Motivation to Become a Parent and Parental Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Psychological Needs Satisfaction

The multifactorial decision to become a parent has mostly been investigated in mothers. It would seem that those who decide to have children in response to internal or external pressure, as compared with by pleasure or choice, have a less adaptive parenting experience. Guided by self-determination theory, the present study postulates that prenatal motivation to have a first child is associated for both mothers and fathers with postnatal parental satisfaction through basic psychological needs satisfaction. Results support the hypothesized mediational model and indicate that motivation to have a child significantly predicts parental satisfaction when basic psychological needs satisfaction is considered. The present study underlines the importance of basic psychological needs satisfaction for a positive parenting experience in both parents