Mothers' parenting stress, depression, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction: The moderating effect of fathers' empathy tendency

Background: The decreased marriage satisfaction has become one of the main reasons for the rising divorce rate. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between mother's parenting stress, mental health, and marriage satisfaction. This study addressed this research gap by examining the direct influence of mothers' parental stress on their marital satisfaction, and the indirect influence of depression and marital conflict. Additionally, we explored the moderating effect of fathers' empathy tendency. Methods: Using a sample of parenting couples in Southwest China (n = 2,979) to conduct a questionnaire survey, a moderated mediation analysis was performed to simultaneously analyze the chain mediation of depression and marital conflict, and the moderating role of fathers" empathy. Results: The mother's childcare pressure was negatively correlated with marital satisfaction (beta = -0.478, p < 0.001). Depression and marital conflict have a chain mediating effect in explaining the relationship between mothers" parenting stress and marital satisfaction (b = -0.064, 95% CI [-0.075, -0.053]). It is important to note that fathers with cognitive empathy can alleviate depression and marital conflict caused by the mothers' parental stress and a decrease in marital satisfaction, while fathers with high empathy can exacerbate these negative effects. Conclusion: The study's findings identify the serious impact of contemporary female parenting pressure on marital satisfaction and confirm the important role of husbands' empathy. Limitations: The scope of the survey is single, the parenting period is not staged, and there may be limitations such as overlapping stressors, which can be corrected in future research.