AbstractsPsychology

This study sought to determine if the experience of first-time motherhood is distinct from multiparous mothers and if this motivates overprotective parenting behaviors. Temperamental fearfulness, or inhibition, of the child was also investigated for its impact. Mothers and their 24-month-old toddlers participated in a variety of novelty tasks designed to elicit parenting behaviors and children’s typical fear reactions. Mothers also completed a battery of questionnaires. Results suggest that first-time mothers experienced more anxiety and this was associated with increased overprotective parenting behaviors. First-time mothers also demonstrated greater physiological (i.e., cortisol) reactivity while watching their first-born children interact with novel stimuli. The role of increased cortisol secretion in relation to overprotective parenting behaviors was dependent on the child’s level of inhibition. Together, this suggests that first-time motherhood is a unique experience that can result in distinctions in parenting and is influenced by multiple maternal factors and their first-born child’s temperament.