Kimura Miyako, Ide Kazushige, Kimura Kazuki, Ojima Toshiyuki
Department of Preventive Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine.
Department of Social Preventive Medical Sciences, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University.
Environ Health Prev Med. 2022;27:14. doi: 10.1265/ehpm.22-00008.
Happiness may help to prevent negative physiological outcomes in response to life events; however, factors contributing to happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been longitudinally investigated. This study explored the predictors of happiness in mothers of young children in Japan using comparable data that were obtained before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We conducted the baseline survey in February 2020, and 4 months later, we also conducted the follow-up survey. Throughout all 47 prefectures in Japan, 4,700 (100 respondents/prefecture) mothers of infants and/or preschoolers (0-6 years) participated in the baseline online survey; 2,489 of these also participated in the follow-up survey.
We performed hierarchical multiple regression analysis and our final model indicated that maternal happiness during COVID-19 pandemic was positively related to employment status (homemaker, β = 0.052, p = 0.014), levels of available social support (average, β = 0.052, p = 0.012, high, β = 0.055, p = 0.010) and happiness score before the pandemic (β = 0.467, p < 0.001), and satisfaction toward the measures against the COVID-19 at partners' workplace (average, β = 0.129, p < 0.001; high, β = 0.279, p < 0.001), preventive behavior against COVID-19 (average, β = 0.055, p = 0.002; high, β = 0.045, p = 0.015) and positive attitudes/thinking (β = 0.087, p < 0.001) during the pandemic. In contrast, poor mental health (K6 ≥5, β = -0.042, p = 0.011) before the pandemic and negative changes during the pandemic (≥3, β = -0.085, p < 0.001) were negatively related to maternal happiness during the pandemic. Our final model explained 44.9% of the variance in mothers' happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Satisfaction toward the measures against the COVID-19 at partners' workplace, preventive behavior, and positive attitudes/thinking were especially important for maternal happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future study is needed to consider measures against infectious diseases in the workplace that are desirable for the well-being of parents with young children, taking into account the gender perspective.
幸福可能有助于预防因生活事件而产生的负面生理结果；然而，在新冠疫情期间促成幸福的因素尚未得到纵向研究。本研究利用在新冠疫情之前和期间获得的可比数据，探讨了日本幼儿母亲幸福的预测因素。
我们于2020年2月进行了基线调查，4个月后又进行了随访调查。在日本所有47个都道府县，4700名（每个都道府县100名受访者）婴儿和/或学龄前儿童（0 - 6岁）的母亲参与了基线在线调查；其中2489名母亲也参与了随访调查。
我们进行了分层多元回归分析，最终模型表明，新冠疫情期间母亲的幸福感与就业状况（家庭主妇，β = 0.052，p = 0.014）、可获得的社会支持水平（平均水平，β = 0.052，p = 0.012；高水平，β = 0.055，p = 0.010）以及疫情前的幸福得分（β = 0.467，p < 0.001）呈正相关，与对伴侣工作场所新冠疫情防控措施的满意度（平均水平，β = 0.129，p < 0.001；高水平，β = 0.279，p < 0.001）、新冠疫情预防行为（平均水平，β = 0.055，p = 0.002；高水平，β = 0.045，p = 0.015）以及疫情期间的积极态度/思维（β = 0.087，p < 0.001）呈正相关。相比之下，疫情前心理健康状况较差（K6≥5，β = -0.042，p = 0.011）以及疫情期间的负面变化（≥3，β = -0.085，p < 0.001）与疫情期间母亲的幸福感呈负相关。我们的最终模型解释了新冠疫情期间母亲幸福感差异的44.9%。
对伴侣工作场所新冠疫情防控措施的满意度、预防行为以及积极态度/思维对新冠疫情期间母亲的幸福感尤为重要。未来需要开展研究，从性别视角考虑对幼儿父母幸福有益的工作场所传染病防控措施。
