Abstract
This study aimed to investigate mothers’ parenting stress and explore its relationship with associated demographic variables in two-child families involving preschool children. A sample of 621 two-child families and a comparison group of 319 one-child families from China participated in the study; the children were aged between 3 and 7. The results showed that (1) mothers of two-child families had higher parenting stress than those of one-child families; (2) within the two-child families, demographic variables, such as birth order, gender combination, and the age gap were found to have significant effects on maternal stress levels; and (3) in two-child families, families with an income of less than 3000 yuan had significantly higher maternal stress than families with an income of more than 6000 yuan.
Highlights
Most parents experience pressure as they attempt to meet the challenges of bringing up their children, especially in the preschool stage
A total of 1031 questionnaires were distributed, but only 940 responses were usable after excluding invalid questionnaires: 319 one-child families and 621 two-child families, including 302 first-born children and 319 second-born children
By using an independent sample t test, we found that differences in birth orders were associated with differences in the mothers’ parenting stress
Summary
Most parents experience pressure as they attempt to meet the challenges of bringing up their children, especially in the preschool stage. This pressure may rise to comparatively high levels, owing to children’s moodiness and unreasonable demands, among other reasons (Koeske and Koeske, 1990). With the formal implementation of a universal two-child policy, two-child families have drawn increasing scholarly attention. The transition from one-child to two-child families has led to increasing economic burdens and restructuring of relationships within families. Obvious differences exist in raising two children as every child is unique. In other words, compared with raising one child, parents with two children experience more pressure (Krieg, 2007)
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