Feeling Seen, Feeling Joyful: An Intensive Longitudinal Study on Parenting Joy, Perceived Partner Responsiveness, and Parenthood Regret

Particularly for parents, the Christmas season is an emotionally intense period that offers a valuable window into affective and family dynamics. Drawing on a positive psychology perspective, we aimed to investigate how parenting joy and perceived partner responsiveness covary during this time and how they are related to the longer-term development of parenthood regret. We collected 35 days of experience sampling data, complemented by baseline and follow-up measures, from 269 parents in the United Kingdom (13,249 total observations). Using dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM), we examined the within-person dynamics between momentary parenting joy and momentary perceived partner responsiveness. At the between-person level, we explored how participants’ average levels of these momentary experiences predicted changes in parenthood regret from baseline to follow-up. DSEM revealed a unidirectional, positive prediction from perceived partner responsiveness to parenting joy at the within-person level. At the between-person level, person means of joy moderated parenthood regret from baseline to follow-up, after relevant sociodemographic variables were controlled for. These findings contribute to the emerging literature on parenthood regret by emphasizing the role of daily emotional experiences and partner dynamics in shaping parental identity. Practically speaking, even small everyday adjustments in family interactions may meaningfully dampen parenthood regret.