Maybe I’m too punchy today, but I had a visceral reaction to the title of an article in The Wall Street Journal: “Moms’ Middle School Blues.” Why, I thought, do we need to focus on mothers about that particular juncture in their kids’ lives? Don’t fathers have psychological issues as their children group up too?
The article is about research led by Suniya Luthar, a psychology professor at Arizona State University. WSJ’s Sue Shellenbarger calls it one of the “most ambitious and carefully targeted look yet at mothers’ well-being from childbirth until their children’s adulthood,” analyzing responses from “more than 2,200 mostly well-educated mothers.” Here’s how Shellenbarger sums up the finding:
Mothers feel more anxious, dissatisfied and doubtful about their own parenting skills when their children are in middle school than at any other stage, new research shows.
The turbulence that hits sixth- through eighth-graders often begins with the onset of puberty, bringing physical changes and mood swings. Also, many students transfer from close-knit elementary schools to larger middle schools. Childhood friends may be separated, classes are often tracked by ability and teachers are more demanding.
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