ORIGINAL PAPER
Identity and crisis in evaluation in young fathers in relation to age of the child
Submission date: 2016-09-06
Acceptance date: 2016-09-11
Online publication date: 2018-01-15
Publication date: 2018-01-15
Health Psychology Report 2018;6(2):126-135
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The fact of becoming a father is related to the necessity of taking up a number of new commitments. The changes following from taking up a new social role generate much stress and can bring some identity transformations (Freudenreich, Liberska, & Miluska, 2011) and a crisis in evaluation (Trempała, 2010).
Participants and procedure:
In order to characterise the structure of identity of young fathers and to determine whether they suffer from a crisis in evaluation, a study was performed on 90 men who became fathers of their first child in the period up to about half a year earlier. Techniques used in the study were: Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), Questionnaire for Investigation of Crisis in Evaluation, and a questionnaire prepared by the author.
Results:
The structure of identity of young fathers has no relation to the age of the child, at least in the first six months of the child’s life, but it is related to the crisis in evaluation.
Conclusions:
According to the results, the crisis in evaluation in young fathers is of intermediate intensity and is related to the age of the child. The study suggests a relationship between normative events related to the world of the child and a psychological crisis, involving identity and structures of values.
The fact of becoming a father is related to the necessity of taking up a number of new commitments. The changes following from taking up a new social role generate much stress and can bring some identity transformations (Freudenreich, Liberska, & Miluska, 2011) and a crisis in evaluation (Trempała, 2010).
Participants and procedure:
In order to characterise the structure of identity of young fathers and to determine whether they suffer from a crisis in evaluation, a study was performed on 90 men who became fathers of their first child in the period up to about half a year earlier. Techniques used in the study were: Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), Questionnaire for Investigation of Crisis in Evaluation, and a questionnaire prepared by the author.
Results:
The structure of identity of young fathers has no relation to the age of the child, at least in the first six months of the child’s life, but it is related to the crisis in evaluation.
Conclusions:
According to the results, the crisis in evaluation in young fathers is of intermediate intensity and is related to the age of the child. The study suggests a relationship between normative events related to the world of the child and a psychological crisis, involving identity and structures of values.
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