Making motherhood visible: The experience of motherhood questionnaire

Abstract

This study describes a new measure, the Experience of Motherhood Questionnaire, (EMQ) which can be used to identify the level of coping and emotional well-being associated with the experience of motherhood in women with small children. Factor analysis of the questionnaire identified six factors. They were ‘maternal anxiety/concern’, ‘coping with baby’, ‘personal autonomy’, ‘coping/satisfaction widi life’, ‘maternal overload’ and ‘extrinsic support’. There were significant positive correlations between the EMQ and other measures of psychological morbidity, social support, life experiences and difficult toddler temperament, as assessed by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) the Life Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ) and the Toddler Temperament Questionnaire (TTQ). Results suggest that the EMQ is a useful measure of maternal coping which identifies common specific sources of stress underpinning emotional well-being in mothers.