The Quality of Maternal Care and Family Functioning in Single-Mother Versus Biparental Families With Preschool Children: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Maternal care and family functioning are major factors in controlling childhood disorders. The present study aimed to compare the quality of maternal care and family functioning in single-parent versus biparental families with preschool children. The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 213 single-mother (divorced or widowed) and biparental families with 3- to 6-year-old children in Gonabad County. The data were collected using the maternal care quality questionnaire and the family assessment device (FAD). The mean maternal care quality scores in the single-parent and biparental groups were 116.36 (Standard deviation (SD) = 19.33) and 130.53(SD = 5.70), respectively. The total family functioning scores in the single-parent and biparental groups were 2.70 (SD = 0.18) and 3.02 (SD = 0.11), respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed in the quality of maternal care and family functioning and their respective subscales between single-parent and biparental families ( ps < 0.001). The quality of maternal care and family functioning in single-mother group was significantly lower than the biparental group.