Mental health predicted by coping, social support, and resilience among young unwed pregnant Malaysian women and mothers living in shelter homes

Abstract

PurposeThere is a dearth of research on unwed young pregnant Malaysian women and mothers’ coping strategy and resilience in the context of limited social support they received. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the prediction of mental health by coping, social support, and resilience among unwed young Malaysian pregnant women and mothers.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative data of two assessments from respondents aged 11 to 32 years during their stay in shelter homes have been analyzed.FindingsThe result from the longitudinal study found that the variability in mental health scores could be explained between 14 percent for depressive-behavioral symptoms and 36 percent for general health. The mental health scores from the first assessment were part of the regression equation with the highest standardizedβscores. Cross-sectional, the variance in the three independent variable sets explained between 6 percent (general health) and 23 percent (cognitive depressive symptoms) of the variance in the various mental health scores with different variables of significant standardizedβscores in the regression equation. The study also found there were no significant changes in social support, resilience and coping between the first and second assessments even if the respondents had been in the shelter homes for a period of time.Originality/valueThe study highlighted the issue of mental health among Malaysian unwed mothers during residential periods in shelter homes. As the subject of unwed mothers is considered taboo, their rights are often deprived or overlooked.