Bunke Chelsea, Keck Tara
Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, 21 University Street, London, WC1E 6DE, UK.
BMC Womens Health. 2025 Jan 4;25(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03479-0.
Loneliness is a significant risk factor for both mental and physical health issues, including depression and increased mortality. Loneliness is reported at higher levels during life transitions, such as the transition to motherhood. Loneliness in mothers has far-reaching detrimental impacts on both mother and child, such as an increased risk of maternal depression and child abuse. Understanding the impact of different risk factors for loneliness, specifically in young mothers, may inform potential interventions for this at-risk group. The aim of this study was to determine whether mothers were lonelier than childfree women, and whether there are different risk factors for loneliness in mothers relative to childfree women, both for gender-associated and established risk factors for loneliness.
This cross-sectional study included partnered mothers and partnered childfree women between the ages of 20 and 29 from the 2020 Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) in the Republic of Moldova. The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale was used to assess overall, emotional, and social loneliness. A total of 11 potential risk factors were considered, across gender, well-being, relationships, and household status. Depending on the nature of the variables and their distributions, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests or Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess loneliness risk factors for partnered mothers and childfree women.
Data from 396 mothers and 113 childfree women in the Republic of Moldova were analysed in this study. There was no significant difference between the mean overall, emotional, or social loneliness scores in partnered mothers and childfree women. A lack of sexual autonomy was a risk factor associated with social loneliness in young mothers, but not in childfree women. This was the only gendered risk factor that differed between populations. Other gendered risk factors were not significant for any types of loneliness in either population. There were differences between mothers and childfree women in several established risk factors for loneliness.
Mothers were not lonelier than childfree women in this study, but a lack of sexual autonomy was a risk factor associated with loneliness only in mothers.
孤独是心理健康和身体健康问题的一个重要风险因素，包括抑郁症和死亡率上升。在生活转变期间，如向母亲身份的转变，孤独感的报告水平更高。母亲的孤独对母亲和孩子都有深远的有害影响，如母亲患抑郁症和虐待儿童的风险增加。了解孤独的不同风险因素的影响，特别是在年轻母亲中，可能为针对这一高危群体的潜在干预措施提供依据。本研究的目的是确定母亲是否比无子女的女性更孤独，以及相对于无子女的女性，母亲孤独的风险因素在性别相关和既定的孤独风险因素方面是否存在差异。
这项横断面研究纳入了来自摩尔多瓦共和国2020年世代与性别调查（GGS）的年龄在20至29岁之间的有伴侣的母亲和有伴侣的无子女女性。使用德容·吉尔维尔德孤独量表来评估总体孤独、情感孤独和社交孤独。共考虑了11个潜在风险因素，涵盖性别、幸福感、人际关系和家庭状况。根据变量的性质及其分布，使用威尔科克森秩和检验或斯皮尔曼相关系数来评估有伴侣的母亲和无子女女性的孤独风险因素。
本研究分析了来自摩尔多瓦共和国的396名母亲和113名无子女女性的数据。有伴侣的母亲和无子女女性在总体孤独、情感孤独或社交孤独的平均得分上没有显著差异。缺乏性自主权是年轻母亲社交孤独的一个风险因素，但在无子女女性中不是。这是不同人群之间唯一不同的性别风险因素。其他性别风险因素对任何一类人群的任何类型孤独都不显著。母亲和无子女女性在几个既定的孤独风险因素上存在差异。
在本研究中，母亲并不比无子女的女性更孤独，但缺乏性自主权只是母亲孤独的一个风险因素。
