Moderated Mediation Effect of Self-esteem on the Relationship Between Parenting Stress and Depression According to Employment Status in Married Women: A Longitudinal Study Utilizing Data from Panel Study on Korean Children

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was to examined the moderated mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between parenting stress and depression among married women with children using longitudinal data from the 3rd to 6th Panel Studies on Korean. METHODS: The data from the Panel Study of Korean Children (Korea Institute of Child Care and Education) was collected as part of a longitudinal inquiry of babies born in 2008, their parents and their community environments. Only the data collected from the married women over the age of 20 who participated in the maternal survey was used for this study. RESULTS: The initial level of married women's parenting stress affects the initial level and the rate of change in self-esteem; the initial level of self-esteem, the initial level and rate of change in depression; and the initial level of parenting stress, the initial level of depression. However, the impact of the rate of change in parenting stress on that of self-esteem was significant only in employed women while the impact of the rate of change in self-esteem on that of depression was significant only in unemployed women. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to manage parenting stress among married women through various programs and education that increase self-esteem in order to reduce their level of depression.