Relationships between Maternal support network and perceptions of parenting task difficulty

어머니의 자녀양육에 대한 사회적 관계망과 양육곤란도 지각과의 관계

The purpose of this study was to describe maternal social networks and to examine their relationships to maternal perceptions of parenting task difficulty. One hundred and thirty-three mothers of preschool children responded to a questionnaire indicating individuals in their networks, support functions, and perceptions of task difficulty. Mothers reported an average of 6.5 persons in their networks, including primarily with her own mother, the husband, mother-in-law, and sisters. While support was provided mainly by her husband and her own family members, the kinds of support varied depending on the person in networks. It was also found that support functions were different in terms of maternal job status, sex of the child, and the child's previous experience in day care or early childhood education settings. Emotional support from networks was significantly related to parenting task difficulty, especially in daily routine care. Mothers who perceived more emotional support from networks reported parenting to be less difficult.