An Evolutionary Perspective on Parenting and Parenting Stress

Abstract

Parenting – the effort required to bring one human child to maturity – can be one of the greatest joys in our lives. But for many parents, raising a child also brings along new stresses (Cohen, Kessler, & Gordon, 1997). For parents struggling with psychological problems such as depression or anxiety, or raising children with developmental or emotional difficulties, the stress of parenting is even higher (Deater-Deckard, 1998). The seeming ubiquity of parenting stress has led us to wonder whether there might be an evolutionary basis for parenting stress. To paraphrase evolutionary anthropologist Sarah Hrdy, do we have an “evolutionary right” to our parenting stress (Hrdy, 1999)? In other words, can an evolutionary perspective on parenting help us to understand the stresses which modern parents face? And how can mindfulness help with this?