The Relationship between Maternal Self-Efficacy and Attitudes towards Childbearing Incentives and Associated Factors

Women's self-efficacy makes them feel better about motherhood and improve general health. Incentives for having children are one of the basic solutions for correcting population decline. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between maternal self-efficacy and attitude towards childbearing incentives and associated factors.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 women between the ages of 18 and 40 who referred to health and treatment centers of Babol University of Medical Sciences from 2020 to 2022. Data were collected using questionnaires of socio-demographic and fertility characteristics, attitudes towards childbearing incentives and maternal self-efficacy. Childbearing incentives questionnaire included 15 items with a range of scores from 15 to 75 and maternal self-efficacy questionnaire included 9 items with a range of scores from 9 to 45.

The mean age of women was 30.99±5.42 years. The mean number of desired children was 2.20±1.02 and the mean time of the first desired child after marriage was 2.96±1.89 months. The mean score of childbearing incentives was 50.45±15.36 and the mean score of maternal self-efficacy was 31.47±5.72. The results of the multiple linear regression test, after adjusting other variables, indicate the presence of a significant positive association between the attitude towards childbearing incentives and the age of marriage (β=0.177, p=0.001), the desired number of children (β=0.179, p=0.001), and the time of the first desired child after marriage (β=0.116, p=0.029) and there was a significant negative association with the duration of marriage (β=-0.329, p=0.023).

The result of the study showed that childbearing incentives have a positive role on mothers' attitudes toward childbearing. It is suggested that these incentives be considered in the design of programs to increase childbearing.