Abstract
Participants in this survey were 242 mothers of three and four month olds. The results indicated that stress about childrearing was directly related to depressive symptoms, and that depressive symptoms indirectly mediated controllability of childrearing-related stress. However, support from husbands was not related to depressive symptoms. Based on the interactions between support from husbands and controllability, it appeared that controllability was negatively related to depressive symptoms, and that this association depended on the level of support from husbands. Specifically, if controllability was low, depressive symptoms were lower when support from husbands was stronger. These results indicated that to prevent depressive symptoms it is necessary to recognize the controllability of childrearing-related stress, and when it is difficult to control such stress support from the husband is beneficial.
