Associations of Psychosocial Factors with Maternal Confidence Among Japanese and Vietnamese Mothers

Abstract

We conducted this cross-sectional study among 392 Japanese and 294 Vietnamese mothers who attended routine child health visits in a Japanese city and at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam, in order to investigate the prevalence and associated sociodemographic, parenting, and psychological characteristics of low maternal confidence in child rearing among them. All data were collected from medical files in Japan, and from medical files and self-administered questionnaires in Vietnam. The proportion of mothers without secure feeling of confidence in the present study was 22% in Japan and 66% in Vietnam. Significant factors associated with a lack of confidence were first-time motherhood and unintended pregnancy in the Japanese dataset and younger age in the Vietnamese dataset. In both groups, a higher proportion of mothers who lacked confidence reported negative parenting outcomes than did confident mothers. Among the three psychological measurements (mood, self-efficacy and depression), higher self-efficacy was associated independently with a significantly reduced risk of not having confidence in child rearing. These results suggest the importance of developing parenting support programs to help Japanese and Vietnamese mothers, particularly those who are young, first-time mothers or who became pregnant unexpectedly, improve their self-efficacy.

Parent education interventions designed to support the transition to parenthood: A realist review

“…In many of the research papers, the authors did not discuss the degree of attrition or the impact that such 'self-selection' bias may have had on the results. Eleven studies mentioned this issue as a consideration or limitation (Doherty et al, 2006;Duncan and Bardacke, 2010;Fabian et al, 2005;Fagan, 2008;Goto et al, 2010;Hartung and Hahlweg, 2010;Heinrichs and Jensen-Doss, 2010;Hiscock et al, 2008;Niccols, 2008;Patrick et al, 2008;Svensson et al, 2009). The combination of participant attrition and reach issues indicate that many programmes may be failing to engage parents and meet the goals of universality.…”

The effectiveness of structured discharge education on maternal confidence, caring knowledge and growth of premature newborns

“…Maternal confidence means a mother’s perception of her ability to care for and understand her children, which is closely related to motherhood adjustment and caring behaviours for infants (Badr 2005, Goto et al. 2010).…”

Pilot study on a group‐based parenting program in a Vietnamese public hospital: Program acceptance among mothers and staff

“…The same parenting scoring was explained and used in our accompanying article (Suzuki et al ., ). In brief, the research team discussed its applicability in Vietnam, translated and back‐translated the questions, and confirmed the content accuracy in previous studies (Goto et al ., , ). As shown in Figure , these two scores showed a significant positive correlation (rs = 0.4, P = 0.003).…”

“…Recent studies in Vietnam reported a high prevalence of maternal mental disorders and its association with child health (Fisher et al ., ; Harpham et al ., ). In relation, our previous surveys in Ho Chi Minh City showed that over half of Vietnamese mothers of children aged 1–4 months admitted not having confidence in childrearing, which was associated with depression and lower general self‐efficacy (Goto et al ., ). Taken together, these findings indicate a strong need for maternal mental health support to be incorporated into the maternal and child health program in Vietnam.…”