The Correlation between Adaptation to the Maternal Role and Social Support in a Sample of Iranian Primiparous Women

Adaptation to the maternal role is an important factor for health ofmothers and infants. With regards to numerous stresses after childbirth and effect ofsocial support in modifying stresses, the present study was conducted for detecting thecorrelation between adaptation to the maternal role and social support in primiparousfemales. This cross-sectional study was performed on 260 primiparous females, whohad referred to public health centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciencesin Tehran, during year 2016. Data gathering tools included the «DemographicQuestionnaire», «Adaptation to the Maternal Role in Iranian Primiparous WomenQuestionnaire», «Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support», andEdinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Data analysis was done using the SPSS software(version 22) and it was based on descriptive statistics and statistical independent t-test,Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Spearman correlation, and linear regression. P value <0.05 was considered significant. The score of adaptation to a maternal role had a significant correlation witha total score of social support and its subscales (P = 0.001). Also, the adaptation toa maternal role had a reverse significant correlation with the mother and father’seducation and the rate of family income, yet the results of the linear regressiondemonstrated that only two variables, “social support” and “mother’s education”, weresignificant in predicting the adaptation to a maternal role (P = 0.001), and they couldpredict 15% of variance for adapting to a maternal role. Social support is an effective factor for adaptation to the maternal role inprimiparous females. Therefore, providing an appropriate situation for these supportsis recommended. Also, it is required for health care providers to make sure about anadaptation to a maternal role, especially in mothers with higher education.