A gyermekvállalási szándék pszichoszociális összefüggései akadályozó és segítő tényezők és az alapvető pszichológiai szükségletek szerepének vizsgálata

Abstract

Background and Aims: In many countries, the time to have children has been delayed, with negative consequences on individuals and society. Despite recent family policy measures, the intention to have children has not increased in Hungary. Our aim was to understand what psychosocial factors ‒ perceived barriers and facilitators ‒ may influence young, childless individuals’ intention to have children.
Methods: Data were collected using an online questionnaire, convenience sampling, and a snowball method. Data from 1569 adults aged 19–40 years without children were analyzed, of which 1294 (82.5%) were women and 275 (17.5%) were men. The questionnaire package consisted of a validated test and questionnaires developed by our research team (Demographic questions: gender, age, marital status, educational attainment, reproductive health status, Questions regarding intentions to have children: whether the respondent would like to have biological children of their own, how important having children is as a life goal, Satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs questionnaire: autonomy, connection, satisfaction of competence needs, Perceived barriers and facilitators to having children questionnaire: individual, social, and societal facilitators and barriers).
Results: The results show that 74% of the sample intend to have children. Controlling for gender, age, marital status, and reproductive health status, Social and Macrosocial Barri­ers, Individual-Social and Societal Facilitators, autonomy and perceived competence were significant explanatory variables for the importance of having children. Based on multiple linear regression analysis, in the case of the importance of having children as a life goal, these variables explained 46% of the total variance in the female sample, while 31% of the total variance in the male sample.
Discussion: The results confirm, in line with the literature, that Individual-Social and Social factors such as confidence, information, appropriate social network and access to childcare institutions were found to be the most important factors influencing the intention to have children. The research draws attention to the need to develop specific programmes for young people of childbearing age who are planning to have children, and to strengthen the social and peer network.