DREAM - Dresden Study on Parenting, Work and Mental Health

Table of contents

1. 1. DREAM 
      1. DREAMHAIR
      2. DREAMTALK
      3. DREAMCORONA
   2. Media reports (German)
   3. Study leader
   4. Study team
      1. Scientists
      2. Cooperation partners
      3. Further team members

DREAM 

The compatibility of family and paid employment poses a great challenge for many parents. This interrelationship may be influenced by several structural and cultural factors, such as the German tax system, parental allowance, and the availability of day care. Moreover, these factors may influence the role distribution between mother and father. Increasingly precarious working conditions and professional commuting may represent additional burdensome factors. However, the role of paid employment and working conditions regarding mental and somatic health of young parents has hardly been researched in Germany.

Hence, the aim of our study “DREAM” (Dresden Study on Parenting, Work, and Mental Health) is to explore the prospective relationship between parenthood, work, and health of the whole family and to identify corresponding potential associations. Expectant mothers and/or their partners residing in the area of Dresden, Germany, can join this study. Covering a period of approximately 5 years, the participants are surveyed on work participation and conditions, housework and childcare, relationship satisfaction as well as health-related factors. The first questionnaire is completed during pregnancy, the following ones eight weeks, 14 months, 2 years, 3 years, and 4.5 years after childbirth.

Additionally, in several sub-studies we will explore and try to understand the relations of psychological, social, and biological aspects of well-being. For this purpose, we will gather physical factors in some families using hair samples (sub-study “DREAM_HAIR”). Further, some couples will be interviewed regarding their role distribution in personal interviews (sub-study “DREAM_TALK”).

We are still happy to welcome new participants.
If you are interested in joining the study, please send us an e-mail or give us a call 0351 458 18939 to get further information and/or the study materials.

News about publications, lotteries, and other activities of the DREAM team can be found on our Facebook page or on twitter @GN_ResearchLab.

In addition to our published study protocol, you will find further publications on Public Mental Health here.

DREAM_HAIR

In our sub-study DREAM_HAIR, we are interested in how the body’s stress hormone system responds to the specific challenges during pregnancy and the time after birth. Further, we are interested in the consequences this may have for the well-being of all family members. Hair analysis represents an innovative method to measure long‑term stress hormone release (e.g., cortisol). Cortisol is an essential endogenous stress hormone enabling us to adapt to stressful situations. Hair retains cortisol, which only grows out slowly. Initial studies indicate this process already takes place in the womb. In other words, maternal stress load will probably be reflected in the baby’s hair cortisol even before the baby is exposed to external influences.

The aim of DREAM_HAIR is to analyze how high the concentration of various stress hormones is in the hair of mother, father, and child at the first four DREAM measurement points and which external factors have an influence on this concentration. In the future, this could make it possible to objectify family stress factors and derive preventive measures that are specifically adapted to the needs of young families.

DREAM_TALK

In our qualitative sub-study DREAM_TALK, we are interviewing mothers and their partners at the end of the regular parental leave. Topics include their attitudes and thoughts about equality, their satisfaction with the partnership and distribution of tasks, as well as their health. Different family models are compared: egalitarian couples who divide housework, childcare, and employment equally; traditional couples where women invest significantly more time in household, childcare, and less in employment than their partners; and two intermediate groups. A particular focus lies on egalitarian couples, as they represent a minority. We wish to identify success factors for such a partnership – i.e., how couples manage to divide their tasks housework, childcare, and gainful employment equally. In addition, we will determine whether certain family models result in higher satisfaction of families and whether others may cause stress or even be harmful to health.

With the knowledge generated through DREAM_TALK, family policy actions can be improved in order to support parents more adequately in the future.

DREAM_CORONA

In the spring of 2020 two more sub-studies (DREAM_{CORONA und} DREAM_CORONA-TALK) were developed to address the corona pandemic and its impact on personal experiences, health and relationships within the family, facing i. e. isolation or shutdowns in schools and kindergarten. Two questionnaires were handed out within a five months timeframe. In July 2020 1,056 people participated (61,2% mothers).
Seven participants futhermore attended an interview on possible changes in distributions of tasks as a reaction to the corona pandemic. 

Media reports (German)

• Insights into our first study results: Report of august 2020
• Interview with study leader Prof. Dr. Garthus-Niegel - 20.03.2020: "MDR aktuell"
• Report in the "Sächsische Zeitung" - 19.03.2018: "Zwischen Baby und Büro"
• Report in the DFG magazine - 14.03.2018: "Arbeit und Familie"

Study leader

Study team

Scientists

Cooperation partners

Further team members