Affiliation and Autonomy in the Transition to Parenthood

Abstract

This article examines autonomy and affiliation as potentially clinically significant characteristics for men and women in their adaptation to the transition to parenthood. It is addressed primarily to clinicians who assist individuals and families over the course of developmental transitions, as well as theorists trying to conceptualize such periods in family life. Data were obtained from a longitudinal study of initially expectant couples who were seen a t 2 and 5 years af ter the birth of their firs t child. Autonomy and affiliation assessed during the expectancy were strong predictors of later intrapsychic, marital, and parental adaptation. There was some evidence that women's capacity for closeness, or affiliation, tends to preclude the development of a close relationship between their husbands and their firs tborns.