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Motherhood and Mental Well-Being in Germany: Linking a Longitudinal Life Course Design and the Gender Perspective on Motherhood

Referierte Aufsätze Web of Science

Marco Giesselmann, Marina Hagen, Reinhard Schunck

In: Advances in Life Course Research 37 (2018), S. 31-41

Abstract

Based on considerations of societal mothering ideologies, qualitative gender studies suggest detrimental effects of motherhood on women’s mental well-being. However, numerous quantitative life course analyses find no such effect. This dissonance may originate in the measurement of well-being usually employed in longitudinal quantitative designs, which does not capture the dimensions of well-being identified as relevant in gender studies (i.e., stress, anxiety, depression, and social detraction). Using an indicator of well-being based on the Short Form 12 health questionnaire (SF-12), whose items correspond closely to these dimensions, this study integrates the gender perspective on maternal well-being in a longitudinal life course design. Using data on 1855 mothers and a control group of 6283 childless women from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), longitudinal analyses reveal a significant and steady decrease in average maternal mental well-being after first childbirth. When contrasted with the development in a matched control group of childless women, a smaller, but still statistically significant decline is predicted. Thus, our results are consistent with arguments of a detrimental effect of motherhood.



Keywords: Life course, Life events, Mental health, Motherhood, Subjective well-being, Socio-economic panel study (SOEP)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2018.06.002

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