Community factors to promote parents' quality of child-nurturing life.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of community factors in parents' quality of child-nurturing life (QCNL).


METHODS
We developed a questionnaire to evaluate the degree of QCNL and determine the structural factors related to QCNL as community factors related to parents' QCNL derived from focus group interviews and the Delphi technique. The questionnaire also included the battery of the self-rating depression scale and Tsumori-Inage Infant's Developmental Test. Using the questionnaire, we then conducted a quantitative survey of parents whose children attended nursery schools in Kumamoto Prefecture. Factor analysis, calculation of the mean score and/or ratio to each item, Pearson's correlation coefficient, t test, multiple regression analysis, and covariance structure analysis were performed.


RESULTS
The questionnaire we developed consisted of seven items with 75 elements, involving ten elements as community factors. Subjects included 699 parents (mean age 33.6 ± 5.4 years) and 965 children (age range 0-6 years). Factor analysis revealed that community factors consisted of five factors, such as "lifestyle rooted in the ground," "balance of housekeeping and work," "community network," "amenity," and "regeneration of life". These factors may be dominant in a rural area. Finally, we developed a structural model with "community factors," QCNL, QOL, and "child growth" by covariance structural analysis. The analysis revealed that community factors had a positive relation to parents' QCNL (r = 0.81, p < 0.001) and that parental SDS score had a negative relation to parents' QCNL (r = -0.59, p < 0.001). The analysis did show that community factors were positively related to the sound growth of children.


CONCLUSIONS
The covariance structure analysis revealed that community factors were associated with parents' QCNL, SDS, and "child growth."
Department of Preventive and Environmental Medicine, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto, 860-8555, Japan. megumi_aoyama@s7.kcn-tv.ne.jp
Megumi
M
Aoyama
Chang Nian
CN
Wei
Wei
W
Chang-nian
Koichi
K
Harada
Kimiyo
K
Ueda
Miyuki
M
Takano
Atsushi
A
Ueda
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003697:Delphi Technique; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires