Family Transitions Following the Birth of Sibling

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议研究的主要目标是检查婴儿兄弟姐妹出生后的过渡期。新生的兄弟姐妹的到来往往会导致大孩子的离群感和父母对兄弟姐妹嫉妒的担忧。具体地说，我们建议从纵向上考察家庭关系(母子关系、父子关系和婚姻关系)、父母幸福感和长子适应的变化。这项研究从怀有第二个孩子的母亲怀孕的最后三个月开始，一直持续到兄弟姐妹出生后的第一年。这项研究的一个重要目标是确定哪些家庭可能是压力过渡的最大风险。这项研究建议：1.确定第一个孩子在第二个孩子出生后第一年的适应中的不同变化轨迹；2.检查家庭关系、父母幸福感和大孩子适应能力变化之间的相互关系；3.使用对家庭、儿童和父母特征的产前评估来预测家庭和儿童功能的不同发展轨迹；以及4.探讨幼儿在过渡到兄弟姐妹身份后的第一年的社会情感发展。 拟议的研究是独特的，因为它将包括200个家庭的大样本；纵向跟踪这些家庭在出生前和出生后的情况；包括母亲和父亲作为参与者；并从动态生态系统框架审查这一转变。这项发展研究将加深我们对家庭经历的过渡压力的理解，并指导我们为卫生保健专业人员和他们所服务的家庭制定预防性建议。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of the proposed research is to examine the transition period following the birth of a baby sibling. The arrival of a newborn sibling often leads to feelings of displacement on the part of the older child and parental concerns about sibling jealousy. Specifically, we propose to examine changes in family relationships (mother-child, father-child, and marital), parent well-being, and the firstborn child's adjustment longitudinally. The study begins in the last trimester of the mother's pregnancy with a second child and continues throughout the first year after the sibling's birth. An important goal of this study is to determine which families may be a greatest risk for a stressful transition. This research proposes to: 1. identify different change trajectories in the firstborn child's adjustment across the first year following the birth of the second child; 2. to examine the interrelations between changes seen in family relationships, parental well-being and the older child's adjustment; 3. to use prenatal assessments of family, child and parent characteristics to predict different developmental trajectories of family and child functioning overtime and; 4. to address the socioemotional development of the young infant throughout the first year following the transition to siblinghood. The proposed research is unique in that it will include a large sample of 200 families; follow these families longitudinally before and after the birth; include both mothers and fathers as participants; and examine this transition from a dynamic ecological systems framework. This developmental study will further our understanding of the transitional stresses experienced by families and guide us in developing preventative recommendations to health care professionals and the families they serve.