Comparison of Coping Strategies and Psychological Hardiness in Matriarchs and Married Mothers under the Auspices of Supportive Institutions.

Corresponding Author:
Ferasat Ahmadi,
Student of Psychiatric Nursing,
Student Research Committee,
School of Nursing and Midwifery,
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: hadismast@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Matriarchs are considered as high-risk populations in any society. Understanding the dimensions of psychological hardiness and coping strategies used by individuals can help to better manage mothers' behaviours. The current study aimed at comparing the coping strategies and psychological hardiness between matriarchs and married mothers.

METHODS

The current descriptive-comparative study was conducted on 208 married mothers and matriarchs under the auspices of supportive institutions in Sanandaj City, Iran, from 2017 to 2018. The mothers who participated in this study were selected through simple random sampling. Data was collected by the Billings & Moos coping response inventory and the Lang & Goulet psychological hardiness scale. Data was analysed with SPSS Version 25.

RESULTS

The results of the current study showed that matriarchs and married mothers had no difference in problem-oriented and emotion-oriented coping strategies (p>0.05). There was a significant difference between psychological hardiness and its two components, control and commitment (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In general, matriarchs have higher degrees of hardiness than ordinary mothers. This suggests that the occurred situation and retaining the responsibility of children increase the psychological hardiness in matriarchs. In addition, the role of being a mother is more important than the wifehood role or re-marriage.

KEY WORDS

Coping Strategies, Psychological Hardiness, Matriarchs