The influence of partners on parental stress of neglectful mothers

This study aims to test the existence of a specific pattern of maternal perception of partners' participation: that is mothers in neglectful families perceive their partners as (1) less satisfying as a marital partner, (2) more violent, (3) less supporting, and (4) having a less positive relationship with the target child than mothers in low-educated, low socioeconomic but non-maltreating families. The study also aims to estimate the link between this pattern of maternal perception of partners' participation and the level of parental stress of the mothers. The total sample is composed of 48 two-parent families with a target child aged 0–6 years old. Half of the families received treatment by the child protection services for child neglect and the other half were non-maltreating families paired with the neglectful families on sociodemographic variables. The data partially support the first hypothesis: compared to men in non-maltreating families, men in neglectful families are perceived by the mothers as being less adequate marital partners, less supportive and more violent.