Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention
Working mothers must often balance work and family responsibilities which can be affected by rigid and irrational beliefs about motherhood. The present study had two aims: (a) to provide psychometric evidence for a shortened Italian version of the Rigid Maternal Beliefs Scale (RMBS) and (b) to facil...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1266162/full |
| _version_ | 1797224328035565568 |
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| author | Sebastiano Rapisarda Alessandro De Carlo Elena Pasqualetto Brenda L. Volling Laura Dal Corso |
| author_facet | Sebastiano Rapisarda Alessandro De Carlo Elena Pasqualetto Brenda L. Volling Laura Dal Corso |
| author_sort | Sebastiano Rapisarda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Working mothers must often balance work and family responsibilities which can be affected by rigid and irrational beliefs about motherhood. The present study had two aims: (a) to provide psychometric evidence for a shortened Italian version of the Rigid Maternal Beliefs Scale (RMBS) and (b) to facilitate mothers’ return to work after maternity leave by reducing perceptions of anxiety and stress related to rigid maternal beliefs (i.e., perceptions and societal expectations of mothers, maternal confidence, maternal dichotomy) and by teaching specific recovery strategies (e.g., relaxation, mastery experiences) to manage anxiety and stress through an online psychological intervention. Results replicated the three-factor structure of the original RMBS and showed good psychometric properties. The online psychological intervention resulted in decrease in the rigidity of maternal beliefs, perceived anxiety and stress, and increase in recovery strategies. These initial results are promising and encourage further investigation into online psychological interventions for improving the well-being of working mothers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:51:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4fddc51eeb3047509f00e42e4daf4ab9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5059 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:51:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fddc51eeb3047509f00e42e4daf4ab92024-04-04T04:39:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Global Women's Health2673-50592024-04-01510.3389/fgwh.2024.12661621266162Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological interventionSebastiano Rapisarda0Alessandro De Carlo1Elena Pasqualetto2Brenda L. Volling3Laura Dal Corso4Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyDepartment of Private Law and Critique of Law, University of Padova, Padova, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, ItalyWorking mothers must often balance work and family responsibilities which can be affected by rigid and irrational beliefs about motherhood. The present study had two aims: (a) to provide psychometric evidence for a shortened Italian version of the Rigid Maternal Beliefs Scale (RMBS) and (b) to facilitate mothers’ return to work after maternity leave by reducing perceptions of anxiety and stress related to rigid maternal beliefs (i.e., perceptions and societal expectations of mothers, maternal confidence, maternal dichotomy) and by teaching specific recovery strategies (e.g., relaxation, mastery experiences) to manage anxiety and stress through an online psychological intervention. Results replicated the three-factor structure of the original RMBS and showed good psychometric properties. The online psychological intervention resulted in decrease in the rigidity of maternal beliefs, perceived anxiety and stress, and increase in recovery strategies. These initial results are promising and encourage further investigation into online psychological interventions for improving the well-being of working mothers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1266162/fullreturn to work after maternityRigid Maternal Beliefs Scaleonline psychological supportrecovery experiencesanxietystress |
| spellingShingle | Sebastiano Rapisarda Alessandro De Carlo Elena Pasqualetto Brenda L. Volling Laura Dal Corso Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention Frontiers in Global Women's Health return to work after maternity Rigid Maternal Beliefs Scale online psychological support recovery experiences anxiety stress |
| title | Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| title_full | Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| title_fullStr | Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| title_short | Breaking the maternity mold: navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| title_sort | breaking the maternity mold navigating the return to work and challenging rigid maternal beliefs through an online psychological intervention |
| topic | return to work after maternity Rigid Maternal Beliefs Scale online psychological support recovery experiences anxiety stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1266162/full |
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