Various questionnaires are completed at four measurement points from pregnancy to 2 years postpartum prolongation into middle childhood planned. In this study protocol, the theoretical background, methods, and preliminary results considering sociodemographic characteristics during pregnancy and birth-related factors at 8 weeks postpartum are presented.
With previous studies neglecting the fathers or partners involved, a major advantage of DREAM is the use of a multi-method and multi-level approach by examining the whole family in a longitudinal design. Therefore, the DREAM study will contribute to a better understanding of the role of social, work, and stress factors for mental and somatic health and its long-term endocrine correlates in the natural course of becoming a family.
Expecting a child marks a transition involving several physiological, psychological, and structural changes for the individual as well as for the couple. This imbalance is aggravated by several cultural reasons e. Short- and long-term consequences of mothers' longer parental leave and not being employed refer to an unbalanced distribution of domestic work and child care Buehler and O'Brien, ; Schober and Zoch, , unequal wages after re-entry in the labor market Davies and Pierre, ; Bryan and Sevilla-Sanz, , and a delay in their professional career which may result in an increasing dependency on the partner and consolidate a gender gap interfering with gender equality Barker and Pawlak, ; Miani and Hoorens, Beyond equality considerations, the impact of paid employment on health has to be considered.
In this context two contrary hypotheses have been suggested: the role strain or scarcity hypothesis postulates that additional roles like being a working woman impair maternal health due to additional daily hassles and demands Goode, Thus, it may be more challenging to care for oneself and for a child and meet its needs. In contrast, the role enhancement hypothesis suggests that women with several roles are healthier because of positive stimulating input in their professional life and better access to resources that help in dealing with these demands Sieber, ; Marks, As a consequence, the mother may have more energy to dedicate herself to family life in her spare time.
In accordance with the latter, there is recent evidence that maternal work participation may have a positive influence on mental and somatic health Klumb and Lampert, ; Buehler and O'Brien, ; Frech and Damaske, ; Cruise et al. Nevertheless, further results suggest a negative in line with the scarcity hypothesis or missing association between maternal work participation and the mother's mental and somatic health Schwab-Reese et al.
