Changes in the Child-Rearing Environment and Their Effect on Child-Rearing Anxiety

The child-rearing environment has drastically changed over the past fifty years. Many factors associated with the changes in the environment have resulted in heightened child-rearing anxiety among mothers. For example, advancement of industries, urbanization, and expansion of the information society have led to a change in family structure. Nuclear families that consist of only a few members have been replacing traditional extended families. In addition, close ties to neighbors in the community are extremely decreasing. Under such conditions, many women have no experience of playing with small children until they become mothers. Feeling a great deal of perplexity and anxiety in child rearing, many mothers cannot find anyone they can consult with nearby and they have a sense of isolation. It is an important goal to foster a support system for child rearing in which mothers can enjoy taking care of their children without isolating from a society. For this purpose, it is necessary to construct a community-based system according to the current social conditions, and child-rearing environment to support mothers in their fight against child-rearing anxiety.