About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 9. Family Context & Processes

Abstract

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Purpose: This study aimed to investigate (1) how maternal empowerment during pregnancy was associated with the mother’s psychological well-being, parenting alliance, and parental stress following the first three months after the child’s birth; (2) whether parenting alliance moderated the association between maternal empowerment during pregnancy and psychological well-being following the first three months after the child’s birth; and (3) to what extent maternal empowerment during pregnancy predicted mothers’ psychological well-being after controlling for household income and education level.
Background: Motherhood is a critical transition and turning point that can change women’s life trajectories, physical outlook, self-efficacy, esteem, goals, behaviors, and overall well-being (World Health Organization, 2018). Developing a sense of control and confidence in managing pregnancy and childbirth can help promote a pregnant woman's overall psychological well-being and significantly reduce the likelihood of experiencing parenting stress and postnatal depression (Hajipour et al., 2016; Yao et al., 2024). However, it is unclear to what extent maternal empowerment during pregnancy is associated with psychological well-being or how other individual or familial factors contribute to the association. For instance, parenting alliance (i.e., parents' shared commitment and respect for each other parenting decision to undertake parenting tasks and communicate child-related information willingly can positively impact attachment relationships) tended to decrease parental stress and promote the mother’s psychological well-being (deMontigny et al., 2020; Ilska & Przybyła-Basista, 2020). Additionally, education and income positively impacted health, improved physiological outcomes and a greater sense of personal control, and reduced the likelihood of experiencing mental health symptoms (Mirowsky & Ross, 2005).
Method: A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the longitudinal Infant Care Decision-Making project. Participants were 46 pregnant women in their third trimester identified as non-Hispanic/Latino (95.6%), married (85%), working full-time, and having a bachelor's or graduate degree (87.5%). The Parental Stress Scale (Zelman & Ferro, 2018) was used to assess parents’ feelings about their parenting role. The Empowerment Scale for Pregnant Women (Kameda & Shimada, 2008) assessed self-efficacy, future image, self-esteem, support and assurance, and joy of an addition to the family. The Parenting Alliance Inventory (Nunes et al., 2021) assessed parents' perceptions of their cooperation, communicative, and mutually respectful approach to caring for their children. The Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff, 2014) measured mothers’ well-being and happiness, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance.
Results: Maternal empowerment during pregnancy was significantly correlated with their psychological well-being, negatively associated with parental stress, and positively related to parenting alliance (see Table 1). Parenting alliance did not moderate the association between prenatal empowerment and psychological well-being (see Table 2). Moreover, maternal empowerment during pregnancy was statistically and significantly associated with psychological well-being after controlling for household income and mothers’ education level.
Discussion: These findings add to the increasing body of literature that have emphasized the importance of specific interventions to empower pregnant women to improve their mental well-being. Further implications and future directions will be discussed.

Author information

Author	Role
Peter C. Dossen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Presenting author
Soo-Young Hong, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Non-presenting author

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