Theories and laboratory research in social psychology associate parenthood with increased vigilance and distrust. Yet, longitudinal studies examining whether the transition to parenthood affects trust in real life are lacking. We examined the temporal dynamics of trust surrounding the transition to parenthood in a sample of adults followed for up to 12 years. We used discontinuous change models and propensity score matching to compare first-time parents with matched childless individuals. Parenthood predicted a gradual trust increase following childbirth. The effect of the transition was unidirectional: Baseline trust level did not predict the likelihood of parenthood in the follow-up years. These findings contribute to the literature on how major life events, such as the transition to parenthood, shape interpersonal trust.

社会心理学的理论和实验室研究将父母身份与提高警惕和不信任联系起来。然而，缺乏纵向研究来检验向父母身份的转变是否会影响对现实生活的信任。我们研究了在长达 12 年的成年人样本中围绕向父母身份过渡的信任的时间动态。我们使用不连续变化模型和倾向得分匹配来比较首次父母与匹配的无子女个体。父母身份预测分娩后信任会逐渐增加。过渡的影响是单向的：基线信任水平并不能预测后续年份为人父母的可能性。这些发现有助于研究重大生活事件（例如向父母身份的转变）如何塑造人际信任的文献。