Social isolation among mothers caring for Infants in Japan: findings from the Nationwide Survey of healthy parents and children 21

Abstract

BackgroundChild-rearing isolation may increase the risk of child abuse and negatively affect child development owing to increased urbanization and a decline in family and community support systems.PurposeThis study aimed to identify the prevalence of child-rearing isolation and the related sociodemographic factors among mothers in Japan using data from the Final Survey of Healthy Parents and Children 21.ParticipantsMothers of young children attending their health checkups.MethodsMultivariate logistic regression models assessed the association between child-rearing isolation and socio-demographic variables. Data from 69,337 women were analyzed.ResultsMothers who experienced child-rearing isolation comprised 0.2% of all participants. Mothers who were 35 to 39 years old at childbirth (OR = 1.6, CI[1.0, 2.4], p = .036), were unemployed (OR = 1.7, CI[1.3, 2.4], p = .001), had experienced financial difficulty (OR = 1.8, CI[1.3, 2.5], p < .001), had husbands with limited participation in child-rearing (OR = 5.7, CI[4.2, 7.9], p < .001), lived in special wards in the Tokyo Metropolis (OR = 4.2, CI[2.2, 8.3], p < .001), had child abuse concerns (OR = 2.1, CI [1.5, 2.9], p < .001), and had no time to relax with their child (OR = 4.5, CI [3.1–6.7], p < .001) exhibited higher odds ratios for child-rearing isolation, compared to mothers who did not exhibit these characteristics.ConclusionsFindings showed the impact of urban living on maternal health and the influence of isolation on mothers’ anxiety about child-rearing and their potential for child maltreatment. The importance of fathers’ involvement in child-rearing in preventing maternal child-rearing isolation was highlighted.