2017 Volume 66 Issue 2 Pages 191-193
Abstract Purpose: Parent support group meetings (hereinafter: ‘meetings’) are said to be effective for parents with a high risk of child abuse to prevent such behaviors. However, the characteristics of mothers participating to the meetings have not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of mothers who were recommended to attend the meetings by public health nurses to gain suggestions for support to mothers with a high risk of child abuse. Study Design and Methods: This cross-sectional study compared the mothers who participated in parent support group meetings (support group) and mothers who were not eligible for such meetings (control group) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. And then “continuation group” and “discontinuation group” in support group were also compared. Data on emotions related to child-rearing were obtained from the questionnaire distributed to mothers who participated in the meetings in the past and newly distributed to the control group. Analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Support group tended to experience greater anxiety related to child-rearing and child abuse. The continuation group in particular exhibited a stronger tendency for not wanting to look after their child but putting up with these feelings day after day. Conclusions: Results suggested that mothers who were recommended to attend the meeting by public health nurses experience strong anxiety related child-rearing and have higher risk of child abuse. It is necessary to provide support to reduce mother’s negative feelings toward child-rearing which are unique characteristics of continuation group in the meetings.
