Depression, Health Status, and Parenting Stress of Caregivers of Children in Poverty

빈곤계층 아동 양육자의 우울, 건강 상태와 양육 스트레스

Purpose: This is a descriptive study to identify the relationships of depression, health status, and parenting stress of caregivers of children in poverty. Methods: The participants were 42 caregivers of preschool or school age children enrolled for the Dream Start Program in a city of Kyeonggi province, which is a program of the Korean Ministry of Health & Welfare offering services for growth and development of low-income children. Data were collected from November, 2009 to February, 2010 by using a questionnaire. Results: The vast majority of the participants were mothers (n=33, 78.6%), and less than a half were married (n=16, 38.1%). Depression of the participants was at the moderate level ($18.60{\pm}10.13$). They perceived their health was fair ($81.10{\pm}18.97$). Their parenting stress was high ($93.45{\pm}20.06$). Their parenting stress was significantly correlated with depression (r=.57, p<.001) and perceived health status (r=.49, p=.001), which indicates their parenting stress was high as their depression was high or they perceived they were not healthy. Conclusion: The study results suggest to provide the caregivers of children in poverty with a well- developed program to manage their depression and parenting stress and ultimately to improve their mental health.