Single parent ; Depression ; Ecologic system ; Surveys and questionnaires
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to investigate gender differences as ecological factors associated with depression of single-parents who lived with minors.
Methods
This study was secondary data analysis using national data from the 2018 Single Parent Family Survey, including 2,427 participants (1,575 mothers and 852 fathers). Data were analyzed using SPSS/MAC 26.0 program for the descriptive analysis, independent t-tests, chi-squared tests, and binary logistic regression.
Results
The depression groups were identified as 17.4% for women and 11.0% for men based on Patient Health Questionnaire-9. In logistic regression, single mothers’ depression was significantly associated with low income, unemployment, low education level, parenting difficulties, a sense of distance from family, and family discrimination experiences. However, single fathers’ depression was significantly associated with low income, unemployment, and parenting difficulties.
Conclusion
Our study findings suggest that depression interventions should be tailored to different gender groups of the single-parents, specifically socio-emotional factors should be considered for the single mother group.