Positive psychology research into human well-being is helping millions of people understand happiness and utilize scientifically proven interventions to not only become happier but to also foster personal and professional growth, improve relationships, and lead more successful lives.
In an article published on Positive Psychology Today, July 27, 2010, "Positive Psychology for New Parents: 5 Research-Based Tips," Jeremy McCarthy noted a dearth of scientifically-based parenting advice specifically targeted to help new parents deal with the challenges of childbirth and parenting.
Though scientists know that both nature and nurture are factors influencing a person's growth, McCarthy noted that debate continues on the specific environmental factors affecting a child's successful development and the impact of each factor. This leaves new parents on their own to find the parenting help that works best for them.
McCarthy provided five research-based tips that were helpful in his own parenting experience and invited commentary and expansion from the positive psychology community at large.
Positive Psychology Tips for Parents
McCarthy's five personal experience tips drawn from positive psychology research:
Future Time Perspective: Establishing a vision of success for the parents as well as a vision of the happy, well-adjusted child provides motivation for the actions that will achieve the visions.
Mindfulness: Though envisioning a desirable future is important, enjoying and appreciating the present moments of the journey is equally important. Mindfulness training can help new parents by reducing anxiety and is calming when under stress.
Gratitude: The benefit of gratitude in bringing greater happiness is well documented by positive psychology researchers. McCarthy recommends practicing gratitude exercises and savoring positive moments of the childbirth and parenting experience.
Supportive Relationships: The support of family and friends is very important to an individual's happiness and feeling of belonging. The stress of facing new situations in childbirth and parenting is reduced by help from a supportive network.
Realistic Optimism: Research studies find that optimism correlates with greater happiness and success. McCarthy tempers his use of the term optimism, by noting the importance of recognizing the negatives sure to be encountered by new parents.
More Parenting Help from Positive Psychology Studies
Members of the positive psychology community chimed in with additional research-based parenting advice:
Resilience: Research shows that resilience benefits well-being during postpartum, a time often marked by depression. Specific attention to resilience training may be helpful in preparing new parents for childbirth and the stress and exhaustion of infant care.
Build on Strengths: New parents can build on strengths while dividing parenting responsibilities. The creative parent might be best at calming a distressed child, while the organized parent might contribute by keeping baby-needs organized and well-stocked. As the child grows, parents can infer the child's strengths by observation and experimentation, and build upon those during the child's development.
Parental Relationship: For many reasons, it's important to honor and build up the parental relationship. Parenting is hard work. Hard work is best accomplished by teamwork, mutual support, and working toward well-understood common goals.
Take Care of Self: In Raising Happiness (Ballentine Books, 2010), Christine Carter notes that a parent's emotions affect a child's emotions. Carter calls this "putting on your oxygen mask first," recommending that parents take steps to meet their own needs in order to provide an environment of positive emotions that will impart similar emotions to children.
Carter notes research indicating that children of depressed mothers perform worse on school tests and have poorer social skills, while anxiety in children is associated with anxiety in mothers.
Positive Psychology Advice for New Parents
New parents have special needs for sound, research-based parenting advice to guide them through the uncharted (for them) waters of childbirth and rearing an infant. Positive psychology research into human well-being can provide a fertile, scientifically proven parenting resource.
Jerry Lopper - IPPA member, business and engineering degrees. Jerry's passion for personal development shows in 5 books, hundreds of articles & ...
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