The Effects of Social Imposition Perfectionism of Working Mothers on Depression: The Sequential Mediating Effects of Parenting Stress and Self-compassion

Objectives This study aims to verify the sequential mediating effects of parenting stress and self-compassion in the relationship between perfectionism of social expectations regarding employment and depression in parents raising preschool children. Methods To achieve this, a survey was conducted in January 2024 targeting 300 employed mothers with preschool children, utilizing scales on social expectations perfectionism, depression, parenting stress, and self-compassion. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 for descriptive statistics on demographic characteristics of the participants, correlation analysis, and the SPSS PROCESS MACRO 4.0 to verify the simple mediating effects of parenting stress and self-compassion in the relationship between social expectations perfectionism and depression, as well as sequential mediating effects. Results First, socially imposed perfectionism, parenting stress, self-compassion, and depression showed a statistically significant relationship. Second, the mediating effect of parenting stress was effective in the relationship between socially imposed perfectionism and depression. Third, the mediating effect of compassion was effective in the relationship between socially imposed perfectionism and depression. Fourth, the mediating effects of parenting stress and self-compassion were both effective in the effect of socially imposed perfectionism on depression. Conclusions Summarizing the above results, it can be seen that in order to help the psychological health of working mothers raising infants due to stress, identification of the personality characteristics of working mothers, measurement of stress, and self-compassion education are necessary in counseling settings.