Comparative Study on Health Promoting Behavior in Working and Non-working Mothers with Infants and Toddlers

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare health promoting behavior between working and non-working mothers with infants and toddlers, and to investigate factors affecting the mothers’health promoting behavior. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted through conveniently sampled 403 women who visited the child health clinics at two public health centers. The questionnaire included the Health Promoting Life Style Profile (HPLP) and a visual analogue scale for subjective health status. ANCOVA, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression were conducted using SPSS ver. 21. Results: Working mothers’ average HPLP score (2.30±0.37) was higher than non-working mother’s (2.15±0.37). The score of the physical activity subscale was lowest among the subscales and there was a difference between the two groups. Subjective mental health status was the only predictor of working mothers’health promoting behavior, and it explained 23.2% of variance in health promoting behavior. Subjective mental health status, education, and age were the predictors of non-working mothers’ health promoting behavior and they explained 27.2% of variance in health promoting behavior. Conclusion: According to the findings, both working and non-working mothers’ health promoting behaviors were low. To promote mothers’ health, it is necessary to develop diverse community health promotion programs to support mothers.