Why did COVID-19 not further harm the mental health of poor mothers? A mixed-method study on low-income families in Singapore

OBJECTIVES: This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on a disadvantaged group of financially poor mothers’ mental health conditions in Singapore during the phase of acute COVID-19 infection. DESIGN: A mixed-method design is used. We conducted five focus group discussions with interviewers (n=39) who administered a third wave of survey questionnaire to 424 mothers from low-income families between June and September 2020. The focus group discussions gleaned observations by the interviewers on the risk and stress levels of the mothers during the period leading up to the height of COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, survey data from two time points—pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 pandemic height, measuring the relationship of mother’s job loss, income earner loss, marital status, number of children and, permanency of employment and mother’s hope levels with mother’s depression and anxiety were used to triangulate the observations from the focus group discussions. RESULTS: Majority of the interviewers did not observe any marked increase in stress levels. Correspondingly the quantitative data did not show any significant increase in depression and anxiety scores between wave 2 and 3 results. Qualitative data showed that numerous mothers were able to report different strategies in coping with the financial distress. The government COVID-19 support grants were cited by many as helpful in cushioning the financial stress. Comparing the quantitative measurements, the relationship between loss of income earner and mother’s depression and anxiety was moderated by marital status. In addition, the relationship between mother’s job loss and mother’s depression, as well as loss of income earner and mother’s anxiety, was moderated by mother’s hope. CONCLUSION: We speculate the relatively stable level of mental health state of financially poor mothers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to their internal (psychological traits) resilience which is facilitated by the availability of resources in the social milieu through the COVID-19 support grants.