Abstract
BackgroundMothers who live with mental illness face diverse challenges. Research suggests that partner support or otherwise is likely to have a crucial influence on mothers’ abilities to manage these challenges, yet little is known about how this plays out. In this study, we aimed to explore the roles played by male partners in the mothering experiences of women living with mental illness.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative secondary analysis using interview data collected from 18 participants in two previous qualitative studies. Both studies focused on the mothering experiences of women who lived with mental illness. In both studies, the importance of male partners was striking. The data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis.ResultsThe roles of partners in women’s experiences of mothering were multiple and dynamic, with each male partner playing a unique combination of roles. These included: facilitator; teammate; unfulfilled potential; distraction; dismantler, and threat to child. Roles were influenced by: mothers’ interpretations; partners' behaviors, characteristics and circumstances; the family’s living and custody arrangements; mothers’ active management strategies; and a range of external controls and supports.ConclusionsHealth professionals need to consider the complex roles partners play. This crucial aspect of mothers’ social environments can be optimized by directly supporting and enabling partners themselves, and by supporting mothers to actively shape their partners’ roles.
Highlights
Mothers who live with mental illness face diverse challenges
Partners of mothers living with mental illness While the role of partner support in women’s experiences of mothering with mental illness has not been investigated, the importance of partners has emerged in related research about the wider experiences of mothers who live with mental illness
Partners are not the focus of these studies, they collectively suggest that the support of partners is likely to be critical and unique in the lives of mothers living with mental illness
Summary
Mothers who live with mental illness face diverse challenges. Research suggests that partner support or otherwise is likely to have a crucial influence on mothers’ abilities to manage these challenges, yet little is known about how this plays out. In Australia it is estimated that around one in five children live with a parent with mental illness [2, 3]. These mothers report facing a plethora of challenges including: stigma; social isolation; reduced energy; guilt; concern for children’s wellbeing; feelings of inadequacy; fear of custody loss; and difficulty balancing their mental health needs with the needs of their child [4,5,6]. Children’s fathers and women’s other intimate partners (hereafter referred to collectively as ‘partners’) are likely to be important and unique sources of support for mothers living with mental illness
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