Parenting Stress, Maternal Sensitivity to Infant Cues and Child Rearing Environment of First-time Mothers.

Kim, Hee Soon; Shin, Yeong Hee; Oh, Ka Sil; Kim, Tae Im; Sim, Mi Kyung; Kim, Hee Soon; Shin, Yeong Hee; Oh, Ka Sil; Kim, Tae Im; Sim, Mi Kyung

Original Article

Korean Journal of Child Health Nursing 2005;11(4):415-426.

Hee Soon Kim, Yeong Hee Shin, Ka Sil Oh, Tae Im Kim, Mi Kyung Sim

¹College of Nursing, Yonsei University. khssoon@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
²College of Nursing, Keimyung University.
³Department of Nursing, Daejeon University.
⁴Department of Nursing, Shinsung College

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify relations among the parenting stress, maternal sensitivity to infant cues, parenting environment of first-time mothers. METHOD: The participants were 194 first-time mothers of babies aged 1-6 months who visited well-baby clinics in 5 hospitals. The data were collected from April 15 to June 15, 2003. RESULTS: The parenting stress level was moderate with a mean score of 2.4(range 1-5). The parent domain and parent-child relationship domain of the parenting stress scale were significantly correlated with maternal sensitivity to infant feeding cues (r=-.178, p<.05; r=-.197, p<.01). Parenting stress was significantly correlated with childrearing environment(r=-2.19, p<.01). Parenting stress and childrearing environment were significantly different according to the educational level of the mothers and their prenatal care. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing interventions to reduce parenting stress in first-time mothers are needed to improve maternal sensitivity to infant cues and childrearing environment which foster infant development.

Key words: Parenting stress; Maternal sensitivity to infant cues; Child rearing environment; First-time mothers