Mothers In Japan Research Articles

Poverty among Single Mothers in Japan and the Constraints of Modern Family Motherhood

Poverty among Single Mothers in Japan and the Constraints of Modern Family Motherhood

Impact of altered gestational weight gain guidelines on midwives in Japan: A cross-sectional study

Objective: In March 2021, modifications were made to the dietary guidelines for expectant and nursing mothers in Japan, resulting in an increased recommended gestational weight gain (GWG) based on the pre-pregnancy body mass index. However, the existing landscape of midwives’ health-guidance practices remains unexplored. This study aimed to elucidate the situation and perceptions of the revised GWG guidelines among midwives in Japan.Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted between January and March 2023, targeted midwives employed across primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals in Japan. The participants completed a web-based questionnaire via a QR code and provided responses. Descriptive analysis was employed to discern the midwives’ perceptions of the revised GWG guidelines.Results: A total of 160 midwives (24.2%) completed the web-based questionnaire and were included in the analysis. Of them, 117 (73.1%) knew the recommended GWG had been adjusted. A significant difference was observed in the self-evaluation of health guidance before and after the guideline change (p = .015). While 47.9% of the midwives viewed the guideline change positively, 50.4% considered it neither good nor detrimental. The reasons for this positive perspective included the perceived stringency of previous standards and concerns about the potential effects of strict weight guidance on the physical and mental health of both mothers and children. Those with a neutral stance gave the following reasons: 1) uncertainties about the post-change impact and 2) concerns regarding potential health implications for pregnant women gaining excessive weight.Conclusions: Because not all midwives were aware of the guideline adjustments, the new guidelines must be prioritized.

Associations between Difficulty in Accessing Maternal and Child Health Services and Stress Responses among Mothers Raising Young Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.

In Japan, maternal and child health (MCH) services were canceled or limited during the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially damaging the mental health of mothers raising young children. This study aimed to examine associations between difficulty in accessing MCH services and various stress responses among such mothers in Japan. An Internet-based questionnaire survey was conducted in November 2022 targeting mothers raising young children who had registered with a Japanese online research company (n = 1032). The questionnaires included items from the Public Health Research Foundation Stress Checklist (Short Form) (PHRF-SCL(SF)), sociodemographic variables, and questions about difficulty accessing MCH services due to COVID-19. Chi-squared tests and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. In total, 45.7% of mothers experienced difficulty in accessing MCH services due to COVID-19. Mean PHRF-SCL(SF) scores were 4.9 for anxiety, 7.3 for tiredness, 2.8 for autonomic symptoms, and 5.2 for depression. These scores indicated worse stress responses than the general population and mothers raising young children before the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers who experienced difficulty in accessing MCH services due to COVID-19 were 1.47-1.53 times more likely to be associated with high stress responses (PHRF-SCL(SF) scores). Given the difficulty mothers faced accessing MCH services due to COVID-19 and the negative impact this had, careful follow-up and support are necessary for mothers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dietary Norms and Practices of Single Mothers in Japan

Dietary Norms and Practices of Single Mothers in Japan

Measurement of food poverty (shoku no hinkon) as capability deprivation in high-income countries: operationalisation with single mothers in Japan.

Existing food insecurity instruments are focused largely on the financial constraints associated with acquiring sufficient amounts of food. This narrow focus has resulted in underestimating the true prevalence of food poverty, particularly in high-income countries. Food poverty needs to be defined as capability deprivation, extending from the nutritional to the temporal, spatial, qualitative and affective aspects of eating. In this article, the Alkire-Foster counting approach is evaluated and an alternative method for measuring such multidi-mensional food poverty is proposed. The method is demonstrated by using evidence from interviews with 53 single mothers, the most high-risk social group in Japan. On the basis of an operational definition of food deprivation and poverty cut-offs, 16 mothers (30%) were identified as living in food poverty, followed by a qualitative analysis of their deprivation profiles. The results show that the economically-poor were highly likely to fall into food poverty, but that food poverty also occurred without economic deprivation, notably among the mental or physical illness carriers and long-hour workers. This multidimensional and decomposable measurement tool is effective for identifying food-poor populations not reflected in traditional food insecurity measurement instruments.

Woman's work: The moderating effects of gender role orientations between the relationships of work-family conflict with voluntary turnover and being valued by one's spouse.

Gender role attitudes determine the importance of work-family domains to individuals and how they are influenced by work-family conflict (WFC). In this study, we draw on gender role and social role theories to hypothesize that working mothers' gender role perceptions moderate the relationships between WFC and two outcomes: voluntary turnover (work domain) and feeling valued by one's spouse (family domain). We tested our hypotheses with 14-month time-lagged survey data from 731 working mothers in Japan. The results of our regression analyses suggest that working mothers scoring high on WFC and egalitarian gender roles have a lower propensity to voluntary turnover and a higher propensity to feel valued by their spouses than working mothers low on WFC and egalitarian gender roles. Our study highlights the importance of considering within-gender differences in research on WFC and moderating effects of gender role attitudes between WFC and outcomes in work and family domains.

Challenging the utility of 24-hour recall of exclusive breast feeding in Japan

IntroductionWHO recommends exclusive breast feeding from birth to 6 months. However, to monitor populations, it recommends using the proportion of infants under 6 months who were exclusively breastfed during the...

Increased number of live births by migrant mothers shows areal inequality in Japan: A descriptive study

Japan has not implemented policy of accepting many migrants, and the proportion of migrants in the total population is much smaller than that in other economically developed countries. Therefore, issues regarding the health status of migrants, especially migrant mothers and their children, have not been discussed enthusiastically in Japan. In the present study, we aimed to describe the epidemiology (time trend of the number, areal distribution, and frequency of maternal nationality of newborn births) of live births by migrant mothers in Japan, which contributes to the administration of medical policies on the perinatal care of migrant mothers. This study used data from the vital statistics reported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan and from foreign resident statistics reported by Immigration Services Agency (ISA) of Japan. To show areal inequality in the number of live births by migrant mothers, we applied the Gini coefficient. This study demonstrated that the number of live births by migrant mothers increased from 16,154 (1.31% of the total) in 1990 to 26,517 (3.08%) in 2020. It also showed stronger areal inequality at prefecture level by Japanese mothers (Gini coefficient; 0.64 vs 0.46 in 2020), and this areal inequality has increased during the last decade. This study also illustrated that the frequency of maternal nationality of newborns from migrant mothers has been altered in the last decade, especially in the composition of Asian countries. In conclusion, the number of live births by migrant mothers in Japan has been progressively increasing; however, this trend is excessively concentrated in specific areas in Japan. These tendencies are expected to become more prominent in the future, and their possible impacts on medical institutions and administrative agencies in specific areas that treat migrant mothers should be investigated and discussed.

Multidimensional Food Poverty: Evidence from Low-Income Single Mothers in Contemporary Japan.

The objective of this article is to gain an in-depth understanding of the eating lives of low-income single mothers in Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine low-income single mothers living in the three largest urban areas (Tokyo, Hanshin [Osaka and Kobe] and Nagoya) in Japan. Framed by the capability approach and sociology of food, their dietary norms and practices, as well as underlying factors that impact the norm-practice gap were analysed across nine dimensions: meal frequency, place of eating, meal timing, duration, persons to eat with, procurement method, food quality, meal content and pleasure of eating. These mothers were deprived of various types of capabilities, extending not only from the quantity and nutritional aspects of food, but also to spatial, temporal, qualitative and affective aspects. Aside from financial constraints, eight other factors (time, maternal health, parenting difficulties, children's tastes, gendered norms, cooking abilities, food aid and local food environment) were identified as influencing their capabilities to eat well. The findings challenge the view that food poverty is the deprivation of economic resources required to ensure a sufficient amount of food. Social interventions that go beyond monetary aid and food provision need to be proposed.

Associations between attachment-related variables in fifth and sixth graders and their mothers in Japan

Obtaining data from non-Western cultural contexts is essential for enhancing the cross-cultural validity of attachment theory. This study investigated the associations among maternal attachment style, maternal willingness to serve as an attachment figure, and children’s attachment security in middle childhood in Japan. Sample 1 included a nationwide web survey of 104 dyads of fifth and sixth graders and their mothers. Sample 2 included 53 dyads in an in-person questionnaire survey conducted in Kyoto. In both Samples 1 and 2, the results revealed (1) negative Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between maternal attachment anxiety and children’s attachment security, (2) positive Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficients between maternal willingness to serve as an attachment figure and children’s attachment security, and (3) negative Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficients between maternal attachment anxiety and maternal willingness to serve as an attachment figure. Our data could enhance the cross-cultural validity of attachment in fifth and sixth graders, and suggest that the influence of maternal attachment styles on parental responsiveness changes in middle childhood.

8th ABM/EABM European Regional Conference May 11–13, 2023 Split, Croatia

8^th ABM/EABM European Regional Conference May 11–13, 2023 Split, Croatia

The relationship between having a usual source of primary care and COVID-19 parental vaccine hesitancy: A nationwide survey among Japanese mothers.

Studies have shown that a usual source of care increases the receipt of child preventive care; however, the relationship between having a usual source of primary care and COVID-19 parental vaccine hesitancy has not been fully investigated. The aims of this study were to elucidate the characteristics of mothers with a primary care physician, and to explore the relationship between having a usual source of primary care and COVID-19 parental vaccine hesitancy among mothers in Japan. This cross-sectional survey-based study included 4516 mothers. Using a chi-square test, the characteristics of mothers with and without a primary care physician were compared. Poisson regression was applied to evaluate the relationship between having a usual source of primary care and parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Mothers with a usual source of primary care had higher education, lower mental distress, had younger children, and were less hesitant toward the child's COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was observed in 39.8% of mothers with a usual source of primary care and 45.5% of those without. Poisson regression analysis showed that mothers with a primary care physician were less vaccine-hesitant (IRR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84-0.96) after adjusting for potential confounders. This study suggested that having a usual source of primary care may contribute to lower parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. However, the high vaccine hesitancy rate, even among mothers with a usual source of primary care, warrants healthcare providers to be equipped to help parents make informed decisions about vaccination through the continuity of care.

Stressors and coping strategies among single mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Increased levels of stress have been reported among parents due to the factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although social support is known as a protective factor for the stressors, restrictions due to the pandemic could influence the provision and forms of social support. To date, few qualitative studies have examined the stressors and coping strategies in detail. In particular, the role of social support for single mothers during the pandemic remains largely unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the stressors and coping strategies of single parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on social support as a coping strategy. In-depth interviews with 20 single mothers were conducted in Japan between October and November 2021. Data were deductively coded using thematic coding based on codes related to stressors and coping strategies, focusing on social support as a coping strategy. Most interviewees recognized additional stressors after the COVID-19 outbreak. Five stressors were mentioned by the participants: (1) fear of infection, (2) financial concerns, (3) stress caused by interactions with their children, (4) restrictions on childcare facilities, and (5) stress related to staying at home. The major coping strategies were (1) informal social support from family, friends, and coworkers, (2) formal social support from municipalities or nonprofit organizations, and (3) self-coping strategies. Single mothers in Japan recognized additional stressors after the COVID-19 outbreak. Our results support the importance of both formal and informal social support for single mothers, either in-person or online, to cope with stress during the pandemic.

Full‐time homemakers and economic disadvantage: The case of Japan

AbstractA non‐trivial number of mothers in Japan do not work despite being in poverty, a pattern of behavior that is inconsistent with both the predictions of conventional models of labor supply and the articulations of a “gender revolution.” This is particularly puzzling given that well‐documented barriers to employment for low‐income mothers in the United States and elsewhere appear to be of limited relevance in Japan. In this paper, we seek to better understand this pattern of behavior by describing the reasons that these mothers give for not working and by examining how the correlates of maternal employment differ for those whose husbands' employment income is above and below half of the median household income. We show that a majority of these mothers report that their desire to focus on childrearing is a main reason for not working outside the home. Importantly, this prioritization of childrearing is unrelated to husband's income level and the family's economic need. We also show that the presence of an infant, attitudinal endorsement of the primacy of the mother role, and clear gender division of labor are particularly strong predictors of non‐employment among all mothers, including those married to low‐earning men. We discuss these findings in the context of theories of “diverging destinies,” focusing on their potential implications for children's resources and the process of social and economic stratification within and across generations.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with autism spectrum disorder and their mothers in Japan.

Research on the psychological impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has highlighted its negative and positive effects on children with autism spectrum disorder and their families. However, little is known about the neutral effects that remain the same, even in particular circumstances, and how children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents perceive each other. We explored how children with autism spectrum disorder and their mothers perceived and experienced the pandemic in Japan. A mixed-methods design was employed. Thirteen children with autism spectrum disorder and 12 mothers participated. Data were collected through online semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Similarities and differences in perceptions were compared. The results revealed six broad themes and 27 categories. Regarding neutral effects, some mothers reported no substantial impact because there were no changes in their jobs or other dramatic life changes. In addition, some children were not affected because they had had no social contact before the pandemic or because their lives had not changed dramatically. Regarding the perceptions of children/mothers, most expressed that they/their children enjoyed spending time with their families. At home, mothers made various efforts to interact with their children. However, mothers and children differed in their perceptions, such as regarding the emergence of anxiety about conducting school events and the resolution of study-related concerns. There were negative, neutral, and positive effects on both children with autism spectrum disorder and their mothers; specifically, they were striving to move forward to overcome the problems posed by the pandemic. Both parties tapped into their resilience by enhancing family interactions, such as cooking together or discussing children's interests. These findings have important implications for developing more creative solutions to the challenges of coping and resilience in future crises.

Incarcerated Mothers’ Parenting Prospects and the Associated Relational Issues With Their Children and Children’s Caregivers in Japan

Reunification with children is expected to be an exciting prospect for incarcerated mothers, but reunification process is an immense challenge due to a wide range of relational issues with their children and children’s caregivers. This study aimed at identifying relational issues that may impede incarcerated mothers’ parenting prospects by analyzing data of the incarcerated mothers in Japan. The results found that majority of mothers (73.3%) had positive parenting prospects, while 26.7% of them had negative parenting prospects. Mothers with negative parenting prospects had less contacts during incarceration, less likely to perceive their relationships with the caregivers positively, their child was more likely to know of maternal incarceration and had fewer parenting-support resources available, especially from the family. Prison-based interventions that effectively address those relational issues are discussed, which considered to reduce potential barriers for future reunification.

Parenting Attitudes and Abusive Parenting among Incarcerated Mothers in Japan.

The primary focus of this study was to explore the parenting attitudes that predict abusive parenting among incarcerated mothers in Japan. Data analyzed on 63 incarcerated mothers who had the legal custody of the youngest child revealed that belief in corporal punishment significantly predicted abusive parenting. The data further revealed that the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the parenting style of an intimate partner remained significant in predicting the risk of abusive parenting. These multiple risk factors affecting child abuse perpetration indicate the need to develop a multi-dimensional intervention in prison settings to address those multiple issues.

Depression and fatigue among first-time mothers in Japan

ABSTRACT This study assessed depression and fatigue among first-time mothers in Japan who were less than one year postpartum and attended parenting classes. A total of 673 mothers (mean age ± standard deviation = 33.5 ± 3.98 years) participated. The mean Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Subjective Fatigue Symptom Scale (SFSS) scores showed multiple comparisons based on the number of months postpartum and the maternal age. Multiple regression analyses were performed using the EPDS scores as the outcome variable and the SFSS items as explanatory variables. The results showed that current age was inversely associated with the EPDS score (β = −.185, p < .0001) and three fatigue-related variables were positively associated with the EPDS score: lower back pain (β = .201, p = .0014), eyestrain (β = .338, p = .0108), and hand/finger pain (β = .508, p = .0261). The explanatory variable accounting for the largest amount of variance in the postpartum depression scores was lower back pain. Regarding parenting support activities provided by local public agencies, it is important to implement initiatives to promote the mental and physical health of postpartum mothers by partnering with various specialist organizations. The study findings are significant as they reveal, from a fact-finding survey, the inadequacy of support toward mothers after two months postpartum.

Psychological distress in sons as resident carers of older mothers in Japan

AbstractIn Japan, care-giving sons are noted for their high rates of abuse of care recipients. This study revealed, for the first time, the difficulties unique to sons caring for their mothers. All sons used long-term care insurance services. However, they provided care that could not be covered by such public services while harbouring psychological distress. In this study, we interviewed 13 sons living with their older mothers as the primary carer and conducted a thematic analysis focusing on their psychological distress. As part of our study findings, we have identified nine themes during analysis: uncomfortable feelings that cannot be mitigated as a son; feeling of futility in being unrecognised as a carer; fear of losing something important; a strong sense of responsibility for one's mother's life; disappointment in being unable to obtain understanding and co-operation from one's siblings in providing care; irritation and anger towards one's wayward mother; guilt about treatment of one's mother; sense of exhaustion due to demanding care; and experiencing hopelessness and despair. Thus, it is important to understand what psychological distress carers experience and to consider possible approaches for their support. The study findings provide suggestions for long-term care support in regions, such as East Asia, where the numbers of son carers are increasing inevitably owing to declining birth rates and ageing population, as in Japan.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Dietary Practices for Mothers in Japan

To the best of our knowledge, changes in mothers’ dietary behaviors or perceptions of dietary intake during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been extensively discussed. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify how the dietary behaviors of mothers living with their children changed during the pandemic in Japan. Ordered probit and interval regressions were applied to individual data for mothers living with children under 18 years of age from five independently conducted Surveys of Attitudes toward Food and Nutrition Education (Shokuiku in Japanese). The estimation results showed that although mothers were more likely to eat dinner with their families during the pandemic, attention to healthy dietary practices, frequency of eating nutritionally balanced food, and dietary practices for preventing lifestyle-related diseases were negatively affected by the pandemic. In conclusion, mothers were more likely to decrease their commitment to a healthy and well-balanced diet during the pandemic than before it. Further research based on the latest datasets with detailed information over the long-term is required.