Landrum Grace, Halpern-Meekin Sarah
Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
School of Human Ecology & LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Fam Relat. 2025 Apr 23. doi: 10.1111/fare.13187.
This study aims to understand how a diverse group of mothers with limited incomes approach managing their emotions. Participating mothers were predominantly women of color.
Previous research suggested that, on average, inadequate resources negatively shape parenting practices and subsequent child outcomes. The family stress model linked limited resources with increased stress in parents, a mental state that may undermine parenting efforts. However, this does not consider mothers' work to manage their own emotions, including feelings of stress, which prior research has found could potentially promote their own well-being and positive engagement with children.
The present study uses data from 26 of 71 semi-structured interviews from the Baby's First Years: Mother's Voices study. The researchers used thematic analysis to analyze mothers' narratives of their emotion management efforts and the mothers' values guiding such efforts.
Mothers' approaches to managing their emotions were primarily shaped by their sense of what it meant to be a good mother, but these ideas about good mothering manifested differently in practice. Some mothers sought to repress emotions while parenting, others to separate from children during emotion management efforts, and some connected with children to manage mothers' own emotions.
The stress of limited financial resources does not automatically translate into mothers' parenting. Mothers with limited incomes hold their own ideas about good mothering that are related to how resource limitations influence their parenting efforts.
Understanding the motivations of mothers with limited incomes for managing their own emotions can provide insights for practitioners and policymakers hoping to support mothers' emotion management efforts.
本研究旨在了解一群收入有限、背景各异的母亲是如何管理自己情绪的。参与研究的母亲主要是有色人种女性。
先前的研究表明，平均而言，资源不足会对育儿方式及随后的孩子成长结果产生负面影响。家庭压力模型将有限的资源与父母压力增加联系起来，这种心理状态可能会破坏育儿努力。然而，这并未考虑母亲管理自身情绪的工作，包括压力情绪，而先前的研究发现，这种情绪管理可能会促进她们自身的幸福感以及与孩子的积极互动。
本研究使用了“婴儿的第一年：母亲的声音”研究中71次半结构化访谈中的26次访谈数据。研究人员采用主题分析法，分析母亲们关于情绪管理努力的叙述以及指导这些努力的母亲价值观。
母亲们管理情绪的方式主要受她们对好母亲含义的认知影响，但这些关于好母亲的观念在实践中的表现各不相同。一些母亲在育儿时试图压抑情绪，另一些母亲在进行情绪管理时会与孩子分开，还有一些母亲通过与孩子建立联系来管理自己的情绪。
有限的经济资源带来的压力并不会自动转化为母亲的育儿行为。收入有限的母亲对好母亲有自己的看法，这些看法与资源限制如何影响她们的育儿努力有关。
了解收入有限的母亲管理自身情绪的动机，可为希望支持母亲情绪管理努力的从业者和政策制定者提供见解。
