Clinical Psychology and Special Education
2023. Vol. 12, no. 2, 54–69
doi:10.17759/cpse.2023120203
ISSN: 2304-0394 (online)
The Reflection of the Relation Between Ontological Well-Being and Depression on Paternity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
The study was aimed at investigation of the relationship between ontological well-being sub-factors with depression and anxiety levels of fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. The data in this cross-sectional study was collected via online self-reporting questionnaires from randomly selected fathers (N = 379) whose children’s ages ranged from 6 to 12. The data collection took place between the months of March and May of 2020. Participants completed measures of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Ontological Well-Being Scale (OWBS). The results showed that full mediating effect of depression in the relationship between ontological well-being and anxiety. Findings indicated that the perceived attitude to their paternity had the statistically significant effect on the level of depression and anxiety of the fathers. The study shows that there is direct relevance between anxiety, depression and socio-demographic variables, meanwhile the study also suggests that the socio-demographic variables of fathers and the subscales of activation and hope do not correlate.
General Information
Keywords: COVID-19, paternity, ontological well-being, depression, anxiety
Journal rubric: Anxiety and Depression: Symptoms, Predictors, and Consequences
Article type: scientific article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2023120203
Acknowledgements. Authors would like to thank all the participants who were involved in this study.
Received: 26.01.2023
Accepted:
For citation: Erol E., Aytaç M. The Reflection of the Relation Between Ontological Well-Being and Depression on Paternity During the COVID-19 Pandemic [Elektronnyi resurs]. Klinicheskaia i spetsial'naia psikhologiia = Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2023. Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 54–69. DOI: 10.17759/cpse.2023120203.
Full text
Introduction
Methods
1. Socio-demographic data form. Demographic variables included age, economic status, level of education, fatherhood definition, definition of paternity style, plan and type of birth of their children were questioned with socio-demographic data form.
2. Ontological Well-Being Scale (OWBS). OWBS is a self-report assessment which was developed by Şimşek and Kocayörük [40]. OWBS, also known as “Life Project Scale”, is used to determine subjective well-being in a new concept which contains philosophical, historical, and psychological aspects of the subject. It consists of 24 items grouped as “Past”, “Now” and “Future” which are rated on a 5-point Likert‐type scale. It has four sub-scales namely; “Regret”, “Activation”, “Nothingness”, and “Hope”. The scale has 7 items regarding “Past” which are “When I look at the completed part of my life project…I feel satisfaction, I feel guilty, I feel regret…”. It constitutes “Regret” sub-scale of OWBS. It has 11 items regarding “Present” which are “When I look at present part of my life project… I feel lost, I feel empty, I feel anxious…”. Those ones constitute “Nothingness” sub-scale. Also “When I look at present part of my life project… I feel enthusiastic, I feel energetic, I feel motivated…”. Those ones constitute “Activation” sub-scale. The last 6 items which constitutes “Hope” sub-scale of OWBS represents “Future” of one’s life project “When I look at the future part of my life project…I feel brave, I feel hope, I look forward to it…”.
3. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI is a self-report assessment developed by Beck et al. [8]. It was adopted to Turkish population by Hisli [17]. BDI is used to determine the behavioral pattern specific to depression. It consists of 21 items rated on a 4‐point Likert-scale. Each point of the items increases gradually indicating the severity of a symptom. For example, “I get as much satisfaction out of things as I used to.”, “I feel quite guilty most of the time.”, “I am slightly more irritated now than usual.” It has a single-factor structure and single total score ranging between 0–63. High scores indicate high levels of depression. The Cronbach α value of the BDI for this research was found as 0.80.
4. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). BAI is a self-report assessment which was developed by Beck et al. (1988). It was adopted to Turkish population by Ulusoy et al. [43]. BAI is used to determine the frequency of anxiety symptoms experienced by individuals. It consists of 21 items rated on a 4‐point Likert‐type scale. For example; “Wobbliness in legs”, “Heart pounding / racing”, “Shaky / unstead” etc. It has a single-factor structure and single total score ranging between 0–63. High scores indicate high level of anxiety experienced by the individual. The Cronbach α value of the BAI for this research was found as 0.91.
Results
n |
% |
Valid % |
Cumulative % |
||
Gender of Children |
Girl |
187 |
49.3 |
49.5 |
49.5 |
Boy |
188 |
49.6 |
49.7 |
99.2 |
|
Type of Birth |
C-section |
191 |
50.4 |
50.4 |
50.4 |
Vaginal |
186 |
49.1 |
49.1 |
99.5 |
|
Plan of Birth |
Planned |
214 |
76.7 |
76.7 |
76.7 |
Unplanned |
51 |
18.3 |
18.3 |
95.0 |
|
IVF |
14 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
100.0 |
|
0-1 Age Caregiver |
Other |
20 |
7.2 |
7.2 |
7.2 |
Mother |
224 |
80.3 |
80.3 |
87.5 |
|
Relative |
21 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
95.0 |
|
Nanny |
14 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
100.0 |
|
Age of Playschool |
Age 2 |
11 |
3.9 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
Age 3 |
60 |
21.5 |
22.2 |
26.3 |
|
Age 4 |
81 |
29.0 |
30.0 |
56.3 |
|
Age 5 |
84 |
30.1 |
31.1 |
87.4 |
|
Age 6 |
34 |
12.2 |
12.6 |
100.0 |
|
Definition of Paternity Style |
Anxious |
32 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
Calm |
152 |
40.1 |
40.1 |
48.5 |
|
Panic |
7 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
50.4 |
|
Tolerant |
145 |
38.3 |
38.3 |
88.7 |
|
Angry |
39 |
10.3 |
10.3 |
98.9 |
|
Education of Father |
Preschool |
18 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
High School |
71 |
18.7 |
18.7 |
23.5 |
|
Associate Degree |
19 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
28.5 |
|
Undergraduate |
192 |
50.7 |
50.7 |
79.2 |
|
Post Graduate |
65 |
17.2 |
17.2 |
96.3 |
|
Doctorate |
13 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
99.7 |
|
Economic Status |
Bad |
7 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
Medium |
183 |
48.3 |
48.3 |
50.1 |
|
Good |
174 |
45.9 |
45.9 |
96.0 |
|
Very good |
15 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
100.0 |
Descriptive statistics are shown in Table 2. Çokluk et al. [11] stated that skewness and kurtosis coefficients should be in the range of ± 2 to be able to say that the data did not deviate from the normal distribution.
Mean |
Standard Deviation |
Skewness |
Kurtosis |
|
Age of children |
9.23 |
2.09 |
-0.09 |
-1.26 |
Age of fathers |
43.52 |
6.87 |
0.25 |
-0.16 |
DEP |
21.95 |
11.92 |
-0.04 |
0.29 |
ANX |
22.60 |
12.03 |
0.07 |
0.63 |
REG |
12.18 |
6.35 |
1.40 |
0.76 |
ACT |
11.08 |
4.63 |
1.25 |
0.61 |
NOTH |
13.60 |
7.96 |
1.15 |
-0.31 |
HOPE |
12.30 |
6.41 |
1.30 |
0.56 |
Discussion
Conclusion
References
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