Perception of Motherhood and the Contribution of Mental Distress, Differentiation of Self, and Marital Satisfaction to Personal Growth among Mothers of Twins

Raising twins may produce a more stressful family environment than raising a single child. This situation can lead to social, psychological, and economic challenges and may produce feelings of distress. While most research on mothers of twins focuses on the difficulties they face, in recent years, studies have emerged focusing on positive psychological changes and personal growth resulting from challenging life situations, including parenting. However, existing information on personal growth resulting from parenting twins is limited. For this reason, we chose to focus on mothers of twins. Using Schaefer and Moos’ personal growth model (Schaefer & Moos, 1992), we examined the contribution of the twinhood circumstances (e.g., first or non-first infants, similarity), as well as mothers’ mental distress, differentiation of self, and marital satisfaction when the twins were two years old to the personal growth of mothers of twins two years later. In addition, we explored their perception of motherhood at two years old of their twins.

The study used a mixed-methods design: A combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. It was based on a questionnaire administered to mothers of twins as part of the MOST (Mothers of Singletons and Twins) study. In the quantitative phase, 161 mothers of twins participated. They completed questionnaires two and four years after the birth of their twins. The mothers with the highest and lowest personal growth scores were selected for the qualitative phase, with 48 mothers in each of these groups. They completed open-ended questions two years after birth.

The quantitative findings suggest that mothers of four-year-old twins experience personal growth, with mothers of premature twins experiencing the highest level of personal growth. It was found that the lower the mental distress, the more growth the mother experienced, especially among non-first-time mothers. Higher self-differentiation is associated with lower mental distress, which, in turn, contributes to greater personal growth. In addition, greater marital satisfaction contributes to higher personal growth, especially among first-time mothers.

The qualitative phase suggested that two main themes characterize the mothers’ perception of motherhood of two-year-old twins. These are the mother’s reference to herself and the mother’s reference to the twins. Not many differences were found between mothers with higher and lower growth. In the first theme, the mothers described feelings of significant life changes. They describe difficulties of different types over time, both physical and mental. They described the difficulty of raising two children simultaneously on a physical and emotional level. Dealing with the difficulties led to a sense of success, leading to enjoyment of raising the twins. The main feeling associated with their motherhood perception was the sense of uniqueness. The second theme was characterized by thoughts about raising the twins in terms of the desire to strengthen the unique twin bond while simultaneously allowing each child to develop individually.

The focus on mothers of twins enabled the expansion of existing knowledge concerning internal and external resources which contribute to personal growth, and the understanding of motherhood perceptions and the potential for personal growth in different twinhood circumstances. The study could inform the development of interventions that acknowledge the ability of mothers to grow, reinforcing their sense of uniqueness and the factors that contribute to personal growth.