Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Marital satisfaction, a key indicator of relational well-being, is influenced by individual and social factors. Few studies have examined how husbands’ childcare support during middle childhood affects women’s marital satisfaction in Japan. This prospective cohort study analyzed questionnaire data from 263 mothers in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS) who completed marital satisfaction surveys during their children’s 8-year checkups (2019–2021), along with pregnancy and early childhood data. Multiple logistic regression showed that 65.4% of women with postpartum depressive symptoms at 1 month reported marital satisfaction at 6 months (p < .05). Women perceiving husband childcare support had an adjusted odds ratio of 11.99 (95% CI, 5.82–24.67) for marital satisfaction versus those without. Findings highlight the critical role of shared childcare in enhancing marital satisfaction, suggesting that promoting paternal involvement may strengthen family bonds and relational quality.

Keywords

marital satisfaction marital relationship women’s perception bonding scale middle childhood

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bateman

R. M.

Sharpe

M. D.

Jagger

J. E.

Ellis

C. G.

Sole-Violan

Lopez-Rodriguez

Herrera-Ramos

Ruiz-Hernandez

Borderias

Horcajada

Gonzalez-Quevedo

Rajas

Briones

Rodriguez de Castro

Rodriguez Gallego

Esen

Orhun

Ergin Ozcan

Senturk

Prandi

(2016). 36th international symposium on intensive care and emergency medicine: Brussels, Belgium. 15-18 march 2016. Critical Care (London, England), 20(Suppl 2), 94. Article 94. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6

Belsky

(1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55(1), 83–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1984.tb00275.x

Cox

J. L.

Holden

J. M.

Sagovsky

(1987). Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 150(6), 782–786. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.150.6.782

Cox

M. J.

Paley

(1997). Families as systems. Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 243–267. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.243

Erel

Burman

(1995). Interrelatedness of marital relations and parent-child relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 118(1), 108–132. Article 108. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.108

Farah

L. K.

Shahram

(2011). The effect of sexual skills training on marital satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 2581–2585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.505

Hatch

L. R.

Bulcroft

(2004). Does long-term marriage bring less frequent disagreements? Five explanatory frameworks. Journal of Family Issues, 25(4), 465–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X03257766

Hosokawa

Katsura

(2017). A longitudinal study of socioeconomic status, family processes, and child adjustment from preschool until early elementary school: The role of social competence. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(1), 62. Article 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-017-0206-z

Hosokawa

Katsura

(2019). Role of parenting style in children’s behavioral problems through the transition from preschool to elementary school according to gender in Japan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(1), 21. Article 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010021

10.

Iseki

Ohashi

(2014). Relationship in Japan between maternal grandmothers' perinatal support and their self-esteem. Nursing & Health Sciences, 16(2), 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12079

11.

Ito

Sagara

Ikeda

(2004). Marital relationship, occupational life, and subjective well-being of married people. Shinrigaku Kenkyu: The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 75(5), 435–441. https://doi.org/10.4992/jjpsy.75.435

12.

Javanmard

G. H.

Garegozlo

R. M.

(2013). The study of relationship between marital satisfaction and personality characteristics in Iranian families. Procedia-social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 396–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.573

13.

Kasai

Kawahara

(2007). Connection between husbands’ support provided to their wives during childrearing periods and marital relationships. Journal of Japan Academy of Community Health Nursing, 9(2), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.20746/jachn.9.2_75

14.

Kawamoto

Nitta

Murata

Toda

Tsukamoto

Hasegawa

Yamagata

Kayama

Kishi

Ohya

Saito

Sago

Okuyama

Ogata

Yokoya

Koresawa

Shibata

Nakayama

Michikawa

Satoh

Working Group of the Epidemiological Research for Children’s Environmental Health Working Group of the Epidemiological Research for Children's Environmental, H . (2014). Rationale and study design of the Japan environment and children's study (JECS). BMC Public Health, 14, 25. Article 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-25

15.

Kitamura

Takegata

Haruna

Yoshida

Yamashita

Murakami

Goto

(2015). The mother-infant bonding scale: Factor structure and psychosocial correlates of parental bonding disorders in Japan. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(2), 393–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9849-4

16.

Leach

L. S.

Poyser

Cooklin

A. R.

Giallo

(2016). Prevalence and course of anxiety disorders (and symptom levels) in men across the perinatal period: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 190, 675–686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.063

17.

Leidy

M. S.

Schofield

T. J.

Parke

R. D.

(2013). Fathers' contributions to children's social development. In Cabrera

N. J.

Tamis-LeMonda

C. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of father involvement (2nd ed., pp. 151–167). Routledge.

18.

Matsui

Sato

(2018). Grandmother's support for new mothers in Japan. Public Health Nursing, 35(5), 404–413. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.12518

19.

Meltzer-Brody

Howard

L. M.

Bergink

Vigod

Jones

Munk-Olsen

Honikman

Milgrom

(2018). Postpartum psychiatric disorders. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 4(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2018.22

20.

Michel

J. S.

Kotrba

L. M.

Mitchelson

J. K.

Clark

M. A.

Baltes

B. B.

(2011). Antecedents of work–family conflict: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(5), 689–725. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.695

21.

Michikawa

Nitta

Nakayama

S. F.

Yamazaki

Isobe

Tamura

Suda

Ono

Yonemoto

Iwai-Shimada

Kobayashi

Suzuki

Kawamoto

Japan

the Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group . (2018). Baseline profile of participants in the Japan environment and Children's study (JECS). Journal of Epidemiology, 28(2), 99–104. https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20170018

22.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare . (2023). Vital statistics of Japan. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hw/vs01.html

23.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare . (2024). Vital statistics in Japan: Mortality by cause, sex, and age group, 2023. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/dl/71-r05/07.pdf

24.

Mori

Maehara

Iwata

Sakajo

Tsuchiya

Ozawa

Morita

Maekawa

Saeki

(2015). Comparing older and younger Japanese primiparae: Fatigue, depression and biomarkers of stress. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 21(S1), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12392

25.

National Institute of Population and Social Security Research . (2025). Household projections for Japan: 2015–2040 (national projection). https://www.ipss.go.jp/pp-pjsetai/j/hpjp2024/t-page.asp

26.

Nishimura

Fujita

Katsuta

Ishihara

Ohashi

(2015). Paternal postnatal depression in Japan: An investigation of correlated factors including relationship with a partner. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15(1), 128. Article 128. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-015-0552-x

27.

O'hara

M. W.

Swain

A. M.

(1996). Rates and risk of postpartum depression—a meta-analysis. International Review of Psychiatry, 8(1), 37–54. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540269609037816

28.

Okano

(1996). Validation and reliability of a Japanese version of the EPDS. Archives of Psychiatric Diagnostics and Clinical Evaluation, 7, 525–533.

29.

Pilkington

P. D.

Milne

L. C.

Cairns

K. E.

Lewis

Whelan

T. A.

(2015). Modifiable partner factors associated with perinatal depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 178, 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.02.023

30.

Randall

A. K.

Bodenmann

(2009). The role of stress on close relationships and marital satisfaction. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(2), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2008.10.004

31.

Sanchez

Thomson

(1997). Becoming mothers and fathers: Parenthood, gender, and the division of labor. Gender & Society, 11(6), 747–772. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124397011006003

32.

Shimazu

Kubota

Bakker

Demerouti

Shimada

Kawakami

(2013). Work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work conflict among Japanese dual‐earner couples with preschool children: A spillover‐crossover perspective. Journal of Occupational Health, 55(4), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.12-0252-oa

33.

Shimizu

(2020). Parenting together in the child-rearing stage: On mutual criticisms of each other's child-rearing. Journal of Japan Academy of Midwifery, 34(1), 103–113. https://doi.org/10.3418/jjam.JJAM-2019-0009

34.

Stapleton

L. R. T.

Schetter

C. D.

Westling

Rini

Glynn

L. M.

Hobel

C. J.

Sandman

C. A.

(2012). Perceived partner support in pregnancy predicts lower maternal and infant distress. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(3), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028332

35.

Sugai

Nishijima

Haino

Yoshihara

(2023). Pregnancy outcomes at maternal age over 45 years: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, 5(4), 100885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.100885

36.

Sugihara

Katsurada

(2000). Gender-role personality traits in Japanese culture. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24(4), 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2000.tb00213.x

37.

Suto

Isogai

Mizutani

Kakee

Misago

Takehara

(2016). Prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depression in fathers: A regional, longitudinal study in Japan. Research in Nursing and Health, 39(4), 253–262. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.21728

38.

Tachibanaki

(2009). Confronting income inequality in Japan: A comparative analysis of causes, consequences, and reform. MIT Press Books.

39.

Tokumitsu

Sugawara

Maruo

Suzuki

Shimoda

Yasui-Furukori

(2020). Prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women: A meta-analysis. Annals of General Psychiatry, 19(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-020-00290-7

40.

Tsuchiya

Mori

Sakajo

Maekawa

Iwata

Maehara

Morita

Ozawa

Mochizuki

Aoki

Makaya

Tamakoshi

(2016). Age-specific determinants of post-partum fatigue in primiparous women. Japan Journal of Nursing Science, 13(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/jjns.12089

41.

Yamada

Isumi

Fujiwara

(2020). Association between lack of social support from partner or others and postpartum depression among Japanese mothers: A population-based cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), 4270. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124270

42.

Yamashita

Soma

(2015). The double responsibilities of care in Japan: Emerging new social risks for women providing both childcare and care for the elderly. In Chan

R. K. H.

Zinn

Wang

L.-R.

(Eds.), New life courses, social risks and social policy in east Asia (pp. 95–111). Routledge.

43.

Yoshida

Yamashita

Conroy

Marks

Kumar

(2012). A Japanese version of mother-to-infant bonding scale: Factor structure, longitudinal changes and links with maternal mood during the early postnatal period in Japanese mothers. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 15(5), 343–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0291-1

44.

Zhuo

Shi

(2022). Association between parent-child relationship and second-time mother’s prenatal depressive symptoms: The mediation role of parenting burnout. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 491. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010491

Factors Affecting Women’s Satisfaction With Their Marital Relationship in Japan: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References