Sharing meals as a protective factor against poor maternal mental health

Background: Sharing meals has been shown to have a protective effect against poor mental health (e.g. lower perceived family functioning, and substance abuse) among adolescents who share meals with their caregivers. This research aims to add to the current literature by studying the association between frequency of sharing meals and self-reported maternal stress.   

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed using data from a subset of female caregiver respondents (n = 65,342) from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), a nationally representative telephone survey of US households with children.  Logistic regression analysis was employed to test the association of frequency of shared meals with the mother’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Mental health was measured via one item related to self-reported mental and emotional health status.

Results: Frequency of shared meals was positively associated with self-reported maternal mental and emotional health (p <.0001). This association varied, however, across races categories, age of the child, and educational attainment of the mother, family structure, and poverty level. In addition, there was a dose-response effect in two of the three analytic models.

Conclusion: Policies and environmental supports that facilitate families sharing meals together could ultimately impact not only the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, but of their caregivers as well. These findings also have clinical implications for those mental health providers serving highly stressed and vulnerable families and can help to inform future therapeutic interventions.