SINGLE MOTHERS IN ONTARIO - SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL-HEALTH CHARACTERISTICS

Objective: To examine the sociodemographic, physical and mental health characteristics of single mothers in Ontario. Design: Cross-sectional . Setting: Ontario. Participants: Ontario residents aged 15 years or o lder who participated in the Ontario Health Supplement survey conducte d between December 1990 and April 1991; of 9953 eligible participants, 1540 were mothers with at least 1 dependent child (less than 16 years of age). Outcome measures: Prevalence rates of sociodemographic, phys ical and mental health characteristics. Results: Single mothers were s ignificantly more likely than the mothers in 2-parent families to be p oor, to be 25 years of age or less, to have mental health problems (di ssatisfaction with multiple aspects of life, affective disorder ever a nd 1 or more psychiatric disorders in the past year or ever) and to us e mental health services. When compared by income level, poor single m others had a higher prevalence of all mental health outcomes measured; the difference was significant for anxiety disorder in the past year or ever and for 1 or more psychiatric disorders in the past year or ev er. In a logistic regression analysis, single-mother status was found to have the strongest independent effect on predicting mental health m orbidity and utilization of mental health services; the next strongest was low income. Conclusions: Single mothers are more likely to be poo r, to have an affective disorder and to use mental health services tha n mothers in 2-parent families. The risk of mental health problems is especially pronounced among poor single mothers. Further studies are n eeded to determine which aspects of single motherhood, apart from econ omic status, affect mental health outcomes.