Employee Parenting Energy Correlations of Working Mothers: Perceived Social Support, Job Stress, and Perceived Discrimination

Introduction: Working mothers try to maximize their correlation time with their children and experience different situations compared to housewives. In this regard, the present study aims to investigate the role of perceived social support, job stress, and perceived discrimination in predicting parenting energy of working mothers. Methods: The present descriptive and correlational study was conducted on all mothers working in private offices in District 3 of Tehran in 2020. Convenience sampling method was used to select 110 working mothers. Data collection tools included the Perceived Parenting Energy Scale (PEFPS), the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (PSS), the Health and Safety Management Standards Index (HSE), and the Revised Personal Related Discrimination Scale (PRDS).  Data analysis was performed by SPSS software version 24 using Pearson correlation and multiple regression, simultaneously. Results: The results showed that the components of perceived support and job stress have a positive and significant correlation with perceived parenting energy (p<0.05). In contrast, personal-related discrimination had a significant negative correlation with perceived parenting energy (p<0.05). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that perceived social support, job stress, and perceived discrimination predict 78% of the parenting energy of working mothers. Conclusion: Perceived social support, job stress, and perceived discrimination have a significant impact on the parenting energy of working women. Due to the significant role of mothers in raising their children, it is necessary to identify factors affecting women's employment relationships in their work environment to take measures to increase their parenting energy.