Predictors of well-being in a sample of urban Lebanese working mothers -

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in working mothers and the factors that constitute their present-day challenges. Contemporary studies in Lebanon have focused increasingly on working women, the factors that influence women’s employment choices, and women’s empowerment; yet few studies have investigated how Lebanese mothers appraise their psychological well-being amid shifting societal norms and poor economic circumstances, which compel women to bear multiple roles amid persisting gender-based cultural role expectations. In Lebanon, working mothers are also often unassisted by a migrating husband. In view of these factors, the current study examined the self-reported psychological well-being of urban Lebanese working mothers, and tested for the effect of the predictors, parental self-efficacy, coparenting, work-family conflict, social support, maternal age, husband emigration status, number of children, and employment hours on the well-being of Lebanese women. A sample of 102 women participated in this study. Mothers were provided with an online survey battery consisting of an informed consent form and six questionnaires. Results showed that parental self-efficacy and social support were significant positive predictors of maternal well-being. Primary limitations included low statistical power and a non-representative, non-generalizable sample of Lebanese working mothers. Interpretation of empirical findings, limitations, and future directions and implications were further discussed.