Mothers with depressed mood: help-seeking from husbands and child-rearing behaviors

Abstract

Background Mothers with depressed mood tend not to seek help or support from others. Yet, there is no research providing a detailed examination of the processes that mothers with depressed mood undergo while seeking child-rearing support from their husbands. This study aimed to clarify the processes that mothers with depressed mood go through in seeking child-rearing support from their husbands and performing child-rearing duties. Methods The participants were 10 mothers living in Japan who had given birth within the past three years and were suspected of having depression after screening using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Semi-structured interview data were analyzed based on the grounded theory. Results The responses revealed that the mothers felt as though they had insufficient time for themselves, which impelled them to seek support from their husbands, consequently leading them to conclude either that child-rearing and housework are difficult or that child-rearing can be managed some way or another. Conclusion When the husbands fully cooperated in child-rearing or demonstrated their willingness to cooperate in child-rearing, despite difficulty, the wives accepted their child-rearing support. On the other hand, if the husbands did not recognize their wives’ efforts, the wives did not accept their support, even if they had helped with child-rearing. In this way, the wives re-evaluated their relationship with the husbands based on their husbands’ attitudes toward child-rearing.

Equipping fathers to support distressed mothers: What do mothers want fathers to know and do?

“…The narrow range of items within each support domain in the questionnaire may have also made the identification of more specific needs at each pint in the course of the distress more difficult. Other actions of emotional and tangible support not provided as questionnaire items, such as ‘respectfully discussing the mother's mood’, or ‘persisting in questioning if everything was OK’, may have elicited more information about when support was most helpful 31,55 . However, it may be impractical to address the breadth of issues involved in maternal distress in one study: a Delphi study aimed at preventing perinatal depression and anxiety resulted in 214 recommendations 56 .…”

“…Other actions of emotional and tangible support not provided as questionnaire items, such as 'respectfully discussing the mother's mood', or 'persisting in questioning if everything was OK', may have elicited more information about when support was most helpful. 31,55 However, it may be impractical to address the breadth of issues involved in maternal distress in one study: a Delphi study aimed at preventing perinatal depression and anxiety resulted in 214 recommendations. 56 A more comprehensive approach utilising a larger group of mothers with experience of mental distress, and their partners, may facilitate an authentication of these support actions.…”

Translation and Psychometric Analysis of the Japanese Version of the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale

“…For example, the number of mothers who experience loneliness during the child-rearing period has increased because the family structure in Japan has changed from extended family structures and relationships with neighbors in a community to a nuclear family. A sense of loneliness in child rearing was associated with increased anxiety (Katayama & Kitaoka, 2018). Anxiety and perceived lack of social support were risk factors for child abuse (Ninomiya et al, 2017).…”

Risk Factors influencing Post-Partum Depression Severity in Iraqi Women

“…A study of Japanese women found that a lack of social support from a partner and socially strict and isolated families results in a 7-fold higher risk of PPD among women. On the contrary, the researchers concluded that women who have strong family and social ties with people with whom they can share their childcare challenges and difficulties have a lower risk of adverse mental health problems as the support they receive from loved ones represents a crucial protective factor against post-partum depression [35].…”