kjwhn Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing Korean J Women Health Nurs 2287-1640 2093-7695 Korean Society of Women Health Nursing 10.4069/kjwhn.2018.24.2.116 kjwhn-24-116 Orginal Article Factors Influencing Unmarried Mothers' Parenting Stress: Based on Depression, Social Support, and Health Perception OhEun Jeong 1 KimHye Young 2 Research Institute of Nursing Science, Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea College of Nursing, Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea Corresponding author: Kim, Hye Young College of Nursing, Keimyung University, 1095 Dalgubeol-daero, Daegu 42601, Korea. Tel: +82-53-580-3934, Fax: +82-53-580-3916, E-mail: hye11533@kmu.ac.kr 06 2018 20 06 2018 24 2 116 125 21022018 08052018 26052018 Copyright © 2018 Korean Society of Women Health Nursing 2018 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Purpose

To identify factors affecting parenting stress of unmarried mothers.

 Methods

The subjects were 108 unmarried women who were parenting their children under the age of six. The data was collected from December 15, 2016 to March 5, 2017. The instruments consisted of self-reported questionnaires that included93 items: 21 on depression, 16 on social support, 20 on health perception, and 36 on parenting stress. The collected data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression.

 Results

The factors influencing parenting stress were health perception (β=-.55, p<.001), evaluative support (β=-.42, p=.005), informative support (β=-.35, p=.040), emotional support (β=-.24, p=.045), partner support (β=-.20, p=.048), and depression (β=.14, p=.033), and the explanatory power was 57%.

 Conclusion

In order to alleviate the parenting stress of unmarried mothers, it is necessary to develop programs considering the physical, psychological, and social factors of unmarried mothers. Their subjective assessment of their health can increase or decrease their parenting stress, so it is necessary to develop parenting-stress intervention focusing on health perception.

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General Characteristics of the Subjects (N=108)

Characteristics Categories n (%) or M±SD
Age (year) ＜20 6 (5.5)
  20∼29 96 (89.0)
  ≥30 6 (5.5)
    24.4±3.20
Level of education High school 20 (18.5)
  College 69 (63.9)
  ≥University 19 (17.6)
Religion Christianity 22 (20.4)
  Catholicism 8 (7.4)
  Buddhism 4 (3.7)
  No 74 (68.5)
Job Yes 26 (24.1)
  No 82 (75.9)
Monthly income ＜100 85 (78.7)
(10,000 won) ≥100 23 (21.3)
    82.4±23.91
Depression level Normal 60 (55.6)
  Mild 30 (27.8)
  Moderate 17 (15.7)
  Severe 1 (0.9)
Number of child 1 108 (100.0)
Age of child (year) 0∼1 37 (34.3)
  2∼3 62 (57.4)
  4∼6 9 (8.3)
    2.1±1.11
Health problem of Yes 34 (31.5)
child No 74 (68.5)

Depression, Social Support, Health Perception, and Parenting Stress (N=108)

Variables M±SD Min Max Range
Depression 13.95±6.08 0 29 0∼63
Social support 2.63±0.26 1.98 3.45 1∼5
Emotional support 2.62±0.26 1.89 3.32 1∼5
Informational support 2.65±0.27 1.96 3.64 1∼5
Material support 2.73±0.29 2.00 3.46 1∼5
Evaluative support 2.50±0.30 1.79 3.54 1∼5
Health perception 2.36±0.25 1.65 3.15 1∼4
Parenting stress 2.69±0.26 1.67 3.25 1∼5
Parental distress 3.83±0.48 2.58 5.00 1∼5
Parent-child dysfunctional interaction 1.93±0.34 1.00 2.58 1∼5
Difficult child 2.32±0.22 1.25 2.92 1∼5

Depression, Social Support, Health Perception, Parenting Stress by General Characteristics (N=108)

Characteristics Categories Depression Social support Health perception Parenting Stress
M±SD t or F (p) Scheffé M±SD t or F (p) Scheffé M±SD t t or F (p) Scheffé M±SD t or F (p) Scheffé
Age (year) ＜20 15.33±5.79 0.22 2.78±0.25 1.43 2.33±0.23 0.36 2.49±0.26 2.20
  20∼29 13.82±6.11 (.807) 2.62±0.27 (.243) 2.37±0.25 (.697) 2.71±0.26 (.115)
  ≥30 14.67±6.68   2.54±0.13   2.29±0.20   2.63±0.23  
Level of High schoola 14.20±6.53 0.09 2.75±0.24 3.21 2.30±0.26 1.41 2.60±0.27 1.50
education Collegeb 13.77±6.43 (.913) 2.59±0.27 (.045) 2.37±0.25 (.249) 2.72±0.27 (.228)
  ≥Universityc 14.37±4.28   2.63±0.23 b＜a 2.43±0.21   2.69±0.21  
Religion Christianity 13.09±5.55 0.26 2.69±0.27 0.78 2.36±0.27 0.36 2.66±0.30 0.90
  Catholicism 13.63±6.80 (.853) 2.69±0.24 (.508) 2.31±0.25 (.780) 2.81±0.22 (.446)
  Buddhism 13.00±3.37   2.56±0.16   2.46±0.11   2.58±0.14  
  No 14.30±6.33   2.60±0.26   2.37±0.25   2.70±0.26  
Job Yes 14.77±6.42 0.78 2.61±0.27 0.35 2.41±0.30 1.19 2.65±0.31 –3.15
  No 13.70±5.99 (.435) 2.63±0.26 (.786) 2.35±0.23 (.235) 2.81±0.25 (.003)
Monthly income ＜100 13.54±5.43 –1.09 2.63±0.26 0.75 2.37±0.23 0.49 2.69±0.23 –0.34
(10,000 won) ≥100 15.48±8.04 (.285) 2.59±0.28 (.453) 2.34±0.31 (.629) 2.71±0.37 (.731)
Age of child (year) 0∼1a 16.30±5.37 3.69 2.61±0.29 0.17 2.37±0.24 0.76 2.66±0.26 0.35
  2∼3b 12.26±5.46 (.014) 2.62±0.24 (.842) 2.37±0.21 (.469) 2.71±0.23 (.706)
  4∼6c 16.00±9.21 b＜a 2.67±0.31   2.27±0.42   2.72±0.46  
Health problem Yes 16.65±5.12 3.26 2.63±0.24 0.06 2.39±0.20 0.63 2.70±0.25 0.19
of child No 12.72±6.12 (.002) 2.62±0.27 (.950) 2.35±0.27 (.533) 2.69±0.27 (.848)

Correlations among Depression, Social Support, Health Perception, Parenting Stress (N=108)

Variables Depression Social support Health perception
Emotional support Informational support Material support Evaluative support
r (p) r (p) r (p) r (p) r (p) r (p)
Social support            
Emotional support –.24 (.012) 1        
Informational support –.31 (.001) .87 (＜.001) 1      
Material support –.29 (.002) .82 (＜.001) .84 (＜.001) 1    
Evaluative support –.32 (.001) .80 (＜.001) .84 (＜.001) .88 (＜.001) 1  
Health perception –.25 (.002) .31 (.001) .40 (＜.001) .37 (＜.001) .36 (＜.001) 1
Parenting stress .31 (.001) –.47 (＜.001) –.53 (＜.001) –.50 (＜.001) –.52 (＜.001) –.68 (＜.001)

Factors Influencing Unmarried Mother's Parenting Stress (N=108)

Variables Model I Model II
β   t (p) β   t (p)
Job (yes=1) –.10   –1.02 (.310) –.05   –1.79 (.433)
Depression       .14   2.16 (.033)
Social support            
Emotional support       –.24   –1.65 (.045)
Informational support       –.35   –1.87 (.040)
Material support       –.20   –1.24 (.048)
Evaluative support       –.42   –3.01 (.005)
Health perception       –.55   –7.54 (＜.001)
R2   .01     .59  
Adjusted R2   .01     .57  
F (p)   1.04 (.310)     45.09 (＜.001)  

Note. Dummy variable: Employed (Yes=1, No=0).