A new University of Queensland study indicates that women without children are more prone to seeking mental health support compared to mothers. The research, led by Dr. Chuyao Jin from UQ's School of Public Health, analyzed data from over 6,000 women as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, tracking women born between 1973-1978 from their early 20s to late 40s. The findings have been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
The study revealed an increasing rate of mental health service use among women without children, rising from 7.4 percent in 2007 to 16.5 percent in 2022. Women who were voluntarily without children or experiencing medical infertility had 1.3 times higher odds of seeking mental health support each year than mothers during their child-bearing years. Across all women in the study, mental health service use increased from 6.3 percent in 2007 to 13.5 percent in 2022, with 53.3 percent of the women using services at least once during the study period.
Dr. Jin noted that understanding the health implications of a global decline in fertility rates is increasingly important. In Australia, 16.1 percent of women aged 45-49 were without children in 2021. The study categorized motherhood status into four groups: mothers (84.3 percent), women voluntarily without children (3.8 percent), women experiencing medical infertility (5.6 percent), and women without children due to social infertility (6.3 percent).
While the study reflects an improvement in service access, Dr. Jin emphasized the need to assess whether current mental health services effectively address the specific and diverse needs of women without children. Professor Gita Mishra AO, Centre Director of the Australian Women and Girls’ Health Research Centre, stated that women without children often encounter greater social pressure and potential exclusion. She added that support is available, including access to mental health treatment plans via a GP for up to 10 subsidized treatments annually.