Maternal Mental Health in the USA

Mothers face enormous mental health challenges that need to be addressed by counsellors. Women have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress due to environmental, cultural, and biological factors. Findings from a sample of 525 US mothers showed that younger mothers had higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, while mothers with lower incomes showed higher levels of anxiety and depression. Results also indicated that fewer mothers have levels of stress, anxiety, and depression that fall into a normal range than a normal, non-clinical population and that substantially more mothers report extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than normal, non-mother populations. Implications for counsellors include making services accessible to low-income mothers, attending to personal gender bias, and assessing clients for anxiety, depression, and stress.