Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 4 , Pages 293-302, April 2010

Maternal Mental Health and Child Development in Asian Immigrant Mothers in Taiwan

  • Wen-Jiun Chou

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Dr Wen-Jiun Chou, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao-Sung Hsiang, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Received 6 April 2009; received in revised form 6 July 2009; accepted 15 July 2009.

Article Outline

Background/Purpose

Marriages between Taiwanese men and immigrant women are common in Southern Taiwan. However, little is known about the adjustment of these women to life in Taiwan and their children's development as a result of cross-national marriage. This study evaluated the psychological status and adjustment of the foreign-born mothers in Taiwan, and assessed the influence of their immigrant motherhood on child development.

Methods

Ninety-four immigrant mothers (41 Chinese, 37 Vietnamese, and 16 Southeast Asian women) and their 104 children born in Taiwan were enrolled in this study. Information was obtained by a clinical interview for medical history and sociodemographics, and five standardized self-administered questionnaires for maternal general mental health, maternal depression, maternal cognitive functioning, home environment, and child development.

Results

Chinese mothers were significantly more educated and less likely to marry via referral agencies than mothers from Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia. Husbands of Chinese mothers significantly better educated, less likely to have physical illnesses, and were closer in age to their wives than husbands in the other two groups. Immigrant mothers had high rates of psychological distress (70%) and marked depression (24%). Longer residency in Taiwan predicted a higher likelihood of maternal depression, especially in the Southeast Asian mothers. Chinese mothers had the highest degree of cognitive functioning and provided a better home environment for their children. Childhood developmental delay was predicted by older child age and parental marriage via referral agencies.

Conclusion

This study highlights the need to give continuous psychosocial support to immigrant mothers and to identify early developmental delays among their children.

Key Words:  child development disorders , depression , immigration , mental health , mothers

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

 

Back to Article Outline

References 

  1. Taiwan Ministry of Interior. Topical Analysis: Statistics of Foreign Spouses, 2007.
  2. Hsia HC . Transnational marriage and internationalization of the capital: the case of “foreign bride” phenomenon in Taiwan . Taiwanese J Quart Social Study . 2000;39:45–92
  3. Foss GF , Chantal AW , Hendrickson S . Maternal depression and anxiety and infant development: a comparison of foreign-born and native-born mothers . Public Health Nurs . 2004;21:237–246
  4. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network  . Chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and child functioning at 36 months . Dev Psychol . 1999;35:1297–1310
  5. In:  Akhtar S editors. Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transformation . Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson; 1996;
  6. Totsika V , Sylva K . The home observation for measurement of the environment revisited . Child Adolesc Mental Health . 2004;9:25–35
  7. Petterson SM , Albers AB . Effects of poverty and maternal depression on early child development . Child Dev . 2001;72:1794–1813
  8. In:  Suarez-Orozco C ,  Suarez-Orozco M editor. Children of Immigration . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2001;
  9. In:  Pomerleau A ,  Malcuit G ,  Sabatier C editor. Child-rearing Practices and Parental Beliefs in Three Cultural Groups of Montreal: Quebecois, Vietnamese, Haitian . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1991;
  10. Pachter LM , Dworkin PH . Maternal expectations about normal child development in 4 cultural groups . Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med . 1997;151:1144–1150
  11. In:  Mehta P editors. The Emergence, Conflicts, and Integration of the Bicultural Self: Psychoanalysis of an Adolescent Daughter of South-Asian Immigrant Parents . Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson; 1998;
  12. Jackson AP , Brooks-Gunn J , Huang CC , et al.   Single mothers in low-wage jobs: financial strain, parenting, and preschoolers' outcomes . Child Dev . 2000;71:1409–1423
  13. Bornstein MH , Cote LR . “Who is sitting across from me?” Immigrant mothers' knowledge of parenting and children's development . Pediatrics . 2004;114:e557–e564
  14. Huang K-Y , O'Brien Caughy M , Genevro JL , et al.   Maternal knowledge of child development and quality of parenting among White, African–American and Hispanic mothers . J Appl Dev Psychol . 2005;26:149–170
  15. Kolobe TH . Childrearing practices and developmental expectations for Mexican–American mothers and the developmental status of their infants . Phys Ther . 2004;84:439–453
  16. Fernald LC , Jones-Smith JC , Ozer EJ , et al.   Maternal depressive symptoms and physical activity in very low-income children . J Dev Behav Pediatr . 2008;29:385–393
  17. Ertem IO , Atay G , Dogan DG , et al.   Mothers' knowledge of young child development in a developing country . Child Care Health Dev . 2007;33:728–737
  18. Cheng TA , Williams P . The design and development of a screening questionnaire (CHQ) for use in community studies of mental disorders in Taiwan . Psychol Med . 1986;16:415–422
  19. Lee Y , Yang MJ , Lai TJ , et al.   Development of the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire . Chang Gung Med J . 2000;23:688–694
  20. Lee Y , Lin PY , Hsu ST , et al.   Comparing the use of the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory for Screening Depression in patients with chronic pain . Chang Gung Med J . 2008;31:369–377
  21. In:  Raven J ,  Raven JC ,  Court JH editor. Raven Manual: Standard Progressive Matrices . Oxford: Oxford Psychologists Press; 1998;
  22. In:  Miao E ,  Raven J ,  Raven JC ,  Court JH editor. Manual of Raven's Progressive Matrices Tests . Taiwanese Edition. Taipei: Chinese Behavioural Science Corporation; 1993;
  23. Hsu CC , Su S , Shao SJ , et al.   Chinese Child Development Inventory: a tentative normative data . Acta Paediatr Sinica . 1978;19:142–157
  24. In:  Ireton H ,  Thwing E editor. The Minnesota Child Development Inventory . Minneapolis: Behavioral Science Systems; 1972;
  25. Chu PY . Diagnostic Validity of Chinese Child Development Inventory in Screening Children with Developmental Delay . Taipei: National Cheng-Gong University; 2007;
  26. Su CW , Lu CM , Chen SM . Home environment and mental and motor development of infants and toddlers . Bull Educ Psychol . 1992;25:13–29
  27. Williams P , Piamjariyakul U , Williams A , et al.   Thai mothers and children and the home observation for measurement of the environment (home inventory): pilot study . Int J Nurs Stud . 2003;40:249–258
  28. Chang GG . The Family Function of Foreign Brides in Southern Taiwan . Taipei: National Science Council; 1999;
  29. In:  Berry JW ,  Sam DL editor. Acculturation and Adaptation . Boston: Allyn and Bacon; 1997;
  30. Liu MF , Chung HH , Hsu MT . Adaptation of foreign brides in Taiwan: Implications for nursing . Taiwanese J Nurs . 2001;48:85–89
  31. Yang YM , Wang HH . Life and health concerns of Indonesian women in transnational marriages in Taiwan . J Nurs Res . 2003;11:167–176
  32. Tummala-Narra P . Mothering in a foreign land . Am J Psychoanal . 2004;64:167–182
  33. Nehring WM . Cultural considerations for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities . J Pediatr Nurs . 2007;22:93–102
  34. Chen MJ , Tang CH , Jeng HM , Chiu AW . The maternal and child healthcare needs of new immigrants in Taipei . J Nurs Res . 2008;16:307–320

PII: S0929-6646(10)60055-1

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(10)60055-1

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 4 , Pages 293-302, April 2010

Article Tools