Longitudinal associations between perceived father and grandparent support of mothers in early childhood, and maternal mental health

Xinru Zhou¹Chang Sun²Zhengjie Cai¹Linhua Li¹Yuju Wu¹Hanwen Zhang³Hein Raat⁴Alexis Medina⁵Huan Zhou^1*

• ¹Department of Health and Social Behavior, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
• ²Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
• ³Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
• ⁴Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• ⁵Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford,, United States

severe stress tendencies. Unordered multinomial logistic regression revealed that compared to mothers with consistent assisted care, those who transitioned from assisted care to sole mother care during the first-year postpartum experienced deterioration or a lack of improvement in depression (RRR=1.83, p<0.05), anxiety (RRR=2.07, p<0.05), and stress (RRR=2.37, p<0.01). Besides, mothers without assisted care throughout were also at higher risk of deteriorating or not improving in anxiety (RRR=1.86, p<0.05) and stress (RRR=2.36, p<0.05).This study shows a link between infant care assistance patterns and maternal mental health. Mothers transitioning from assisted to sole care in the first postpartum year may face declining or stagnant psychological health, suggesting that family members offer support in infant care to share the caregiving responsibilities.