Well-Being and Distress in Mothers of Two-Year-Old Singletons and Twins

Abstract

The present study investigated well-being and distress in 274 Israeli mothers of two-year-olds. Of these, 127 were mothers of singletons and 147 mothers of twins. The study examined the contribution to the explanation of well-being and distress of a range of variables relating to the mother, including sociodemographic characteristics, internal resources (attachment style, self-differentiation, and maternal self-efficacy), and external resources (marital quality and grandmothers' support). The findings showed that being a mother of a singleton or twins did not contribute to the explanation of variance in well-being or distress. Marital quality provided the strongest explained variance for both well-being and distress. Mother's health, attachment anxiety and self-differentiation also explained significant amounts of the variance. Several differences were found in the contribution of certain other variables, such as maternal grandmother's support, which contributed only to well-being. The results indicated the lesser role of sociodemographic variables, as opposed to the centrality of personality traits and marital quality, in the relationships with well-being and distress. Practical implications are discussed.

Associations of Differentiation of Self and Adult Attachment in Individuals With Anxiety-Related Disorders

“…Studies incorporating both Bowen's differentiation of self and Bowlby's theory of attachment have been conducted. Recent research has shown that low levels of differentiation of self and higher levels of attachment avoidance and anxiety may be observed in individuals undergoing treatment for substance abuse (Thorberg & Lyvers, ), and can correlate with sexual dysfunction in community‐dwelling women (Burri, Schweitzer, & O'Brien, ), well‐being indices in community sample of mothers (Noy, Taubman‐Ben‐Ari, & Kuint, ), and couples’ relationship quality (Timm & Keiley, ). The current results suggest that differentiation of self and attachment may require joint consideration in research and in clinical work with individuals with anxiety disorders.…”

Twin pregnancy and severe maternal mental illness: a Canadian population-based cohort study

“…Protective factors for perinatal mental illness related to socioeconomic status include financial support, instrumental support, decision making power at home, and employment status 19,88 . Risk factors for perinatal mental illness include unemployment, low income, lower educational attainment, recent immigration, poor marital quality, and single parenting 17,19,95,[104][105][106] . Aspects related to a mother's personality traits, including neuroticism, attachment anxiety and avoidance, and a more difficult child's temperament have also been demonstrated to be associated with risk of postpartum mental illness amongst mothers of multiples and singletons 14,19,94,98,105 .…”

“…Risk factors for perinatal mental illness include unemployment, low income, lower educational attainment, recent immigration, poor marital quality, and single parenting 17,19,95,[104][105][106] . Aspects related to a mother's personality traits, including neuroticism, attachment anxiety and avoidance, and a more difficult child's temperament have also been demonstrated to be associated with risk of postpartum mental illness amongst mothers of multiples and singletons 14,19,94,98,105 . Socioeconomic vulnerability has been shown to be associated with a lack of improvement or worsening mental health outcomes over time 67,69,70,94,98 .…”

“…Further recent work on the topic comes from a longitudinal prospective cohort study which was conducted in Tel Hashomer, Israel, and resulted in several publications on the topic of twin pregnancy and maternal mental health outcomes 17,94,98,105,142 . Their group did not find an association between giving birth to twins and their primary outcomes of maternal wellbeing or distress 17,94,98,105,142 .…”

Crafting Well-Being: Meanings and Intentions of Stay-at-Home Mothers' Craft-Based Leisure Activity

“…In the new millennium, there has been an increasing amount of research on the lives of stay-athome mothers (e.g., Delap, 2011 on housework; Zimmermann, 2000 on martial equality; Bridges et al, 2002 on care attributions;Shpancer et al, 2006;Kivelä, 2012 on career interruptions;Parker & Morrow, 2017 on intensive mothering). Recent studies have also reported on the well-being of mothers of young children (e.g., Noy, Taubman-Ben-Ari, & Kuint, 2014;Lloyd & O'Brien, 2016).…”