A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Difficulties in Child Care Among Japanese Mothers with Depression

Abstract

Having a role to play is one of the most important factors for occupational therapy clients to reconstruct their daily lives. Their roles allow them to engage in activities and social interactions, and contribute to their self-esteem and identity [1]. For women, mother is one of the most typical roles. Since the 1990s, many studies in the field of occupational therapy have focused on the role of the mother and parental behavior [2]. Additionally, the parental consciousness of women have been reported to be higher than that of men [3]. When mothers have difficulty in parenting activities, they tend to have more stress than fathers. Previous reports have investigated the disruption of mothering activities due to illness. Vallido, Wilkes, Carter and Jackson (2010) [4] suggested the following themes in their systematic review of women's experiences of mothering disrupted by illness: mechanism of disruption, reframing the mother's role, experiencing guilt or shame, protecting the children, experiences with health care professionals, living to mother, and mothering to live. Additionally, they mentioned that we should consider these themes when developing intervention and support programs. Depression is an illness that disrupts mothering. The lifetime prevalence of depression in women is twice that in men. This difference is attributed to changes in the hormonal balance or changes in life stages throughout women's lives [5, 6]. Women are reported to have a high prevalence of depression in the postpartum and menopausal periods. Postpartum depression develops within 1 year after childbirth [7, 8, 9], and is a notable topic in women's health. About 10% to 15% of new mothers worldwide develop depression [10]. Moreover, symptoms can continue depending on the severity of