The Wellbeing of Working Mothers before and after a COVID-19 Lockdown

Background: This is the third article from a project on the wellbeing of staff, students, and parents at a Welsh-medium Secondary School. It focuses on the wellbeing of working mothers before COVID-19 lockdown, immediately after lockdown, and perceptions of the longer-term impact of the pandemic. The research used the wellbeing process model, which examines predictors of positive and negative wellbeing outcomes.

Aims: The study had three aims. First, to examine whether the wellbeing process model can be applied to working mothers. Secondly, to investigate the addition of new variables to the model. Finally, to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and identify predictors of post-lockdown wellbeing.

Methodology: The research was carried out with the informed consent of the volunteers (N=202; mean age = 42.7 years, standard deviation (sd) = 8.5) and the approval of the School of Psychology, Cardiff University, ethics committee. An online survey was conducted, and regressions were carried out to investigate associations between the predictor variables and the wellbeing outcomes. Predictors of post-lockdown wellbeing were also investigated.

Results: The pre-COVID results generally agreed with the predictions of the wellbeing model. Positive wellbeing was associated with job resources, social support, psychological capital and healthy lifestyle. It was negatively associated with negative coping and daytime sleepiness. Negative wellbeing was associated with job demands, negative coping, daytime sleepiness and finding stressful situations threatening. It was negatively associated with social support, a healthy lifestyle and stable personality. Positive wellbeing after the lockdown was associated with job resources and stable personality. It was negatively associated with social isolation and negative wellbeing. Social isolation was associated with the negative effect of the pandemic on longer-term wellbeing, and a healthy lifestyle was negatively associated with this variable.

Conclusion: The results confirmed that the wellbeing process model applies to Welsh working mothers. Lockdown during COVID-19 affected wellbeing, with the stress of isolation being the most significant influence.