Professionals and laypersons frequently state that the transition to parenthood and engagement in parental roles set parents on strikingly different life-course trajectories than they would have experienced if they had never raised children. Specialists in life-span development and family studies discuss parenthood as though it is causally related to observed changes. However, while some theories and a handful of empirical studies have outlined differences between parents and non-parents, there is great need for further conceptualization in this area before empirical evidence can be marshalled to support or refute the contention that parenting is causally related to development. This paper synthesizes theory and empirical evidence from the fields of life-span development and family studies in an effort to further our understanding of the relationships between parenting and adult development.
Aljadir, L.P. (1988) `Dietary Habits in Transition to Parenthood: Dietary Habits Before Pregnancy, During Pregnancy and in Young Families', in R. Palkovitz & M.B. Sussman (eds) Transitions to Parenthood. New York: Haworth Press.
2.
Ambert, A.M. (1992) The Effect of Children on Parents. New York: The Haworth Press.
3.
Baltes, P.B. (1979) `Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Some Converging Observations on History and Theory', in P.B. Baltes & O.G. Brim, Jr (eds) Lifespan Development and Behavior, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.
4.
Baltes, P.B. (1987) `Theoretical Propositions of Life-Span Developmental Psychology: On the Dynamics between Growth and Decline', Developmental Psychology23: 611-626.
5.
Barnett, R.C. (1994) `Home-to-Work Spillover Revisited: A Study of Full-Time Employed Women in Dual-Earner Couples', Journal of Marriage and the Family56: 647-656.
6.
Bell, R.Q. (1968) `A Reinterpretation of the Direction of Effects in Studies of Socialization', Psychological Review75: 81-95.
7.
Belsky, J. (1984) `The Determinants of Parenting: A Process Model', Child Development55: 83-96.
8.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
9.
Cazenave, N.A. (1979) `Middle-Income Black Fathers: An Analysis of the Provider Role', Family Coordinator28: 583-593.
10.
Colarusso, C.A. & Neimiroff, R.A. (1982) `The Father in Midlife: Crisis and Growth of Paternal Identity', in S.H. Cath, A.W. Gurwitt & J.M. Ross (eds) Father and Child: Developmental and Clinical Perspectives. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
11.
Conger, R.D. , Elder, G.H., Lorenz, F.O., Conger, K.J., Simons, R.L., Whitbeck, L. B., Huck, S. & Melby, J.N. (1990) `Linking Economic Hardship to Marital Quality and Instability', Journal of Marriage and the Family52: 643-656.
12.
Cooney, T.M. , Pedersen, F.A., Indelicato, S. & Palkovitz, R. (1993) `Timing of Fatherhood: Is "On-Time" Optimal?', Journal of Marriage and the Family55: 205-215.
13.
Cowan, C.P. , Cowan, P.A., Hemig, G., Garrett, E., Coysh, W.S., Curtiss-Boles & Boles, A.J., III (1985) `Transitions to Parenthood: His, Hers, and Theirs', Journal of Family Issues6: 451-481.
14.
Cowan, P.A. (1988) `Becoming a Father: A Time of Change, An Opportunity for Development', in P. Bronstein & C.P. Cowan (eds) Fatherhood Today: Men's Changing Role in the Family. New York: Wiley.
15.
Cowan, P.A. (1991) `Individual and Family Life Transitions: A Proposal for a New Definition', in P.A. Cowan & M. Hetherington (eds) Family Transitions. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
16.
Daniels, P. & Weingarten, K. (1988) `The Fatherhood Click: The Timing of Parenthood in
17.
Dixon, R.A. , Lerner, R.M. & Hultsch, D.F. (1991) `The Concept of Development in the Study of Individual and Social Change', in P. Van Geert & L.P. Mos (eds) Annals of Theoretical Psychology. New York: Plenum Press.
18.
Elder, G.H. (1985) `Perspectives on the Lifecourse', in G.H. Elder (ed.) Lifecourse Dynamics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
19.
Erikson, E. (1950) Childhood and Society. New York: Norton.
20.
Erikson, E. (1964) Insight and Responsibility. New York: Norton.
21.
Erikson, E. (1968) Identity, Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton.
22.
Feldman, S.S. & Nash, S.C. (1984) `The Transition from Expectancy to Parenthood: Impact of the Firstborn on Men and Women', Sex Roles11: 61-78.
23.
Goody, E.N. (1982) Parenthood and Social Reproduction: Fostering and Occupational Roles in West Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.
24.
Gutmann, D.L. (1975) `Parenthood: The Key to the Comparative Psychology of the Life Cycle?', in N. Datan & L. Ginsberg (eds) Life Span Developmental Psychology. New York: Academic Press.
25.
Gutman, D. (1991) `The Father and the Masculine Life Cycle', Institute for American Values Working Paper for the Symposium on Fatherhood in America, Publication No. 13.
26.
Hareven, T.K. (1977) `Family Time and Historical Time', Daedalus106: 57-70.
27.
Havinghurst, R.J. (1953) Human Development and Education. New York: Longman.
28.
Hawkins, A.J. , Christiansen, S.L., Sargent, K.P. & Hill, J.E. (1993) `Rethinking Fathers' Involvement in Childcare: A Developmental Perspective', Journal of Family Issues14: 531-549.
29.
Heath, D.H. (1978) `What Meaning and Effects does Fatherhood have for the Maturing of Professional Men', Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 24: 265-278.
30.
Heath, D. (1991) Fulfilling Lives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
31.
Hoffman, L.W. & Manis, J.D. (1979) `The Value of Children in the United States: A New Approach to the Study of Fertility', Journal of Marriage and the Family41: 583-596.
32.
Hooker, K. & Fiese, B.H. (1993) `Temporal Perspectives on Changes in Self Related to Parenting', paper presented at the Bienniel Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development (March), New Orleans, LA.
33.
Kuhn, T.S. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
34.
Lamb, M.E. (1986) `The Changing Roles of Fathers', in M.E. Lamb (ed.) The Father's Role in Applied Perspective. New York: Wiley.
35.
Lamb, M.E. , Pleck, J.H. & Levine, J.A. (1986) `Effects of Paternal Involvement on Mothers and Fathers', in R.A. Lewis & M.B. Sussman (eds) Men's Changing Roles in the Family. New York: Haworth Press.
36.
LaRossa, R. (1988) `Fatherhood and Social Change', Family Relations37: 451-457.
37.
Lerner, R.M. & Spanier, G.B. (1978) `A Dynamic Interactional View of Child and Family Development', in R.M. Lerner & G.B. Spanier (eds) Child Influences on Marital and Family Interaction. New York: Academic Press.
38.
Livson, F.B. (1981) `Paths to Psychological Health in the Middle Years: Sex Differences', in D.H. Eichorn, J.A. Clausen, N. Haan, M. Honzik & P.H. Mussen (eds) Present and Past in Midlife. New York: Academic Press.
39.
Newman, P.R. & Newman, B.M. (1988) `Parenthood and Adult Development', in R. Palkovitz & M.B. Sussman (eds) Transitions to Parenthood. New York: Haworth.
40.
Nock, S.L. (1982) `The Life-Cycle Approach to Family Analysis', in B.B. Wolman (ed.) Handbook of Developmental Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
41.
Osofsky, J.D. & Connors, K. (1979) `Mother-Infant Interaction: An Integrative View of a Complex System', in J.D. Osofsky (ed.) The Handbook of Infant Development. New York: Wiley.
42.
Palkovitz, R. (1980) `Predictors of Involvement in First-Time Fathers', Dissertation Abstracts International 40: 3603B-4B (University Microforms No. 8105035).
43.
Palkovitz, R. (1984) `Parental Attitudes and Fathers' Interactions with their Five-Month-Old Infants', Developmental Psychology20: 1054-1060.
44.
Palkovitz, R. (1992) `Parenting as a Generator of Adult Development: Conceptual Issues and Implications', Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop, National Council on Family Relations, Orlando, FL.
45.
Palkovitz, R. (1994a) `Men's Perceptions of the Effects of Fathering on their Adult Development and Lifecourse', paper presented at National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
46.
Palkovitz, R. (1994b) `Rethinking "Involvement": Fathers and Families in Flux', Anticipating the Future of Males in Families, Workshop at the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
47.
Palkovitz, R. (in press) `Reconstructing Involvement: Expanding Conceptualizations of Men's Caring', in A. Hawkins & D. Dollahite (eds) Fathering for the Next Generation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
48.
Palkovitz, R. & Copes, M. (1988) `Changes in Attitudes, Beliefs and Expectations Associated with the Transition to Parenthood', Marriage and Family Review12: 183-199.
49.
Parke, R.D. (1981) Fathers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
50.
Peterson, G.W. & Rollins, B.C. (1987) `Parent-Child Socialization', in M.B. Sussman & S.K. Steinmetz (eds) Handbook of Marriage and Family. New York: Plenum.
51.
Pruett, K.D. (1989) `The Nurturing Male: A Longitudinal Study of Primary Nurturing Fathers', in S. Cath, A.R. Gurwitt & L. Gunsberg (eds) Fathers and their Families. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
52.
Riegel, K.L. (1976) `The Dialectics of Human Development', American Psychologist31: 689-700.
53.
Rodgers, R.H. (1973) Family Interaction and Transaction: The Developmental Approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
54.
Rossi, A.S. (1980) `Aging and Parenthood in the Middle Years', in P.B. Baltes & O.G. Brim, Jr (eds) Life Span Development and Behavior, Vol. 3, pp. 138-207. New York: Academic Press.
55.
Rossi, A.S. & Rossi, P.H. (1992) Of Human Bonding. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
56.
Russell, G. & Radojevic, M. (1992) `The Changing Role of Fathers?: Current Understandings and Future Directions', Infant Mental Health Journal13: 296-311.
57.
Sachs, B.E. (1983) `Paternal Generativity: The Influence of the Transition into Fatherhood on First-Time Fathers' Relationships with their Own Fathers and their Definitions of their Generative Identities', unpublished PhD thesis, University of Maryland, College Park.
58.
Sears, R.R. (1951) `A Theoretical Framework for Personality and Social Behavior', American Psychologist6: 476-483.
59.
Shelton, B.A. & John, D. (1993) `Ethnicity, Race, and Difference: A Comparison of White, Black, and Hispanic Men's Household Tabor Time', in J.C. Hood (ed.) Men Work and Family. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
60.
Snarey, J. (1993) How Fathers Care for the Next Generation: A Four-Decade Study. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
61.
Snarey, J. , Son, L., Kuehne, V.S., Hauser, S. & Vaillant, G. (1987) `The Role of Parenting in Men's Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Early Adulthood Infertility and Midlife Generativity', Developmental Psychology23: 593-603.
62.
Speicher-Dubin, B. (1982) `Relationships Between Parent Moral Judgement, Child Moral Judgement and Family Interaction: A Correlational Study', Dissertation Abstracts International 43: 1600B (University Microfilms International Order No. 8223231).
63.
Thurnher, M. (1974) `Goals, Values and Life Evaluations at the Present Stage', Journal of Gerontology29: 85-96.
64.
Vaillant, G.E. (1977) Adaptation to Life. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
65.
White, J.M. (1991) Dynamics of Family Development: A Theoretical Perspective. New York: Guilford Press.
