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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Regret and psychological well-being among voluntarily and involuntarily childless women and mothers | | Author(s) | Sherryl Jeffries, Candace Konnert |
| Journal title | International Journal of Aging and Human Development, vol 54, no 2, 2002 |
| Pages | pp 89-106 |
| Keywords | Childless ; Mother ; Older women ; Well being ; Attitude ; Comparison ; Canada. |
| Annotation | The sample of 72 Canadian women aged 45+ in this study comprised 13 younger voluntarily childless, 14 younger involuntarily childless, 14 younger mothers, 10 older voluntarily childless, 10 older involuntarily childless, and 11 older mothers. Group comparisons indicate that, when compared to involuntarily childless women, the voluntarily childless show higher levels of overall well-being, rate themselves as more autonomous with greater environmental mastery, and are less likely to have a child-related regret. An unexpected finding is that about one third of women categorised by researchers as involuntarily childless indicate that they are "childless by choice". These women report making an active decision to accept the childless lifestyle and focus on the future, in essence exerting control over their situations. Results from this small and selective sample should be interpreted cautiously. There is the suggestion that researchers' definitions of childlessness may not map directly onto those of participants. The results also emphasise the importance of ascertaining respondents' perceptions of control over their situations. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020703201 A |
| Classmark | SU: SRM: BD: D:F:5HH: DP: 48: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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