Study finds parenting books cause stress
March 27, 2012
There is no denying the fact that being a mom can be stressful, no matter what age your children are. Mothers balancing the demands of family and going to school may feel especially stressed as they try to give each endeavor 100 percent and end up with little time for themselves.
While many moms turn to parenting books for advice on raising kids, a new study has found that these resources may actually end up causing them more stress than they had to begin with.
According to the Daily Mail, researchers from the University of Warwick studied six popular childcare books, dating back nearly a century. Authors included Sir Frederic Truby King, Donald Winnicott, Benjamin Spock, John Bowlby, Penelope Leach and Gina Ford. Then, they interviewed 160 women from a mix of generations and backgrounds over how they felt about raising their children after they read the parenting guides.
They found that many women didn't know whose advice to trust and felt like failures after reading the manuals.
"Levels of behavior these childcare manuals set for mothers and babies are often unattainably high, meaning women could be left feeling like failures when these targets were not achieved," study author Dr. Angela Davis told the newspaper. "More than 50 years on and experts still cannot agree on the best way to approach motherhood. All this conflicting advice just leaves women feeling confused and disillusioned."
Instead of books, some suggest new parents trust the advice of other trusted parents, such as their own parents, other family members and friends.
The good news for student parents is that paying for school doesn't have to contribute to their overall stress level. Grants for parents, scholarships for mothers, single mother scholarships and other financial aid can help moms achieve their dream of becoming a college graduate without going into debt.
