Within- and Between-Family Differences in Mothers' Guilt and Shame: Caregiving, Coparenting, and Attachment

Parenting is a highly emotional experience. Within the broader array of parenting emotion, the self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, have implications for parent well-being. Yet, little is known about how mothers' experiences of guilt and shame unfold in real time or vary across contexts. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), the current study investigates 145 mothers' real-time experiences of guilt and shame across caregiving contexts and whether these differences are moderated by coparenting context (i.e., within-family differences) and mothers' attachment style (i.e., between-family differences). Results indicated that on average, mothers report more guilt, but not shame, when spending time away from their children. Both coparenting and mothers' attachment together moderated these findings to show that mothers high on attachment anxiety report less shame and guilt when coparenting as compared to caregiving alone or separated from both child and partner. Mothers high on attachment avoidance report less shame when coparenting or alone as compared to caregiving alone, with no significant moderation for guilt. These findings further our understanding of real-time family contexts and suggest that coparenting experiences may act as a supportive buffer against shame and guilt for mothers higher in attachment insecurity.