The Contribution of Relational Support to Parental Self-Efficacy in Fathers and Mothers

Authors: Campbell CG* and Abidog CE

DOI: 10.23880/pprij-16000361

Volume 8, Issue 3

Abstract

Research has shown that parental self-efficacy—the degree of confidence in one’s effectiveness as a parent—is an important predictor of behavioral competence in parenting for both fathers and mothers. One factor found to contribute to parental selfefficacy is the level of support and validation that a parent receives from important others in his or her life. In this study, we sought to better understand how mothers and fathers might differentially derive on-going relational support for parenting from various sources of social support and how that support might differently influence mothers’ and fathers’ parental selfefficacy. We hypothesized that relational support offered by partners, friends, and family would predict greater parental self-efficacy for both fathers and mothers. Given that mothers tend to receive more general social validation as parents than fathers, however, we expected that partner support would be a more influential predictor of parental self-efficacy for fathers than for mothers. Findings indicated that relational support equally predicted parental self-efficacy for mothers and fathers and that although both mothers and fathers reported receiving support from their partners, families, and friends, only partner support was related to greater parental self-efficacy for both, and at similar levels.

Keywords: Parental Self-Efficacy; Co-parenting; Social Support; Spousal Support; Father Involvement

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