Biopsychosocial determinants of anxiety and depression among working mothers in China: A public mental health perspective

Authors

  • Jia Jiao Mental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9206-7312
  • Rewadee Jenraumjit Mental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Pharmaceutical Care, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4534-8046
  • Shirley Worland Faculty of Health Sciences, University of New England, Armidalea, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3068-9446
  • Saifon Bunyachatakul Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5301-8624
  • Bijing He Longquan Secondary Vocational School, Longquan, China
  • Tinakon Wongpakaran Mental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9062-3468

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52225/narra.v5i3.2754

Keywords:

Mental health, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, working mothers, factors

Abstract

Working mothers often face dual demands from work and parenting, increasing their risk for anxiety and depression. However, the prevalence and contributing factors among Chinese working mothers remain underexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and biopsychosocial determinants of anxiety and depression in this population. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 17 and November 21, 2024 through WeChat online among 330 working mothers aged 30–45 years old using validated instruments, including the Outcome Inventory-21 (OI-21), Parental Stress Scale (PSS), Experiences in Close Relationships-revised (ECR-R-10), Inner Strength-based Inventory (I-SBI), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Sociodemographic, socioeconomic and biological factors, including age, marital status, annual income, and physical disease, were also collected through a self-administered general information questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation, and hierarchical linear regression. This study found the prevalence was 26.1% for anxiety symptoms and 38.2% for depression symptoms in this group based on the screening tools. Anxiety was significantly associated with both biological (e.g., hormonal changes, family psychiatric history) and psychological factors (e.g., attachment anxiety, parental stress). At the same time, depressive symptoms were primarily predicted by psychological and lifestyle-related factors (e.g., smoking, alcohol use). Notably, inner strength was a protective factor across both conditions. The findings highlight the importance of early detection and integrative care strategies for addressing mental health concerns in working mothers. Incorporating psychological screening, lifestyle assessment, and resilience-building interventions into workplace and community-based healthcare services may improve work-family balance outcomes in this population.

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Author Biography

Tinakon Wongpakaran, Mental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

 

Prof.Dr. Tinakon Wongpakaran is a distinguished professor of psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. He studied psychiatry in a residency program at Chiang Mai University. He completed the fellowship program in psycho-therapy at Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada, in 2006.
He also received a diploma from the subspecialty board of geriatric psychiatry in 2019. He is currently the Head of the Psychotherapy and Personality Disorder Clinic for the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, and also the academic director of the international master's program in Mental Health at the Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School, Chiang Mai University.

He provides psychiatric services and psychotherapy, conducts research, and teaches all levels of students, from first-year medical students to postdoctoral fellows. His interests include depres-sive disorders, suicidality, geriatric depression, psychotherapy, personality disorder, psychoso-cial factors related to depression, measurement development, and psychometric testing. He is also interested in adopting positive psychology or positive characters to help mitigate or pre-vent the relapse of depression. He has investigated the inner strengths based on Buddhism and applied them to his clinical practice. He is currently testing a new psychotherapy model called inner-strength-based through Perfections therapy (iSPT), a culturally adapted psychotherapy, focusing on important positive thoughts, emotions, and a high level of wisdom to deal with var-ious types of clinical psychiatric disorders, particularly those comorbid with personality disor-ders to prevent relapse and promote patient well-being.
His current interest involves research, both for patients and students, on early detection of those prone to depression, and providing early intervention before depression develops using apps and social media. His ambitious goal in research is to develop an AI-assisted psychotherapist.

 

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How to Cite

Jiao, J., Jenraumjit, R. ., Worland , S. ., Bunyachatakul , S. ., He, B. ., & Wongpakaran, T. (2025). Biopsychosocial determinants of anxiety and depression among working mothers in China: A public mental health perspective . Narra J, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.52225/narra.v5i3.2754

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Vol. 5 No. 3 (2025): December 2025

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Original Article

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Copyright (c) 2025 Jia Jiao, Rewadee Jenraumjit, Shirley Worland , Saifon Bunyachatakul , Bijing He, Tinakon Wongpakaran

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.