Cumulative stress of single mothers - an exploration of potential risk factors

Abstract

Studies report that single mothers are at a higher risk for psychological stress than married mothers. This study investigates which risk factors are relevant for the stress of single mothers and how much the maternal stress depends on the number of stressors occurring in combination. For this purpose, multiple regression analyses as well as ANOVAs were calculated using data from 923 single mothers from Germany. Factors influencing single mothers' stress are (1) low parenting self-efficacy beliefs on the part of the mother, (2) at least one child with a disability, (3) low perceived social support, (4) a new partnership, and (5) the age of the youngest child. Cumulation of several stressors causes a significant increase in stress in the domain resulting from the child's behavior and characteristics, i.e. single mothers with several simultaneously occurring stressors experience many times more stress especially in this domain than those who are affected by only one stressor. Our findings suggest that it is not sufficient to focus interventions on the relative disadvantages of single mothers, but that the combined occurrence of different stressors and their cumulative effect should be focused on in prevention and intervention.