This study aims to identify the patterns of childcare support that mothers receive from their grandmothers and the factors related to these support patterns. Based on two frameworks, instrumental support for parents and psychological support for parents, question items about support provided by grandmothers were created, and a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted for mothers who live in urban
areas and are raising infants under the age of four. Respondents were classified into the following three
groups depending on the patterns of support by grandmothers: instrumental support for parents, psychological support for parents, and parents who receive less support. Factors related to these patterns were the following seven items: age of mothers, age of the youngest child, health conditions of the grandmother, number of children, employment status of the mother, relationship with the grandmother, and whether they were living with their grandmothers. The findings of this study will serve as basic data both for developing health service projects that make use of the patterns and characteristics of childcare support, and for examining the problems in each of the childcare patterns, necessary measures to implement, and resources that need to be available.
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