Parenting Self‐Construals of Mothers With a Serious Mental Illness: Efficacy, Burden, and Personal Growth¹

Abstract

We explored parenting self‐construals among mothers with serious mental illness (n = 379). Mothers reported feeling moderately positively about themselves as parents, more efficacious than inefficacious, more positive than negative, more valued than disvalued; but also at least somewhat restricted and burdened by motherhood. Factor analyses revealed 3 parenting self‐construal factors: efficacious, burdened, and parenting as a personal growth experience. In hierarchical regression analyses, parenting self‐construal factors significantly added to prediction of parenting behaviors and attitudes (nurturance, explanatory parenting style, and parenting stress), once demographic, mental health history, and current social context variables (support, stress, and current mental health) were taken into account. Maternal parenting self‐efficacy increased (while self‐construal of parenting as a burden decreased) positive parenting style.