A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Work-to-Family Strain on Parenting Self-Efficacy

Parenting self-efficacy (PSE) is the degree to which individuals perceive themselves as capable of performing tasks associated with the parenting role. It is an influential cognitive construct that is associated with important individual and family outcomes such as psychological well-being and parental involvement. Past research has used cross-sectional data to consider PSE and its potential family antecedents. The current study extends beyond this to longitudinally explore: i) the dynamic nature of PSE, and ii) the influence of work-to-family strain on PSE. Findings suggest that mothers’ PSE declined and then plateaued in the 12 years that followed the birth of their first child. Additionally, three latent PSE trajectories or classes were identified within the data: ‘high constant rate’, ‘relatively high but declining’ and ‘low constant rate’. In terms of the effect of work-to-family strain on PSE, work-to-family strain significantly reduced PSE. Furthermore, significantly higher work-to-family strain was found amongst mothers within the ‘relatively high but declining’ and ‘low constant rate’ classes.