Hope and parenting

Abstract

Parenting provides daily opportunities for growth. Hopeful thinking provides many of the skills that parents need to successfully navigate parenting challenges. Hopeful parents think intentionally about parenting goals, create pathways to reach these goals, and find ways to stay motivated to use the pathways when challenges arise. Research suggests that high hope parents report better psychological adjustment to parenthood than low hope parents. They also engage in more active coping with parenting stressors and show high levels of emotional connection to their children. To date, research on hope and parenting is limited with the literature primarily focusing on parents of children with developmental disabilities and behavioral issues. This article reviews the literature on hopeful parenting, hope based parenting interventions, and the development of domain specific measurement of hope for parenting. Limitations of the existing literature and future directions for research are discussed.

Keywords: Hope; Parenting; Pregnancy.