Department of Health Policy, National Centre for Child Health and Development.
Graduate School of Public Health, St. Luke's International University.
J Epidemiol. 2023 Jun 5;33(6):294-302. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20210273. Epub 2022 Apr 15.
In Japan, ten percent of single-parent households are led by fathers. Taking care of children as a single father is very stressful and could put a strain on their health. It is very important to prevent and identify psychological distress among fathers for both their own health and to avoid negative impacts on children. This study aims to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with psychological distress among single fathers and understand how it is different from partnered fathers.
We used data from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions 2016. Psychological distress, assessed using the K6 scale, was analyzed among 868 single and 43,880 partnered fathers. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the risk factors for psychological distress, such as employment type, sleep hours, and smoking and drinking habits.
Single fathers had a higher proportion (8.5%) of psychological distress compared to partnered fathers (5.0%). A larger percentage of single fathers had a lower educational level and were more likely to be non-regular workers, self-employed, or unemployed than partnered fathers. Among single fathers, the crude and adjusted odds ratio for employment type and sleep hours were significantly associated with psychological distress.
As single parents who are self-employed or directors are likely to have significantly reduced psychological distress than those with regular jobs, measures are needed to improve the work-family balance for non-self-employed fathers. There is a need to provide greater financial assistance and other social welfare support to single parents to ensure their and their children's good health.
在日本，有 10%的单亲家庭由父亲抚养。作为单身父亲照顾孩子压力很大，可能会影响他们的健康。预防和识别单身父亲的心理困扰对他们自己的健康以及避免对孩子产生负面影响非常重要。本研究旨在确定单身父亲心理困扰的患病率和相关因素，并了解其与有伴侣父亲的区别。
我们使用了 2016 年综合生活状况调查的数据。使用 K6 量表评估心理困扰，并分析了 868 名单身父亲和 43880 名有伴侣父亲的数据。采用逻辑回归分析评估心理困扰的风险因素，如就业类型、睡眠时间、吸烟和饮酒习惯。
与有伴侣父亲相比（5.0%），单身父亲的心理困扰比例更高（8.5%）。单身父亲中受教育程度较低、非正规就业者、自营职业者或失业者的比例明显高于有伴侣父亲。在单身父亲中，就业类型和睡眠时间的粗比和调整比与心理困扰显著相关。
作为自营职业者或董事的单身父母，其心理困扰程度明显低于有固定工作的父母，因此需要采取措施改善非自营职业父亲的工作与家庭平衡。需要为单身父母提供更多的经济援助和其他社会福利支持，以确保他们及其子女的健康。
