The cost of pleasing social expectations: A serial mediation of Israeli mothers’ anxiety and depression in the relationship between defensiveness and parental self-efficacy

In a social atmosphere of expecting mothers to sacrifice their own wellbeing for the sake of their children's wellbeing, pregnant women are compelled to find their stance in relation to these sets of expectations. The current study aimed at exploring the relationship between Israeli women's tendency to meet social expectations, that is, defensiveness at the end of pregnancy and parental self-efficacy five months postnatal, and at examining the role of anxiety and depression two months postnatal in this relationship. Participants included 238 Israeli women who completed self-reported questionnaires at three time points: during the third trimester of pregnancy (T1), two months after giving birth (T2), and three months later (T3). The questionnaires focused on background variables, defensiveness (T1), anxiety (T2), depression (T2), and parental self-efficacy (T3). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess a serial mediating model, which revealed that defensiveness (T1) impacts parental self-efficacy (T3). Additionally, anxiety (T2) and depression (T2) mediate this relationship, while controlling for age, education, and income (T1). The findings suggest that in the relationship between defensiveness at the end of pregnancy and parental self-efficacy five months postnatal, anxiety and depression served as the detrimental mechanism. The findings are discussed considering self-theories.