Influence of support by elderly persons on Japanese mothers' child care-related stress

This study examined the influence of child-care support by elderly persons on mothers' child care-related stress in Japan. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2007 by using an anonymous questionnaire. This study focused on the "child-care salon" (hereafter referred to as "salon") as a type of parenting support activity by elderly persons in the community. For the analysis, 119 salon participants and a control group of 107 mothers who had not participated in a salon were recruited. As a result of a multiple regression analysis, participation or non-participation in the salon had no influence on the 'threat of loss of personal identity' stress, which was similar to a sense of social isolation because of child care. However, as a result of investigating the influence of the participation frequency on stress score for participants alone, mothers with less participation had a higher stress score than mothers with greater participation. That suggested the importance of intervention for a decrease of social isolation in mothers, especially in the initial stage of salon participation.