Abstract
Objectives: To study husbands' childrearing support provided to their wives and identified the connection between the husband's childrearing support and the marital relationship. Methods: The subjects of this study were mothers who visited Health Center "A" in metropolitan Tokyo for infant health checkups. A self-entry, anonymous questionnaire survey drawn up by the researcher was carried out to investigate the husbands' childrearing support (5 items) and marital relationship (8 items) as well as the subjects' basic attributes. Results: Of the 407 subjects, 196 sent in responses (collection rate: 48.2%). 1) The subjects' mean age was 32.4 ± 4.2 years; mean age at the time of marriage was 26.5 ± 4.2 years; and 91 subjects, or 47.2%, had brought their first child. 2) As a result of conducting a factor analysis of "husbands' childrearing support" and "marital relationships," each was found to constitute one factor. They were named "a sense of partnership" and "a sense of intimacy," respectively. 3) As a result of conducting a correlation analysis of the scores obtained for "husbands' childrearing support" and "marital relationships," a strong positive correlation was shown to exist (r=0.759, p<0.01). 4) The average values of the scores obtained for "husbands' childrearing support" and "marital relationships" were compared according to the mother's basic attributes and by views on the division of labor by gender role. No significant differences were seen as a result (p<0.01). Conclusion: The husbands' childrearing support and marital relationships during childrearing constituted one factor each, and both were concepts with numerous overlapping components. This study suggested the possibility that, if mothers can perceive "a sense of intimacy," they can be expected to see their "sense of partnership" boosted.
