This study intends to analyze the factors affecting the stress of widowed mothers in nurturing their children and to determine which factors are effective as the countermeasure for such stresses of widowed mother.
Recently, social support and parenta...
This study intends to analyze the factors affecting the stress of widowed mothers in nurturing their children and to determine which factors are effective as the countermeasure for such stresses of widowed mother.
Recently, social support and parental locus of control become newly noted as the countermeasure for such stresses. This study focused on finding out whether the social support and parental locus of control may be effective as countermeasure resources to help widowed mothers to adapt themselves to or cope with nurturing stresses.
According to these purposes of the study, the assignments were settled as follows:
Firstly, whether the personal factors may affect the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers? And whether the parental locus of control, as a factor out of such personal factors, may have the significant effects as a countermeasure resource on their nurturing stresses?
Secondly, whether the mother-children factor may affect the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers? And whether the parental locus of control, as a factor out of such mother-children factor, may have significant effects as a countermeasure resource on their nurturing stresses?
Thirdly, whether the environmental factors may affect the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers? And whether the social support factor out of such environmental factors may have significant effects as the countermeasure resources on their nurturing stresses?
Finally, whether the above three factors such as personal factor, mother-children factor and environmental factor may affect the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers?
The subjects were sampled from the widowed mothers who were enrolled as the beneficiary in the Support Service of Lower Income Mother-child Families based on 3 cities in Gangwon Province, such as Chuncheon, Wonju and Gangreung. And Parenting Stress Index, PSI/SF(Abidin, 1990) was used as a survey tool for measuring the nurturing stresses, which was specially adapted by Seo, Hye-young. Moreover, the social support scale was used as same as developed by Park, Ji-won and the Parental Locus of Control scale(PLOC) was used as same as designed by Campis, Lyman and Prentice-Dunn.
The data analysis was made by SPSS program and then frequency, Pearson's correlation coefficient, multiple regression were respectively analyzed.
The result of this study can be summarized as follows:
Firstly, it was found that the variables affecting the nurturing stress of widowed mothers in the personal factors included average income and parental viewpoint on fate or coincidence, which means that the lower average income may lead to the higher nurturing stress of widowed mother. And in the parental viewpoint on fate or coincidence, it is shown that the more internal PLOC tendency may lead to the lower nurturing stress of widowed mothers.
Secondly, it is found that there is a positive correlation between the dysfunctional mother-children interactions and the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers.
It means that the nurturing stress of widowed mothers may be increased by their negative cognition due to the interaction with children such as the problem in accepting children or the difficulties in enhancing child's behavior or language.
On the other hand, it was found that there was a negative correlation between the influences of parental life on their children and the nurturing stress of widowed mothers. It means that the more internal tendency of PLOC may lead to the lower nurturing stress of widowed mothers. In other words, as widowed mothers more recognizes that their lives depends upon their own control without any influence of their child's behavior or emotion throughout the life styles such as their friendship, life orientation and daily lives, their nurturing stresses tend to become lower.
As a result, it was found that the PLOC with internal tendency becomes a significant countermeasure for their nurturing stress.
Thirdly, it was shown that instrumental supports, as a factor out of environmental factors, might affect the nurturing stress of widowed mothers.
It means that the more instrumental supports may lead to the lower nurturing stress of widowed mothers. That is, it is found that more material supports, which consist of direct help or assistance such as substitutive works and monetary or material provisions, may lead to the lower nurturing stress of widowed mothers.
Finally, as a result of examining the variables of which three factors such as personal factor, mother-child factor and environmental factor as described above, it was shown that such variables included average income, parental viewpoints on fate or coincidence, parental influence, dysfunctional interaction between mother and child, the influence of parental life on their children and the parental effects on the behaviors of their children.
When analyzing these results, it was also found that the PLOC with internal tendency was the variable which might reduce the nurturing stresses of widowed mothers and might be also effective as a countermeasure resource for the nurturing stress.