Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused feelings of desperation, fear, terror, anxiety while it has also brought radical changes in the quality of life and psychological health of people worldwide. The lockdown and social isolation measures due to the pandemic seem to have affected the working mothers' resilience, health, and quality of life. The purpose of this study is to examine how working mothers reacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and how the state-imposed quarantine affected their quality of life, their health, and their resilience. We designed and carried out a web-based survey in Cyprus with 208 participants, all working mothers. We administered two questionnaires, namely the World Health Organization Quality Of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF (WHO, 1998), which examines the quality of life, and the Self-evaluation Resilience Questionnaire (Resilience-Project EU, 2019), which assesses working mothers' resilience. The participants answered the questionnaires on the Internet platform Enklikanketa, from May 20 to May 30, 2020. The results showed that the state-imposed measures of social isolation in the form of quarantine had a negative impact on the psychological resilience and the quality of life of younger working mothers, of single working mothers, and of those working mothers who were residing in rural areas at the time. Working mothers who belonged to older age groups, those who continued to pursue activities and hobbies during the quarantine, and mothers who maintained a higher quality of life were affected less by social isolation measures. In conclusion, important protective and supportive factors to working mothers were family support, cooperation between their family members, the right working conditions, and job satisfaction.
Highlights
Resilience is related to the individual’s recovery from traumatic events, his rebound after stressful situations, and his/ her overcoming difficulties
Working mothers who resided in rural areas had higher resilience than mothers who resided in the cities
Mothers in rural areas had significantly more social relationships [F(1.206) = 3.277, p < 0.036] than working mothers in urban areas. They stated that they had at least one person to share the good and the bad moments in their lives, found time for the important people in their lives and could count on others’ support. These findings are strengthened by another finding, namely that working mothers living in rural areas felt significantly more support by family members than those residing in urban areas [F(1.206) = 6.270, p < 0.033]
Summary
Resilience is related to the individual’s recovery from traumatic events, his rebound after stressful situations, and his/ her overcoming difficulties. Psychological resilience may be generally defined as the ability to support or retrieve psychological well-being during or after addressing stressful conditions. Being less resilient to social threats, such as pandemics, may enhance the risk of developing psychiatric conditions. A significant perception of social support is associated with a reduced likelihood of developing psychological distress and psychiatric conditions (Cicchetti et al, 1993; Luthar, 1999; Grzankowska & Ślesińska-Sowińska, 2016; Ogińska-Bulik, 2015). The present paper examined working mothers’ resilience and their struggle to balance motherhood with their professional careers during the quarantine at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis
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