





































Graduate Students Journal of Psychology                                                                                  Copyr


Graduate Student Journal of Psychology                                                                             Copyright 2004 by the Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology  
2004, Vol. 6                                                                                                                          Teachers College, Columbia University                          ISSN 1088-4661 
 
 
 

Factors Predicting Maternal Stress in Mothers with Infants 
 

Hilary Vidair, Jennifer M. Hoag, and Wanda G. Vargas 
Hofstra University 

 
Maternal stress has been linked to psychological well-being and a greater likelihood of poor ad-
justment for both mother and child. Furthermore, higher levels of stress were predicted for mothers 
with a perception of limited partner support and/or low frustration tolerance. Sixty-one mothers of 
infants that were contacted via mail completed the Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB; Kassinove, 
1986), the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1983), and a measure of partner support. A simul-
taneous regression analysis found that limited partner support and low frustration tolerance, when 
taken together, significantly predict maternal stress, although low frustration tolerance accounted 
for most of the variance found in a stepwise prediction method. Thus, these variables should be 
emphasized in cognitive-behavioral interventions aimed at reducing maternal stress in mothers of 
infants. 

 
 

Parenting stress significantly impacts both a child’s 
emotional and behavioral development as well as the par-
ent’s well-being, particularly during the early years, when 
young children spend the majority of time interacting with 
parents at home (Abidin, 1995). Specifically, research has 
shown that maternal stress has been linked to psychological 
health, potential for abuse, and a greater likelihood of poor 
adjustment for both parent and child (Walker, 2002).  Pre-
vious research in the area of parental stress suggests that 
parents with more irrational beliefs and a perception of lim-
ited partner support have higher levels of emotional stress 
(e.g., Joyce, 1995; Ohr, Vidair, Hoag, and Vargas, 2003a; 
Ohr, Vidair, Hoag, and Vargas, 2003b). 

Blount, 1987). Although the relationship between irrational 
beliefs and emotional stress has been studied within many 
types of samples, it has not been widely studied among par-
ents. 

Joyce (1990) proposed that Ellis’ (1962) ABC model 
might be used to understand how a parent’s irrational be-
liefs mediate the relationship between events the parent 
experiences and his or her feelings and behaviors. For ex-
ample, a child’s behavior can be an antecedent (the “A”) or 
activating event for their parent’s negative feelings and 
behaviors, which are called the consequences (the “C”). 
The ABC model emphasizes that the parent’s rational and 
irrational beliefs (the “B”), engender such consequences. 
According to this model, the parent can learn to dispute 
irrational thoughts in order to reduce emotional stress and 
improve their parenting skills, thus benefiting both them-
selves and his or her child. 

Several researchers studying various populations have 
linked irrational beliefs and emotional stress (i.e., Joyce, 
1995; Moller, Rabe, & Nortje, 2001; Stebbins & Pakenham, 
2001; Smith, 1982; Smith, 1983). For example, irrational 
thoughts and stressful emotions have shown to be correlated 
(e.g., ranging from r = .23 to .87) among people ranging 
from those in nonclinical, community samples experiencing 
marital conflict (e.g. Moller, Rabe, & Nortje, 2001), to 
caregivers of traumatic brain injury (Stebbins & Pakenham, 
2001), to those in psychiatric settings (Jacobsen, Tamkin, &  

According to Joyce (1990), Rational Emotive Behavior 
Therapy (REBT) proposes that parents’ irrational beliefs 
concerning both themselves and their parenting skills foster 
self-defeating and inappropriate stressful emotions, which 
can hinder parenting skills such as problem-solving and 
disciplinary strategies, influence negative emotions such as 
anxiety or anger in their child, and ultimately harm the par-
ent-child relationship. Based on these ideas, Joyce (1995) 
studied a variety of irrational beliefs and emotional stress-
ors in 48 parents of school-aged children and developed a 
parenting program aimed at reducing parental stress.  

 
 
 
Hilary B. Vidair, Jennifer M. Hoag, and Wanda G. Vargas, De-
partment of Psychology, Hofstra University. This research was 
supported in part by the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sci-
ences’ Faculty Research and Development Grant for 2003-04. The 
authors would like to acknowledge Phyllis S. Ohr for her contin-
ual assistance in conducting the study and critiquing the manu-
script. We would also like to thank Mary E. Travers and Dawn 
Dugan for their dedication to this study, and John J. Giuffo, Jr. for 
reviewing the final draft of the manuscript. Correspondence con-
cerning this article should be addressed to Hilary B. Vidair, De-
partment of Psychology, Hauser Room 204, Hofstra University, 
Hempstead, New York 11550. E-mail: hilsey79@aol.com. 

Joyce (1995) studied low frustration tolerance, one of 
REBT’s core irrational beliefs.  This belief can be charac-
terized as, “the person’s perceived inability to withstand the 
discomfort of an activating event,” for example, “I can’t 
stand it” (Walen et al., 1992, p. 129). Low frustration toler-
ance is considered an “evaluative belief,” which REBT 
considers to be one of the main beliefs associated with emo-
tional disturbances (p. 127). 

36 



FACTORS PREDICTING MATERNAL STRESS 
 

Joyce (1995) measured low frustration tolerance with a 
version of Berger’s 1993 Beliefs Scale which she had re-
vised, and found that parents reporting more low frustration 
tolerance specifically related to parenting expressed more 
stressful negative emotions, including anxiety, self-
downing, guilt, anger, discomfort, and lower well-being.  

Joyce (1995) then demonstrated that a nine-week ra-
tional-emotive parenting program reduced parents’ irration-
ality as compared to a waitlist control group, with effects 
being strongest for low frustration tolerance irrationality.  
These results were maintained almost identically at a 10-
month follow-up period, lending some support to the theory 
that parents can be taught to reduce low frustration toler-
ance in order to feel less stressed, and, theoretically, im-
prove their parenting ability.  

Ohr, Vidair, Hoag, and Vargas (2003a) sought to fur-
ther establish a link between irrational beliefs and maternal 
stress in mothers of young children, as measured by The 
Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB: Kassinove, 1986) and the 
Parent Domain of the Parenting Stress Inventory (PSI; 
Abidin, 1986), respectively. As other measures of irrational 
beliefs may have been confounded with emotional stress, 
the SPB was utilized (e.g. Smith, 1982; Chang & Bridewell, 
1998). For example, irrational statements have included an 
affective word on some questionnaires claiming to only 
measure irrational beliefs (Demaria, Kassinove, & Dill, 
1989). The SPB avoids this issue by focusing items on cog-
nitions rather than emotions. 

In Ohr et al.’s (2003a) study, mothers were contacted 
via mail using a mailing list of recent births in a Northeast-
ern suburb of a major metropolitan area. Correlational 
analysis of data from 23 mothers with young children (new-
born to three-years-old) indicated that mothers who en-
gaged in low frustration tolerance had higher levels of ma-
ternal stress (r =-.58, p <.01). Therefore, these results lend 
support to Joyce’s (1995) findings that low frustration tol-
erance was related to more maternal stress. 

Ohr et al. (2003a) also assessed the relationship be-
tween mothers’ perception of spousal support regarding 
childrearing and maternal spousal stress related to per-
ceived dysfunction in the relationship. Higher levels of ma-
ternal spousal stress were related to maternal perception of 
limited partner support for how mothers deal with the chil-
dren (r = -.61, p = .01). 

In a similar study with a larger sample of 50 mothers, 
Vidair, Travers, Hoag, Vargas & Ohr (2003) also found that 
a mother reporting a high level of spousal stress perceived 
her partners as being less supportive of her parenting (r = -
.60, p = < .001). In terms of maternal spousal stress and 
mothers’ perception of limited partner support regarding 
parenting, it seems that mothers unhappy in their current 
relationships are feeling a lack of partner support in the 
raising of their children. It remains a question whether or 
not this lack of support predicts an overall level of maternal 
stress. Mulson, Caldera, Pursley, Reifman & Huston (2002) 
noted that further research needs to assess the relationship 
between parenting stress and mothers’ perception of partner 

support beyond intimacy.  To the authors’ knowledge, no 
other information currently exists concerning the relation-
ship between mothers’ perception of partner support spe-
cifically regarding childrearing and maternal stress. Assess-
ing this connection may later assist clinicians in knowing 
what to address during cognitive-behavioral, stress-
reduction interventions. 

Ohr, Vidair, Hoag, & Vargas (2003b) sought to extend 
research concerning irrational beliefs by determining 
which, if any, of the following variables would predict ma-
ternal stress: partner support (defined by maternal percep-
tion of degree of partner support regarding child rearing 
practices), involvement (defined by maternal perception of 
degree of partner daily involvement with children in the 
home), low frustration tolerance, and awfulizing, which is 
“a way of exaggerating the negative consequences of a 
situation to an extreme degree, so that an unfortunate occur-
rence becomes ‘terrible’” (Walen et al., 1992, p. 18).  The 
dependent variable was an overall measure of maternal 
stress. Fifty mothers were utilized and the methodology 
followed Ohr et al.’s prior study (2003a). A regression 
analysis using a stepwise prediction method revealed that 
mothers’ perception of limited partner support predicted 
25.3% of the variance in maternal stress, with a statistically 
significant incremental change of .089 when low frustration 
tolerance was added to the model. Thus, 34.2% of the vari-
ance in maternal stress was accounted for by these two 
variables, when taken together.  Therefore, mothers’ per-
ception of her partner’s support and low frustration toler-
ance significantly predicted self-reported maternal stress, 
yet perception of partner involvement and awfulizing did 
not add significantly to this prediction.  However, the 
measure of support in this study reflects the perception of 
the mother, and may or may not accurately reflect what 
may be objectively determined through observation.  This 
does suggest, however, that perhaps regardless of the actual 
degree of support, it is the mother’s perception of it that is 
related to her perceived level of stress.  In addition, these 
results lend some support to Joyce’s (1995) findings that 
low frustration tolerance is an important factor in parental 
stress. Outliers in Ohr et al’s (2003b) study, however, were 
not eliminated, suggesting that the accuracy of the percent-
age of variance accounted for may have been inaccurate. 
 

The Current Study 
 

Following cognitive-behavioral theory, it is plausible 
that the way parents think about certain events in their lives 
influences the way they feel. Irrational beliefs and various 
types of emotional stress have previously been somewhat 
correlated, although work has been very limited among 
parents, especially those of young children. When a child is 
first born, and he or she is very dependent on the mother, it 
follows that stress has a large impact on mother and infant 
functioning, as well as on dyadic interactions (Ohr et al., 
2003b). If low frustration tolerance and/or mothers’ percep-

37 



VIDAIR, HOAG, & VARGAS 
 

Measures tion of limited partner support regarding parenting predicts 
maternal stress in mothers of infants, this would lend sup-
port for a cognitive-behavioral intervention aiming to re-
frame this type of thinking, thus reducing parental stress. 
Furthermore, if mothers’ perception of limited partner sup-
port regarding parenting significantly predicted maternal 
stress, partner involvement in intervention may also con-
tribute to a beneficial outcome. In order to create an effec-
tive intervention for mothers experiencing stress, however, 
we must determine if these variables contribute to such 
negative feelings.   

 
Partner Support. Mothers’ perception of partner sup-

port regarding childrearing practices was assessed with the 
following question: "How supportive is your partner regard-
ing the way you deal with the children (e.g., the type of 
discipline you use)?" Mothers responded on a 5-point 
Likert scale ranging from “much below average” to “much 
above average.” 

Irrational Beliefs. The low frustration tolerance sub-
scale on the Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB; Demaria et 
al., 1989; Kassinove, 1986) was completed to obtain a self-
report of low frustration tolerance, one of Ellis’ (1962) core 
irrational beliefs. The PBS contains 50 self-report items on 
a 6-point Likert scale, compartmentalized into five catego-
ries, one of which is low frustration tolerance.  There are 10 
items on this scale.  For example, one low frustration toler-
ance item stated, “There are some things that I just can’t 
stand.”  Possible responses ranged from agree to disagree. 
Lower scores indicated a higher level of irrationality. 
Chang and Bridewell (1998) found a coefficient alpha of 
.80 for the total scale of irrational beliefs.  As in their study, 
this irrational beliefs scale was utilized as opposed to others 
available because the items focus on cognitions rather than 
emotions. By avoiding emotionally-loaded words, this 
measure reduces the possibility of an overlap between the 
level of irrational beliefs and emotional stress.  

This study sought to assess if mothers’ low frustration 
tolerance and perception of limited partner support signifi-
cantly predict an overall level of maternal stress. A review 
of the literature indicates that an assessment of these two 
variables together has been limited, and has not evaluated 
these variables in relation to mothers of infants at all. If 
these factors predict maternal stress over and above others, 
they could become the focus of a cognitive-behavioral, 
stress-reduction intervention for mothers of infants. 
 

Method 
 
Participants 
 

Participants were contacted via mail using a mailing 
list of 700 mothers with recent births in a Northeastern sub-
urb of a major metropolitan area. Surveys were sent out 
along with an introductory letter stating the purpose of the 
research as well as benefits received from participating. 
These advantages included contributing to scientific knowl-
edge in the area of parent-child relationships, a chance to 
enter a raffle for a $100 gift certificate to Toys-‘R-US, a 
chance to receive a free parenting packet with parenting 
tips, and the opportunity to receive a free stress manage-
ment intervention. Seventy-five mothers responded, but 
only sixty-one mothers completed all of the questionnaires 
necessary for the statistical analyses. In terms of demo-
graphics, all mothers did not contribute data for every vari-
able. First, the mean age of the mothers was 32.8 years-old 
(SD = 5.35, n = 59). Second, the infants of these mothers 
ranged in age from seven weeks to 15 months old, and they 
were the only child in 45.9% of the cases (n = 61). As for 
how many siblings the others had, 42.6% had one, 6.6% 
had two, and 4.9% had three. Thirty-one of these infants 
were female, whereas 26 were male. Furthermore, 78.7% of 
the sample identified as Caucasian, whereas 6.6% were 
Latino, 4.9% were Asian, 3.3% were African-American, 
1.6% fit into a category of other, and 4.9% did not fill out 
this information. In addition, 63.9% of 59 mothers reported 
being married and 52.5% of 60 mothers reported that they 
work. 

Parenting Stress. The Parent Domain section of the 
Parenting Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1983) was completed 
by mothers to obtain a self-report of level of overall mater-
nal stress. This 54-item scale is composed of the following 
seven subscales: depression, attachment, role restriction, 
competence, isolation, spouse, and health. A 5-point Likert 
scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree was utilized 
for most of the statements, and participants were instructed 
to choose a response that best represented their opinion.  
For example, an item assessing competence stated, “I feel 
capable and on top of things when I am caring for my 
child.” In the area of role restriction, one item stated, “I find 
myself giving up more of my life to meet my children’s 
need than I ever expected.” If they had more than one child, 
they were told to base their answers on the child they were 
most concerned about. A few of the statements had four or 
five multiple-choice answers. For example, in the health 
section, one item stated, “Since I’ve had my child, A) I 
have been sick a great deal, B) I haven’t felt as good, C) I 
haven’t noticed any change in my health, D) I have been 
healthier.” Higher scores indicated a higher level of mater-
nal stress in that area. The total score, which is a composite 
of these subscales, was utilized. The reliability coefficient 
for the PSI’s total parent domain was .93 when adminis-
tered 1 to 3 months after the baseline, lending some support 
for the consistency of these scores over time (Abidin, 
1995). 

 
 

  
  

38 



FACTORS PREDICTING MATERNAL STRESS 
 

Results respectively).  Theses were based on the data of 59 partici-
pants.  

Results of simultaneous regression analysis indicated 
that the two predictor variables were found to account for 
23.6% of the variance predicted for in maternal stress. The 
stepwise regression analysis revealed that low frustration 
tolerance predicted 17.1% of the variance in maternal 
stress, with a statistically significant incremental change of 
.065 when mothers’ perception of partner support was 
added to the model. Therefore, low frustration tolerance 
appears to be more important than mothers’ perception of 
limited partner support in predicting maternal stress in 
mothers of infants, yet both are important factors. Betas and 
values of significance can be seen in Table 2. 

A simultaneous regression analysis was performed to 
determine which variables of interest would predict an 
overall level of maternal stress. The predictor variables 
were mothers’ perception of partner support and low frus-
tration tolerance. The dependent variable was an overall 
measure of maternal stress. Descriptive statistics for the 
variables are presented in Table 1. 

The scatterplots of residuals were examined to deter-
mine if the assumptions of multiple regression were met. 
The assumption of homoscedasticity was found to be ques-
tionable for partner support.  Regarding the assumption of 
linearity, a pattern of linearity was demonstrated when ma-
ternal stress was regressed on each of the predictor vari-
ables.  To determine whether the presence of outliers  

 
Table 2 
Stepwise Prediction Method of Partner Support and Low 
Frustration Tolerance Predicting Maternal Stress  

might have undue influence on the results, inspection of the 
casewise diagnostics indicated that there were two cases 
that were extreme on the criterion variable. An analysis of 
Cook’s Distance indicated that these cases were exerting 
undue influence. Specifically, one case had an extremely 
high maternal stress score on the Parent Domain, whereas 
the other case had an extremely low score on this scale. 
Thus, these two cases were excluded in the analyses.     

 
Measure       B     R               R2                 P             

 
1. LFT 

    
-1.487 

      
.171              .171             .001 

2. LFT -1.442    
+ Partner 
Support -7.206 .236              .065             .033 

The zero-order correlation among the two predictor 
variables, low frustration tolerance and partner support, was 
almost nonexistent (r = .05, p = .712). Low frustration tol-
erance and partner support were both moderately correlated 
with the criterion (r = -.41, p = .001 and r = -.28, p= .035  

 
Note.  LFT (Low Frustration Tolerance); PSI (Parenting Stress 
Inventory). ). Mothers’ perception of partner support, , low frustra-
tion tolerance, and maternal stress were assessed. 
n = 58 for the regression analysis, as some mothers neglected to 
fill out all the information necessary.    

  
Table 1 Discussion Descriptive Analysis    The results of the current study confirm Ohr, Vidair, 

Hoag, and Vargas’ (2003b) findings that both mothers’ per-
ception of limited partner support and low frustration toler-
ance significantly predict an overall level of self-reported 
maternal stress in mothers of infants. Most of the variance 
found in maternal stress, however, was accounted for by 
mothers’ low frustration tolerance, such as thoughts that 
situations are unworkable and intolerable. Joyce’s (1995) 
research showed that low frustration tolerance specifically 
related to parenting was moderately related to parental 
stress. The results of the current study advance her findings 
by demonstrating that even a tendency to have low frustra-
tion tolerance related to general situations at home, work, 
and other life events (not just related to parenting) signifi-
cantly predict maternal stress. As Ellis (1962, 1995) theo-
rized, engaging in irrational beliefs seem to result in emo-
tional and behavioral consequences (e.g. Joyce, 1990; 
Walen, DiGiuseppe, & Dryden, 1992; Abrams & Ellis, 
1994; Gerbode & Moore, 1994; Chang & Bridewell, 1998).  

       M     SD  Minimum Maximum 
 

Partner 
Support a    4.10     .86   2.00     5.00 

Low 
Frustration 
Tolerance b 

 31.88   6.78 
19.00   49.00 

Parent  
Domain c 123.80 24.38 73.00 183.00 

 
Notes. N=59 
a Mothers’ perception of partner support regarding childrearing 
(i.e. discipline) was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale ranging 
from 1=  much below average to 5=very much above average. 
b Low frustration tolerance is another subscale on the Survey of 
Personal Beliefs (SPB). The subscale contains 10 items, with each 
item scored a 6-point Likert Scale. Scores could range from 10 to 
60. Lower scores indicate greater irrationality. 

c The Parenting Domain of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) was 
completed by mothers to obtain a self-report of overall and spe-
cific parenting stress. This 54-item scale is composed of seven 
subscales. The Scores could range from 54-269. Higher scores 
indicate greater overall stress. 
 

Joyce (1995) found a relationship between low frustra-
tion tolerance and parenting stress in parents of school-age 
children. This study looked at mothers of infants, indicating 
that low frustration tolerance is a factor for these mothers as 

39 



VIDAIR, HOAG, & VARGAS 
 

well. Perhaps we can teach mothers of infants to reframe 
their beliefs of low frustration tolerance, thus reducing par-
enting stress, as Joyce (1995) demonstrated for parents of 
school-age children, and ultimately improve parenting 
skills. 

Mothers’ perception of limited partner support regard-
ing childrearing also influences the level of maternal stress 
for mothers of infants. Bonds, Gondoli, Sturge-Apple, and 
Salem (2002) found that parenting stress mediates the rela-
tionship between perceiving some type of support for ma-
ternal parenting strategies and optimal parenting. Bonds et 
al. suggest that community-parenting interventions could 
increase such perceptions, either by providing informational 
and emotional support or by facilitating group connections. 
Perhaps increasing mothers’ perception of partner support 
regarding childrearing would also reduce maternal stress, 
which theoretically, would improve parenting. 

This study only examined a limited number of factors 
that could possibly contribute to maternal stress. Although 
many factors are probably responsible for such stress, it was 
not within the scope of this study to address every possibil-
ity. Future studies should be implemented to try replicating 
and expanding the findings of this study, as well as to ad-
dress the following limitations. First, is important to note 
that the measure of partner support in this study reflects the 
perception of the mother and may not accurately reflect 
what would be objectively determined through observation 
(Ohr et al., 1993b, Vidair et al., 2003). The findings do 
suggest, however, that regardless of the actual degree of 
partner support, it is the mother’s perception of this support 
that is related to her perceived level of stress. Nevertheless, 
future research should include direct observations assessing 
parent-child interactions, as all variables in this study were 
based on self-report measures.  

Another important issue is the way that partner support 
was assessed. The question asked for mothers to rate their 
perception of their partners’ support regarding the way she 
handles the children. A potential problem with this is that 
each mother may define the variable of partner support dif-
ferently. In addition, the measure does not differentiate be-
tween quality and quantity of partner support she perceives 
or whether or not she is satisfied with this amount or type of 
support.  Future studies should utilize a clearly defined 
measure of partner support that assesses all of these vari-
ables. Moreover, studying general partner supportiveness in 
addition to studying partner support related to child rearing 
may be beneficial.  

Issues concerning the distribution of scores on the 
questionnaires utilized also exist. For example, the partner 
support scores were skewed, as the majority of mothers felt 
that their partner’s level of supportiveness was either 
somewhat or much above average. Second, the mean score 
on the Parent Domain of the PSI in this sample (M = 
122.78, SD = 23.28) was almost identical to the normative 
mean for the Parent Domain in the standardized sample (M 
= 123.1, SD = 24.4), indicating that this sample of mothers 
did not appear very stressed. Perhaps the low response rate 

found in this study is because stressed mothers did not need 
the added stress of completing and returning the surveys.  

A variety of factors may have contributed to our low 
response rate. For example, mothers may have had stressors 
that prevented them from completing the surveys, such as 
problems with mental or medical health. Moreover, infant 
medical problems may be a factor contributing to the low 
response rate. In addition, perhaps cultural variables may 
have influenced who volunteered to participate, as our sam-
ple was mostly Caucasian. These variables should be taken 
into consideration in future studies addressing maternal 
stress. A different method of recruitment may be necessary, 
as a study utilizing a more distributive sample would be 
beneficial in order to make stronger conclusions concerning 
a stress-reduction intervention. 

Furthermore, while the overall stress score was used as 
the dependent measure, the Parent Domain is a composite 
of subdomains of stress. It may be good to explore predic-
tive relations among stress subdomains, perceived partner 
support, and low frustration tolerance to get a more com-
plex idea of their interactions. Future studies may also want 
to focus on more clinical areas of psychopathology, such as 
maternal depression, anxiety, and anger in order to deter-
mine predictive factors in those areas. 

Nevertheless, as beliefs about low frustration tolerance 
and limited partner support significantly predict maternal 
stress, a cognitive-behavioral intervention program focused 
on reframing dysfunctional thinking may be beneficial.  
Much evidence has supported cognitive-behavioral therapy 
as a successful strategy in the reduction of emotional stress 
(e.g., Smith, 1982; Smith, 1983; Joyce, 1990; Joyce, 1995; 
Clark, 1998). Theoretically, this decrease in stress would 
influence a better mother-child relationship. 

Intervening with the mother, however, is only part of 
what seems to be needed for stress reduction in mothers 
with young children. Mothers’ perception of partner sup-
port, regardless of the objective level of support given, sug-
gests that the partner may be a critical component of any 
intervention program (Ohr et al., 2003b, Vidair et al., 
2003). Intervening with the mother may have implications 
for reducing stress in the short-term, but including the part-
ner may result in maximal long-term gains regarding the 
psychological and physical well-being of mothers, their 
partner, and their infants. 
  

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