Definition of “well-being” has long been discussed in the previous literature, such as lifelong development, full functionality, absence of illness, being happy and relaxed (Ryff, 1995). Based on previous conceptualization, it is possible to define the concept of well-being as life satisfaction and health. On that ground, maternal well-being could be conceptualized as the mother’s physical and psychosocial health, which is related to children’s development.
Results from prior studies show that maternal well-being has some effects on mother’s personal state, her parenting attitude, and mother- child interaction patterns, and in this regard, it is an important factor for the healthy development of the child (Richter et al., 2018; Villodas et al., 2018). Because the low maternal well-being level affects the parenting style negatively, especially children under the age of 3 who are more in need of mother in terms of nutrition and care are at more risk in terms of development compared to older ages.
Parenting could be conceptualized as combination of some happy and exhausting experiences (Musick et al., 2016). Exhausting experiences in parenting occur with some individual and environmental stressors such as responsibilities of having a child, financial concerns, marital conflicts, which may be more present in low socioeconomical environments (Singla et al., 2015; Musick et al., 2016). These stressors may lead to low maternal well-being, such as parental stress, burnout, depression, and anxiety (Redshaw & Van Den Akker, 2007; Ryff, 1995).
On the other hand, mothers’ psychological well-being contributes to having positive parenting attitudes such as maternal warmth and sensitivity, thus shared activities with children becomes more efficient, and children’s development is affected positively (Richter, et.al, 2018). For example, these children of mothers with higher psychological well-being display more prosocial behaviors (Richter et al., 2018). In the context of maternal warmth, children acquire feelings of security, trust, and protection, which develop children’s feeling of belonging and connectedness (Pastorelli et.al., 2016). When mothers have higher psychological well- being, their children exhibit better self-regulatory skills during stressful events compared to children of mothers with low well-being. In addition, children of mothers with better psychologically well-being show better health conditions (Dickerson, 2021). Furthermore, a study conducted with families in Africa is an example explaining that the school achievement of the child depends on the supportive parental attitude which also depends on maternal well-being. These children of mothers with high well-being are found to have higher cognitive abilities and higher receptive language skills than children of mothers with depressive symptoms as part of their well-being (Singla et al., 2015).
Recent studies indicated that mothers who are depressed, as a marker of low maternal well-being, tend to have a more negative parenting style and exhibit physically and psychologically aggressive behaviors towards their children, which causes negative and conflictual mother-child interactions (Joyner & Beaver, 2020; Villodas et.al, 2018). Other studies indicated that mothers diagnosed with depression do not engage with their children and behave warmly towards children (Joyner & Beaver, 2020; Villodas et al., 2018), and impose overactive discipline and exhibit physical and psychological aggression toward them (Villodas et al., 2018). Overall, these aggressive behaviors and negative parenting behaviors towards children cause internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in children (Hartman et.al., 2020; Villodas et al., 2018).
While maternal well-being has many benefits in the mother-child relationship and the development of the child, its absence undermines healthy child development. From a positive perspective, maternal well-being could be improved through interventions. For example, a study indicated that perceiving social support during pre- and post-natal period contributed less maternal depression and consequently increased maternal well-being (Mustaffa et al., 2014). Similarly, Van Doesum et al. (2008) shows that that paternal support can be a protective factor for maternal stress and development of postpartum depression, so it may reduce the negative effect of depression on the mother-infant relationship. In other words, paternal support is a critical factor for both the child and mother. In addition, Arikan et al. (2019) found that mothers who have more perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others, reported less externalizing and internalizing child behavior problems. Roggman et al. (1994) found that overall leisure time and leisure time spent with the spouse has a positive influence on positive parental functioning for both mothers and fathers. They also found that high social family and friend support or being part of supportive social group are related to positive parental functioning for fathers as well as mothers. Self-compassion is another important aspect of maternal well-being. Bohadana et al. (2019) found that while negative self-compassion aspects (e.g., self-judgement, over-identification, and isolation) predicted higher levels of stress, positive aspects of self-compassion (e.g., mindfulness, sense of common humanity, and self-kindness) predicted better quality of life.
Considering these studies, creating time for the mother to do the things that she likes to feel good in her life along with social and paternal support can increase the mother’s life satisfaction and thus well-being. So, our first suggestion is sharing parenting responsibilities among family members could support both children and parents’ well-being. Secondly, we suggest mothers to take part of the day to focus on themselves and relax (e.g., exercising, reading, doing self-care routines etc.), and to not hesitate to ask for help from their partners or other caregivers like grandparents. Our third suggestion is that spending time with the spouse without children (e.g., going out to a date-night, taking a vacation, etc.) would increase the marital satisfaction and, as a result, may positively influence parents’ well-being. Besides, finding activities which are fun for both mother and children (e.g., box games for families, reading books together, cooking together, etc.) may be helpful for them to enjoy together. Furthermore, creating social support groups with other parents may also scaffold parents’ well-being. Also, when the maternal stress level is so high that it interrupts sleeping, daily routines and/or relationships, it may be essential to consider professional help from a mental health professional.
Written by Aleyna Yılmaz, Özge Koç, Zeynep Beken, Zeynep Yalçıntaş, and İbrahim Hakkı Acar
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