Prospective and dyadic associations between expectant parents’ prenatal hormone changes and postpartum parenting outcomes

During the transition to parenthood, both men and women experience hormone changes that are thought to promote parental care. Yet very few studies have explicitly tested the hypothesis that prenatal hormone changes are associated with postpartum parenting behavior. In a longitudinal study of 27 first‐time expectant couples, we assessed whether prenatal hormone changes were moderated by self‐ and partner‐reported parenting outcomes at 3 months postpartum. Expectant fathers showed prenatal declines in testosterone and estradiol, and larger declines in these hormones were associated with greater contributions to household and infant care tasks postpartum. Women whose partners showed larger testosterone declines also reported receiving more support and more help with household tasks. Expectant mothers showed prenatal increases in testosterone and estradiol, and larger increases in these hormones were associated with lower partner‐rated support. Together, our findings provide some of the first evidence that prenatal hormone changes may indeed be functional and that the implications of these changes may be detectable by co‐parents.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135629/1/dev21469_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135629/2/dev21469.pd

Emotion regulation predicts recovery capital beyond mindfulness and demographic variation in recovery dharma

Recovery Dharma is a Buddhist-inspired mutual-aid recovery program for those with substance use disorders and behavioral addictions. The program combines meditation, emotion regulation techniques, literature, and Buddhist practices during meetings to help people achieve emotional balance and improve their well-being. Despite the growing popularity of Recovery Dharma, how the practices in this program predict recovery resources remain largely unknown. We conducted a study investigating whether mindfulness and difficulty regulating emotions can predict individuals’ recovery capital - a construct strongly correlated with positive recovery outcomes. Recovery Dharma members (n = 122; 88% White; 45% women) completed two online surveys six months apart. We conducted hierarchical linear regressions and found that mindfulness predicted unique variability in recovery capital. However, our final model that included difficulty regulating emotions explained a significantly larger portion of variability above and beyond demographic variation and mindfulness. In an exploratory analysis, we found that difficulty regulating emotions predicted recovery capital as a unidimensional construct, not any particular subconstruct. The results suggested that Recovery Dharma members’ emotion regulation skills were the strongest predictor of positive recovery outcomes, surpassing demographic characteristics and mindfulness. As such, the intentional cultivation and improvements in emotion regulation skills inherent in Buddhist practices within the Recovery Dharma framework may indicate positive long-term recovery outcomes.</p