'Perfect Parent' Pressure

First-time parents struggle to adapt to their new roles if they believe society expects them to be 'perfect'

26 February 2015

Moms showed less confidence in their parenting abilities and dads felt more stress when they were more worried about what other people thought about their parenting skills.

‘If you think you have to be perfect because of outside pressure, it really hurts adjustment,’ says Meghan Lee, lead author of the study from Ohio State University in the journal, Personality and Individual Differences. ‘If you put these demands on yourself, it may have some benefits early on, but it’s not universally good.’

So, stop giving yourself such a hard time and relax a little.

Text and images: Dailyfix