Relationships among the mental status, maternal anxiety, social support, and sense of coherence in Japanese mothers who are caring for infants

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among various mental and social factors such as mental health status, maternal anxiety regarding their children’s situation, social support, and the sense of coherence (SOC) among Japanese mothers. Thirty-nine subjects (collection rate: 75.5%) completed the 30-item version of the Japanese General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Japanese STAI, 13-item version of SOC and some other questionnaires related to child care, and the salivary cortisol levels of all subjects were examined. Fifteen unmarried females comprised the control group for this study. The results showed no signifi cant difference in any of the parameters except for age. Therefore, the SOC score of the subjects was found to correlate with the GHQ score and the State-Anxiety (SA) and Trait- Anxiety (TA) scores of the STAI, whereas no association was observed regarding the SA in the control group. Furthermore, the results showed that the mothers’ interaction with other mothers affected the SA, their association with their husband and their SOC affected the TA, the TA was related to the SA, and the SA was found to directly correlate with the GHQ. In conclusion, this study suggested that both the mental status and the anxiety of Japanese mothers were associated with the social support to the mother and SOC.departmental bulletin pape