Swedish Study Finds Mothers Rejecting Intensive Parenting Norms Report Better Health
A Stockholm University study shows that Swedish mothers rejecting intensive parenting norms report better health, while fathers show opposite trends.
- • Mothers rejecting intensive parenting norms report better health outcomes.
- • The study analyzed 3,400 Swedish parents' responses from a national survey.
- • Fathers rejecting intensive parenting norms report poorer health, often linked to lower socioeconomic status.
- • Intensive parenting is a prevalent societal norm in Sweden with significant health implications.
Key details
A new study from Stockholm University reveals a notable health difference linked to adherence to intensive parenting norms in Sweden. Analyzing 3,400 responses from the 'Families and Everyday Life in Sweden and Europe' survey, researchers Sunnee Billingsley, Stefanie Möllborn, and Anna-Karin Nylin found that mothers who reject the societal norm of intensive parenting tend to experience better health outcomes compared to their peers who comply with these norms. This group of mothers is small, highlighting the strong prevalence of intensive parenting attitudes in Swedish society. Interestingly, the study identified an opposite trend among fathers: those rejecting intensive parenting norms reported poorer health, a finding often associated with lower socioeconomic status. While the health differences were statistically significant, they were not large, pointing to nuanced effects that warrant further research.
Intensive parenting, characterized by a high level of parental involvement and responsibility, is widely regarded as the societal standard in Sweden. The study, published in Social Science and Medicine, is the first of its kind to examine how these norms affect parents' health in Sweden, opening avenues for exploring how cultural expectations influence well-being in different populations and countries. Researchers suggest that mothers deviating from these norms may be uniquely positioned to prioritize their own health, whereas for fathers, rejection of such norms may coincide with other social disparities.
This research underscores the complex relationship between parenting norms and health, emphasizing the need for continued investigation into how societal expectations impact parental well-being across demographics.