Lax Elizabeth S, Graziosi Marianna, Gioia Ayla N, Arunagiri Vinushini, Novak Sarah A
Psychology Department, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA.
Psychology Department, New York University, Paris, France.
Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2023 Dec 4;4(1):571-583. doi: 10.1089/whr.2023.0081. eCollection 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented families with novel challenges. Mothers were at particular risk for parental burnout, however, there is limited research on self-care behaviors to ameliorate it explicitly for mothers of young children (aged 3 and younger). Moreover, there has been little in-depth analysis on barriers to self-care and how mothers realistically implement it in their lives.
In this article, we explore influences on and barriers to self-care in mothers of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a content analysis approach, we used verbal testimony from mothers to create a coding framework and applied that framework to the sample ( = 717).
Qualitative analyses revealed that beauty and personal care were the most utilized self-care acts. Two major barriers were lack of childcare and limited time. Social support was the most frequently reported asset to engaging in self-care. Participants noted that the pandemic significantly restricted their access to activities and social support.
These findings emphasize the need to encourage mothers to prioritize self-care and incorporate their support systems to facilitate engagement. These results can inform programming to increase self-care behaviors in mothers, particularly during times of high environmental stressors. Future research should examine how resources can be allocated toward barriers of self-care to reduce burnout and improve quality of life.
新冠疫情给家庭带来了新的挑战。母亲们尤其面临着育儿倦怠的风险，然而，针对明确改善幼儿（3岁及以下）母亲育儿倦怠的自我护理行为的研究有限。此外，对于自我护理的障碍以及母亲们如何在生活中切实实施自我护理，几乎没有深入分析。
在本文中，我们探讨了新冠疫情期间幼儿母亲自我护理的影响因素和障碍。我们采用内容分析法，利用母亲们的口头证词创建了一个编码框架，并将该框架应用于样本（n = 717）。
定性分析表明，美容和个人护理是最常采用的自我护理行为。两个主要障碍是缺乏儿童保育和时间有限。社会支持是参与自我护理最常被提及的有利因素。参与者指出，疫情严重限制了她们参与活动和获得社会支持的机会。
这些发现强调了鼓励母亲优先进行自我护理并纳入其支持系统以促进参与的必要性。这些结果可为增加母亲自我护理行为的项目提供参考，尤其是在环境压力较大的时候。未来的研究应考察如何将资源分配用于克服自我护理的障碍，以减少倦怠并提高生活质量。
