Effects of Child Caregiver Goal Orientations on Childcare Stress, Parental Satisfaction, and Subjective Well-being Development of a Goal Orientation Measure for Caretakers

Abstract

We performed this study to examine variables related to childcare support according to the goal orientation of caretakers. The first objective was to elucidate the goal orientations of caretakers. The second objective was to examine the relationships between maternal goal orientation and the following factors: childcare stress, parenting satisfaction, and sense of subjective well-being. Our results demonstrated that goal orientation may be represented as a two-factor structure: interpersonal experience/growth goals and performance goals. When caretakers had a high interpersonal experience/growth goal, they displayed low child care-related stress. In contrast, when caretakers had a high-performance goal they exhibited high child-care stress. Finally, when caretakers had a high interpersonal experience/growth goal they exhibited strong parental satisfaction.