Perceived Social Support and Parenting Beliefs in Japan: A Person-Oriented Approach

Japanese mothers (N = 116) of preschool children (ages 5-6) responded to a questionnaire concerning their satisfaction with social support provided by husband, own mother, relatives, and friends; memories of childhood parental support; and parenting beliefs (role conception and self-efficacy). Using cluster analysis, three subgroups of mothers with different patterns of perceived social support were identified. All-supported mothers (n = 44) were satisfied with past and current support received from all. Mother-supported subgroup (n = 53) was satisfied with own mother‟s support, but were less satisfied with husband and friends support. Friend-supported mothers (n = 19) reported negative childhood relationship with parents and were dissatisfied with support from kinfolk. Interview quotes are presented to illustrate the findings.