Biomaterial Database

[Parenting anxiety and childhood development of twins as compared to singletons]. 2006

Reiko Nishihara, and Ritsuko Hattori, and Yoko Kobayashi, and Kazuo Hayakawa

Course of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University.

OBJECTIVE Parenting anxiety has been highlighted recently because it tends to be a problem of mother-child relationships and a factor in child maltreatment. Compared to mothers of singletons, it is reported that mothers of twins experience a greater physical and mental burden of parenting. This study aims to investigate whether mothers of twins have more parenting anxiety than those of singletons and whether parenting anxiety affects child's mental development in both twin and singleton groups. METHODS 218 mothers of 0 to 2-year-old twins were recruited at seventeen organizations for twin rearing in Kinki area, western Japan, from March to May 2005. Questionnaires were mailed or handed out to the mothers. In all, 124 mothers of twins (56.9%) returned the questionnaires. 5 data sets were excluded because of twins' cerebral paralysis or other reasons and 119 data sets (96.0%) were analyzed. A total of 348 mothers of singletons were collected at four preschools and two public health centers in the same area from March 2005 to March 2006. Questionnaires were mailed or handed out and were returned by 101 mothers (28.1%). 4 data sets were excluded because of the presence of twins or over age children and 97 data sets (96.0%) were analyzed. The core questionnaires included the JCFRI Child Rearing Support Questionnaire for measurement of parenting anxiety and the Tsumori-Inage Infant Developmental Scale. RESULTS 1. Compared to their counterparts with singletons, mothers of twins showed significantly higher scores for parenting anxiety, including general confusion of parenting and negative feelings toward their children. 2. On multiple logistic regression analysis, high parenting anxiety in mothers of 2-year-old twins, especially negative feelings were related to delay in the children's mental development. However, there was no significant relationship with twins aged 0 or 1 year and with singletons of 0 to 2 years of age. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that negative feelings toward children influence mother-child interactions and complicate relationships. Parenting anxiety is a severe problem in mothers of twins not only because it causes mental problems in mothers but also because it has an impact on child mental development.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D009035	Mothers	Female parents, human or animal.	Mothers' Clubs,Club, Mothers',Clubs, Mothers',Mother,Mother Clubs,Mother's Clubs,Mothers Clubs,Mothers' Club
D002657	Child Development	The continuous sequential physiological and psychological maturing of an individual from birth up to but not including ADOLESCENCE.	Infant Development,Development, Child,Development, Infant
D002668	Child Rearing	The training or bringing-up of children by parents or parent-substitutes. It is used also for child rearing practices in different societies, at different economic levels, in different ethnic groups, etc. It differs from PARENTING in that in child rearing the emphasis is on the act of training or bringing up the child and the interaction between the parent and child, while parenting emphasizes the responsibility and qualities of exemplary behavior of the parent.	Childrearing,Rearing, Child
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults