Differences in parental childcare contributions and maternal postpartum psychosocial well-being: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

Little is known about how differences in parental contributions to childcare impact maternal postpartum psychosocial well-being, particularly in the context of global fertility decline. This study aims to explore associations of parental childcare contributions with maternal postpartum psychosocial disorders among Chinese women.

METHODS

Data from the Grandmothers, Mothers and Their Children's Health study in Huai'an, China were used. Participants were 1991 women who experienced childbirth between 2020 and 2021; follow-up survey was conducted in 2023. Parental childcare contributions were examined by care index. Maternal psychosocial disorders included mental health disorders and poor social health. Logistic regression models were conducted to assess the associations.

RESULTS

93% mothers reported high-contribution childcare; in contrast, only 41% fathers had high-contributions. After mutual adjustment of parental childcare contributions, paternal low-contribution was associated with higher odds of maternal mental health disorders (OR=1.79, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.57) and poor social health (1.76, 1.37 to 2.24). However, these associations were not observed for maternal childcare contribution. For joint patterns of parental childcare contributions, those involving paternal low-contribution childcare were associated with higher odds of maternal psychosocial disorders, regardless of maternal contribution. The associations were consistent across different subpopulations with varied sociodemographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents' contributions in childcare were imbalanced in China. Paternal low-contribution childcare was independently associated with higher odds of maternal postpartum psychosocial disorders, highlighting the potential relevance of paternal childcare contribution to maternal postpartum psychosocial well-being.