Role of Personality Traits and Perceived Social Support in Difficulty of Transition to Parenthood in Women

Objective: The transition to parenthood represents one of the uniquely significant experiences encountered by couples, and the quality of this transition for both parents, particularly the mother, may be influenced by a multitude of factors. The present investigation sought to examine the influence of personality traits and perceived social support on the challenges associated with the transition to parenthood in primiparous women and was conducted utilizing a correlational descriptive design. Methods: The statistical population comprised all primiparous women with infants aged between one and two months residing in Yazd city, who were selected via a convenience sampling method. A total of 100 individuals were chosen as the sample, and they completed the modified scale assessing the difficulty of the transition to parenthood, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support as well as the NEO-FFI-60 (NEO-FFI-60). Data were subjected to analysis utilizing correlation and regression tests. Results: The findings indicated that the dimension of parental satisfaction (derived from the difficulty scale of the transition to parenthood) is positively predicted by the personality trait of extroversion, while the trait of conscientiousness is able to predict the dimension of personal responsibility (from the difficulty scale of the transition to parenthood) in a negative direction. No significant correlation was identified between perceived social support and the various dimensions of difficulties related to the transition to parenthood. Conclusions: It appears that the challenges associated with transitioning to parenthood constitute a multifaceted variable influenced by numerous factors, with certain fundamental personality traits also playing a significant role in this context.