The Association Among Infant-directed Singing, Maternal Parenting Self-efficacy, and Mother-infant Bonding

Abstract

　　Infant-directed (ID) singing is widely practiced by mothers in various cultures. Recent studies have suggested that ID singing is beneficial for the mental health of the infants as well as that of their mothers. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects, and particularly psychological processes, of daily ID singing on mothers' mental health remain unexplained. The current study focused on mothers' parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding as psychological effects of ID singing, and it examined mothers' self-evaluation of their ID singing as a factor mediating between those effects. Participants were 202 mothers (mean age: 31.1 years, SD=4.98, range: 19-45 years) of infants (mean age: 3.6 months, SD=0.54, range: 3-5 months). Data were collected via a self-reported questionnaire consisting of questions about the frequency of daily ID singing during routine parenting, parenting self-efficacy, mother-infant bonding, and their self-evaluation of the effects of their ID singing (expectations of its effects on the child, the child's perceived reactions, and its effects on the mother-infant relationship). Analyses using a structural equation model indicated that the frequency of daily ID singing was associated with mothers' parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding, mediated by their self-evaluation of the effects of their ID singing. Frequent daily ID singing prompted mothers to highly rate their ID singing, and that self-evaluation increased their parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding. There was no direct association among the frequency of daily ID singing and parenting self-efficacy or mother-infant bonding. Comparison in terms of the initiation of daily ID singing revealed that daily ID singing and satisfaction as a mother (a subscale of parenting self-efficacy) was significantly more frequent and significantly higher in the group who sang starting in pregnancy. Results indicated that one of the key components of the effects of ID singing on mothers' mental health is their self-evaluation of the effects of their ID singing. The importance of parents' evaluation of their ID singing and initiation of ID singing were discussed in relation to including daily ID singing in parenting support.