Purpose: The aim of this research was to study the association between the mother-firstborn relationship and second-time mothers' prenatal depressive symptoms before the birth of a second child and the mediation role of parenting burnout on this relationship.
Methods: Empirical study was adopted in this research. Using a convenient sampling method, we recruited 110 second-time mothers who were in their third trimester of pregnancy. Child-parent relationship questionnaire, parenting burnout scale, and Beck Depression Instrument were used to measure the relationship between firstborn and second-time mothers, mothers' parenting burnout, and prenatal depressive symptoms, respectively. Regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship between variables, and the mediation effect was tested using PROCESS.
Results: Regression results showed that the parent-child relationship is negatively associated with second-time mothers' prenatal depressive symptoms. The parent-child relationship is negatively associated with parenting burnout which is positively related to prenatal depressive symptoms. When considering the mediation variable of parenting burnout, the direct effect is not statistically significant.
Conclusions: Parent-child relationship has a significant impact on second-time mothers' prenatal depressive symptoms, and this relationship is mediated by parenting burnout.
Keywords: parent-child relationship; parenting burnout; prenatal depressive symptoms; second-time mother.