Using epidemiological data to identify needs for child-rearing support among Chinese parents: a cross-sectional survey of parents of children aged 6 to 35 months in 15 Chinese cities

Abstract

BackgroundThe quality of the family environment—in particular, the kind of parenting children receive in their early years—plays a critical role in influencing children’s growth and development. To facilitate the development and delivery of appropriate parenting and family interventions for Chinese parents, this study explores the prevalence of the difficulties that may arise in the course of child-rearing, the associated sociodemographic factors and parents’ help-seeking behavior.MethodsA cross-sectional self-reporting survey was conducted with a sample of 2229 parents of children between 6 and 35 months of age. Using a stratified random-digit design, parents from 15 Chinese cities were surveyed to determine their child-rearing difficulties, support-seeking behavior and their preferences for service delivery. The sociodemographic factors that influenced major child-rearing difficulties were analyzed using bivariate and logistic analyses.ResultsThe majority (87.5%) of Chinese parents of children aged 6–35 months reported experiencing child-rearing difficulties. Nearly one third (31.5%) of parents reported experiencing major difficulties. Feeding and sleep problems were most often reported. Regression analysis revealed that major child-rearing difficulties most often involved male children (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.11–1.64), single-child households (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.07–1.77), and households with financial problems (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.06–1.85). Just over one third of parents (33.44%) sought professional support, while 21.37% had attended a parenting course in the past year. Prefer ways of sourcing parental support included professional online platform (69.24%), self-help books (43.70%), face-to-face consultation (24.99%), and attending lectures (36.57%).ConclusionsChild-rearing difficulties are common among parents of children between 6 and 35 months of age in Chinese cities. The family with boys, single-child, financial problems, and father not joining in child-rearing may face the high risk to major child-rearing difficulties. The national initiative to provide more guidance and support for child-rearing difficulties is worthwhile, as is the development of online parenting programs.

The prevalence of barriers to rearing children aged 0–3 years following China’s new three-child policy: a national cross-sectional study

“…The prevalence of childrearing barriers in our study was close to previous studies [ 11 , 12 ]. Zhao et al found that 88.2% of Chinese caregivers of children aged below 3 years reporting parenting difficulties in 2010 [ 11 ].…”

“…Zhao et al found that 88.2% of Chinese caregivers of children aged below 3 years reporting parenting difficulties in 2010 [ 11 ]. Zhang et al [ 12 ] performed a cross-sectional self-reporting survey with a sample of 2229 parents of children aged 6–35 months in 2017 and found that 87.5% of Chinese parents reported experiencing childrearing difficulties. Our result was slightly higher probably due to the different characteristics of the study population.…”

“…A sample database covering over 2.6 million respondents was established by this online platform, whose personal information was confirmed to ensure an authentic, diverse and representative sample [ 15 ]. A sample size of 4200 people was indicated to be sufficient to estimate the prevalence of 87.5% (as previously reported in China [ 12 ]) with 1% margin of error and 95% confidence level using the formula: [ 16 ]. The participants completed the questionnaires online by mobile phone.…”

“…In 2009, it was reported that 30.6% of Chinese households with children aged 0–3 years found child-rearing to be much more difficult than before [ 11 ]. Recently, Zhang et al [ 12 ] conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 2229 parents of children aged 6–35 months and found that 87.5% of Chinese parents reported experiencing childrearing difficulties, and 31.5% of parents reported experiencing major difficulties. They also found that family having financial problems, and father not joining in child-rearing might face high risk to major childrearing difficulties.…”

A survey of postpartum depression and health care needs among Chinese postpartum women during the pandemic of COVID-19

“…According to the health care need survey, 78.0% of the postpartum women chose infant rearing guidance, 60.3% chose maternal and infant protection guidance, followed by dietary guidance and exercise guidance. Infant rearing guidance was a basic need for most parents ( Zhang et al, 2019 ). More than half of the postpartum women in this study were primiparous, perhaps they lacked experience in infant rearing, while parental parenting behaviors played a key role in the emotional and behavioral development of their children ( Lomanowska, Boivin, Hertzman, & Fleming, 2017 ).…”