Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.
Infant Ment Health J. 2023 Jul;44(4):572-586. doi: 10.1002/imhj.22074.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social restrictions created an unprecedented context for families raising young children. Although studies have documented detrimental effects of the pandemic on maternal well-being, less is known about how the pandemic specifically impacted low-income mothers. We examined depression, anxiety, and sleep quality among low-income mothers of one-year-olds during the early months of the pandemic using data from the Baby's First Years study. Focusing on the control group (n = 547), we compared mothers interviewed before March 14th, 2020 (n = 342) to mothers interviewed between March 14th and June 30th, 2020 (n = 205) to determine whether the pandemic was associated with differences in mental health and sleep quality. Mothers were recruited from four cities in the United States, and most of the sample identified as Hispanic (42.2%) or Black, non-Hispanic (38.6%). We found that mothers interviewed during the pandemic reported better mental health and sleep quality. While we cannot speak to longer-term impacts of the pandemic, it is possible low-income mothers experienced relief from daily stressors during the initial shelter-in-place orders, which may have led to improvements in well-being. These results have implications for understanding how complex life stressors influence mental health and sleep quality among low-income mothers raising young children.
COVID-19 大流行和随后的社会限制给抚养幼儿的家庭创造了一个前所未有的环境。尽管研究记录了大流行对产妇健康的不利影响，但对于大流行如何特别影响低收入母亲的情况知之甚少。我们使用“婴儿的第一年研究”的数据，研究了大流行早期一岁婴儿的低收入母亲的抑郁、焦虑和睡眠质量。我们关注对照组（n=547），将 2020 年 3 月 14 日之前接受采访的母亲（n=342）与 2020 年 3 月 14 日至 6 月 30 日之间接受采访的母亲（n=205）进行比较，以确定大流行是否与心理健康和睡眠质量的差异有关。母亲是从美国的四个城市招募的，大多数样本是西班牙裔（42.2%）或非裔，西班牙裔（38.6%）。我们发现，在大流行期间接受采访的母亲报告说她们的心理健康和睡眠质量更好。虽然我们无法说明大流行的长期影响，但在最初的就地避难令期间，低收入母亲可能从日常压力中得到缓解，这可能导致幸福感的提高。这些结果对于理解复杂的生活压力如何影响低收入母亲抚养幼儿的心理健康和睡眠质量具有启示意义。
