I love them but they’re driving me crazy : Stress in Mothers of Young Children

A recent study which investigated the relationship between a range of measures of psychological well-being and stress in a group of 109 Melbourne mothers (Rodd, 1992), unearthed some surprising but not unexpected findings. In fact, the research into maternal stress was initiated following many years of working with parents, running parent support and education programs and discussions with a range of professionals who provide services for families. The end result of the examination of this observational and anecdotal evidence pointed to the fact that mothers of young children are stressed - not just slightly or moderately stressed - but experiencing extreme levels of emotional stress in relation to their parenting role!