Abstract
Purpose
This study sought to identify factors related to "anger/hostility" of mothers of eighteen-month-old children, and to investigate influences of these on feelings toward their children, and then, to obtain basic materials for parenting support that may result in helping prevent child abuse.
Methods
Self-administered survey questionnaires were mailed to 69 mothers who were followed continuously since late pregnancy and whose children turned eighteen months old. Valid responses were obtained from 33 mothers who provided complete information at all time periods: late pregnancy, postpartum hospitalization, and one month and eighteen months after birth. Question items included personal attributes, types of stress and ways of coping, feelings based on the Japanese version of the POMS (Profile of Mood States), feelings toward their children, and feelings toward their husbands.
Results
Levels of "anger/hostility" at eighteen months after birth were the highest among all study periods, and they were highly correlated with levels at other periods, and with negative mood. This period also showed high scores of positive feelings toward children, and yet scores on negative or ambivalent indices were also high at that time. There were significant differences in positive feeling scores across time periods. Variables associated with "anger/hostility" at eighteen months after birth were: age, stress consciousness, "fatigue" in types of stress, "abandonment/resignation" and "affirmative interpretation" in stress coping, and "negative feeling" toward husbands. While there was no direct correlation between "anger/hostility" and feelings toward children, there were causal relations between scores of positive feelings toward children and "affirmative interpretation" in stress coping, and between scores of negative or ambivalent feelings toward children and negative feelings toward husbands.
Conclusion
Factors related to "anger/hostility" at eighteen months after birth are not directly attributable to the children, but appear to be associated with husbands or fatigue. Yet, unresolved "anger/hostility" and its potential to induce child abuse is a concern. It is thought that the following are useful as a preventive plan: providing solutions by encouraging mothers to cope with stress positively rather than by abandonment or with resignation; promoting a common understanding of the sex roles between married couples; and at check ups one-month postpartum, providing the mother with a physical check up, coaching about breast feeding, psychological assessment and advice, and reconsidering the need for childcare that prioritizes family relationships, including relations with husbands.
