Stress and psychological distress in mothers of infants
This section presents research by Annemarie Nicol using data from the B cohort of the first wave of Growing Up in Australia. A total of 4,240 mothers of infants were included in the analyses.
The capacity of individuals to deal with personal crises and setbacks is an important factor in their wellbeing and ability to participate fully in society. While the birth of a child is traditionally seen as a joyful event, some of the accompanying life changes may be negative, such as greater financial stress and possible income loss. In addition, a new mother also often experiences anxiety about her abilities and lowered self-confidence. The risk of psychological symptoms of distress during this time is particularly high.
Given that psychological distress of mothers has been repeatedly linked with poorer outcomes, both for the mother and her child, it is important to understand the contributors to high distress during early motherhood. This report analyses the relationship between stressful life events and high psychological distress among mothers of infants.
Psychological distress and the number of stressful life events
This analysis uses a self-report measure of behavioural, emotional and cognitive indicators of non-specific psychological distress known as the K6. The K6 was developed to identify persons with high distress--symptoms severe enough to cause moderate to serious impairment in functioning (those with a score of 10 or above, on a scale of 0 to 24). Respondents are asked the frequency of experiencing symptoms of psychological distress such as feeling: nervous; without hope; restless; everything is an effort; so sad that nothing could cheer you up; and worthless, over the past four weeks. A high distress score on the K6 is not equivalent to a diagnosis of clinical depression. In this report, mothers with a score below 10 were classified as experiencing low psychological distress.
On average, mothers who reported high psychological distress reported experiencing significantly more stressful events in the previous 12 months than mothers who reported low psychological distress.
After controlling for background factors (maternal characteristics, socioeconomic factors and social support), the number of stressful events a mother experienced significantly increased the likelihood of her also reporting high psychological distress. For each additional stressful event in a mother's life in the previous 12 months, she was approximately 1.3 times more likely to report high psychological distress.
Although the number of stressful events was a significant predictor of high psychological distress, many mothers who experienced only one or two stressful events in the previous year also reported high psychological distress (see Figure 15). This suggests that the number of events may not be the only contributor to high psychological distress, and that the nature of the stressful event may also relate to the likelihood of high distress.
Figure 15: Proportion of mothers who experience high and low psychological distress by number of stressful events in the last 12 months
Source: LSAC, Wave 1 2004.
Figure 15 shows how the percentage of mothers experiencing high and low psychological distress varies depending on the type of the stressful event experienced. Compared to low distress mothers, a higher proportion of high distress mothers reported experiencing each particular stressful event. Most notably, experiencing a major financial crisis and having a serious problem with a friend, neighbour or relative were the two events most commonly experienced by mothers with high psychological distress.
These two events also had the largest difference between the percentage of low and high distress mothers who experienced them. Thirty-eight per cent of high distress mothers reported a financial crisis compared to 13 per cent of low distress mothers and 30 per cent of high distress mothers reported a problem with a friend or relative compared to 14 per cent of low distress mothers. While having a close family friend or relative die was experienced by the largest number of mothers overall, there was only a small difference between the percentage of high (27 per cent) and low (25 per cent) distress mothers who experienced this event.
Figure 16: Percentage of mothers experiencing high psychological distress and low psychological distress by type of stress
Source: LSAC, Wave 1 2004.
After controlling for interrelationships between stressful events, eight events remained significantly associated with an increased likelihood of a mother experiencing high distress. These were: experiencing a major financial crisis; having a parent, partner or child die; experiencing an illness, injury or assault; having a problem with a friend or relative; losing a job; experiencing a relationship separation; experiencing a work disappointment; and having something of value lost or stolen.
Further statistical analysis, whereby maternal characteristics, socioeconomic factors and social support characteristics were entered in steps, suggested that social support reduced the impact of three events on distress: the death of a parent, partner or child; having a problem with a friend; and losing one's job. Three events continued to be significantly associated with the likelihood of high psychological distress in mothers. These were: a relationship separation; a work disappointment; and a major financial crisis. However, the association between high psychological distress and a major financial crisis was reduced by controlling for socioeconomic factors and social support characteristics.