Abstract
This mixed-methods research study aimed to assess the contribution of interparental relationship quality and paternal support for mothers to maternal mental health among Black parents in a metro area characterized by severe racial disparities. We also explored Black parents’ understanding of meaningful paternal support for mothers. Using survey data collected from Black mothers (N = 75), we examined correlations among the study variables, then conducted mediation and moderation analyses to examine whether relationship quality would mediate the association between paternal support and maternal mental health and to test whether relationship quality would moderate the association between paternal support and maternal self-reported overall health. We used inductive thematic analysis to analyze data from focus groups with Black parents (N = 15). We found that mothers’ mental health was positively correlated with relationship quality, mothers’ subjective health was positively correlated with paternal support, and relationship quality significantly mediates the relationship between paternal support and maternal mental health while controlling for relationship status. Our thematic analysis yielded four themes to characterize meaningful paternal support for mothers and a high quality interparental relationship: (1) Teammates; (2) Multidimensional, everyday support; (3) Communication is key; and (4) Challenge racism and disrupt intergenerational trauma. Findings suggest that paternal support and interparental relationship quality can play a protective role, promoting maternal mental health and wellbeing. Providers of perinatal services should support Black parents to support one another, including as advocates in confronting racism.
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Due to privacy and ethical concerns, supporting data cannot be made openly available. Further information about the data is available from the authors upon request.
Change history
05 May 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-023-01323-2
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank all of the participants in this research for their contribution, and thank research assistant Hassnaa Mohammed and the team at the African American Breastfeeding Network, in particular Brooks Griffin and Terron Edwards, for their support of the study.
Funding
Funding for this project was provided by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health from the Wisconsin Partnership Program through a grant to the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program, the Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, under Award Number K12HD055894. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Walsh, T.B., Thomas, A., Quince, H. et al. Black fathers’ contributions to maternal mental health. Arch Womens Ment Health 26, 117–126 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01284-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01284-y