Does a First-Born Female Child Bring Mood Risks to New Asian American Mothers?

Abstract

To define the relationship between gender of the first-born child and mood in Asian American mothers. A secondary analysis was used to address the objectives of the study. The sample was obtained from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) of 40 states in the United States. The sample included 1,310 women of Asian origin who delivered their first children during the prior 2- to 4-month period. Based on data from the PRAMS survey mailed 2- to 4-months postpartum, participants were selected for inclusion in the study sample from those who had given birth to their first children and were of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, or other Asian origin. Chi squared analyses and an independent sample t test were used to assess the relationship between the child's sex and the mother's response to three PRAM mood questions; a single score was generated by summing the responses to the three questions. There were no significant (p>.05) differences in rate of mood symptoms or the means of the aggregated score related to a child's gender. The study findings are similar to those reported in the United Kingdom and suggest that the cultural preference for a son is not a significant mood risk in Asian American women.