role, child age,
parent gender, employment status, education level
and partner status on parental satisfaction in an
Australian setting. The confirmation of factors
common to perceived parental self-efficacy was
also investigated. Two hundred and ten parents
with a mean age of 35 years completed a
questionnaire measuring their perceived parental
self-efficacy, education and demographic
variables. A multiple regression analysis
revealed three significant predictors of parental
satisfaction parental self-efficacy, and child
age and care-giving role were negative
predictors. Parent gender, employment status,
education level and partner status failed to
achieve significance in the regression model. A
factor analysis revealed two factors for
perceived parental self-efficacy, which were
providing discipline and routine for a child, and
providing nurturance and support. As this is the
first study investigating the impact of
care-giving role on parental satisfaction,
further research needs to be conducted to confirm
this and the findings for the effect of parental
self-efficacy and child age.

• Introduction
• This is the first step in looking at some
  predictors of parental satisfaction in an
  Australian setting.
• The bulk of the literature has been directed
  towards demographic factors such as parent
  gender, partner status, education, employment
  status and age of the child that affect
  satisfaction (Goetting, 1986).
• The hypotheses of the study were that parent
  gender, employment status and partner status
  would have no effect on parental satisfaction
  that level of education, child age and
  care-giving role would have a negative
  relationship with parental
• satisfaction and that parental self-efficacy
  and parental satisfaction would be positively
  correlated.
• Parental satisfaction is defined as a parents
  attitude toward their child/children, or their
  relationship with their child/children
  (Sabatellli Waldron, 1995).
• Parental self-efficacy is defined as a parents
  perceived abilities to positively influence
  his/her childs behaviour development
  (Coleman Karraker, 2001).

Pearsons Intercorrelations for Parental
Satisfaction Predictors Indicators 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 1. Gender (female) -- -.43 -
.07 -.07 .16 .32 .08 .07 2. Employ
Status (f/t) -- .12 .11 -.01 -.05 -.09
.03 3. Edu Level (degree) --
.15 -.04 -.06 -.12 .03 4. Partner Stat
(partner) -- -.25 -.21 .02 .16 5.
Child Age -- -.04 -.03 -.25 6.
C-G Role (primary) -- .05 -.13 7.
Parental S-E -- .47 8. Parental
Satisfaction -- plt.05.
plt.01. plt.001 (one tailed)

• Method
• The participants were 210 parents (37 males,
  63 females) from the Canberra region with
  children aged 12 or under, aged between 19 and
  55years.
• Participants were recruited through cluster
  sampling, convenience sampling and a snowball
  sample.
• Participants were given a demographic
  questionnaire, a 40-item domain-specific parental
  self-efficacy questionnaire, a 15- item parental
  satisfaction questionnaire (adapted from the
  Cleminshaw-Guidubaldi Parent Satisfaction Scale
  (Guidubaldi Cleminshaw, 1985) and the
  Satisfaction section from the Parenting Sense of
  Competence Scale developed by Gibaud- Wallston
  Wandersman (cited in Johnston Mash, 1989), and
  two open-ended questions relating to the
  participants overall satisfaction with his/her
  parenting, and if there was anything about the
  individuals parenting situation that may affect
  his/her parenting skills or satisfaction.

Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for
Predictors of Total Satisfaction
(n210) Variable B SE B
Beta R2 ?R2 Step 1 Gender (female)
.05 .05 .05 Employment Status (f/t)
.05 .08 -.05 Education Level (degree)
.02 .07 .02 Partner Status (partnered)
.08 .10 .06 Child Age -.04 .01 -.23
Care-Giving Role (primary) -.17 .09 -.16 .09
.09 Step 2 Gender (female) .03 .07
.03 Employment Status (f/t) -.02 .07 -.02 E
ducational Level (degree) .07 .06
.07 Partner Status (partnered) .06 .08
.04 Child Age -.04 .01 -.22 Care-Givin
g Role (primary) -.17 .08 -.16 Parental
S-E .38 .05 .48 .31 .22
plt.05. plt.01 plt.001.

• Results
• Of the participants surveyed, 13 of males 45
  of females reported being primary care-givers.
  28 of males 2 of females reported being
  secondary care-givers. 59 of males 53 of
  females reported sharing their care-giving
  duties. The number of children ranged from 1 - 8
  (Mean 1.96), age range from 6 months - 12 yrs
  (Mean 5.1yrs).
• The total self-efficacy scale had a range of 1 -
  7, with a mean of 5.29 (DS .64). The total
  satisfaction scale had a range of 1-5, with a
  mean of 4.29 (SD .5).
• In a hierarchical regression analysis the
  measures of gender, employment status, education,
  partner status, child age, and care-giving role
  explained a significant 9 of the variance. Child
  age and care-giving role were the only predictors
  that achieved significance.
• In the second step, the addition of parental
  self-efficacy added an additional and significant
  22 to the explained variance. Parental
  self-efficacy had the highest ranking
  standardised beta weight of .48, whilst child age
  was -.22, and care-giving role was -.16.

• Conclusion
• The results found three significant predictors
  of parental satisfaction. The strongest predictor
  was parental self-efficacy, with higher levels of
  self-efficacy leading to higher levels of
  satisfaction. The next predictor, which was
  negative, was child age, indicating that
  parental satisfaction is higher when children are
  younger. The final significant predictor, also
  negative, was care-giving role. This showed that
  primary care-givers are less satisfied than
  secondary and shared care-givers.
• Research has suggested that parental
  self-efficacy can be increased through completing
  targeted parenting programmes. If this is the
  case, and parental self-efficacy is proven to be
  a predictor of parental satisfaction, then it may
  be possible to increase parental satisfaction
  by increasing parental self-efficacy.
• The effect of a persons care-giving role with
  relation to his or her child has not been
  previously investigated, apart from a study
  conducted in the US (Veroff, Douvan Kulka,
  1981) reporting single fathers (who were assumed
  to primarily be secondary care-givers) as being
  most satisfied.
• Coleman, P.K., Karraker, K.H. (2001).
  Maternal self-efficacy beliefs, competence in
  parenting, and toddlers behaviour and
  developmental status. Manuscript submitted for
  publication.
• Goetting, A. (1986). Parental satisfaction A
  review of research. Journal of Family Issues, 7,
  83-109.
• Guidubaldi, J., Cleminshaw, H.K. (1985). The
  development of the Cleminshaw-Guidabaldi parent
  satisfaction scale. Journal of Clinical Child
  Psychology, 14, 293-298.
• Johnston, C., Mash, E.J. (1989). A measure of
  parenting satisfaction and efficacy. Journal of
  Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 167-175.
• Sabatelli, R.M., Waldron, R.J. (1995).
  Measurement issues in the assessment of the
  experiences of parenthood. Journal of Marriage
  and the Family, 57, 969-980.
• Veroff, J., Douvan, E., Kulka, R.A. (1981).
  The inner American A self-portrait from 1957 to
  1976. New York Basic Books.