Rearing related stress and depressive severity

Abstract

Mothers' difficulties concerning child-rearing were conceptualized as a rearing-related stress (RRS). Eight hundred and seventeen mothers who had six month-olds infants were asked to rate 28 RRS items and 20 items on the depressive severity scale (Zung, 1956). The main results were summarized as follows: (1) Twenty-two items of RRS were analyzed by Hayashi's quantification (type-III) method, and two hypothesized dimensions were extracted. These are named children-related rearing stress (CRRS) and mothers-related rearing stress (MRRS). (2) RRS was related to mothers depressive severity. (3) Linear relationships of "CRRS-MRRS-depression severity" was examined by partial correlation analysis. (4) Primiparae experienced more RRS than multiparae. These results suggested that RRS could be considered as a process, i.e., CRRS influences MRRS and then MRRS influences depressive severity. The RRS model is an accord with the psychological stress model of Lazarus and Folkman (1986). Lastly, possible preventive strategies for mothers' RRS were discussed in the light of RRS model.