Care Work and Mental Health: A Study of Working Mothers in Heterosexual Relationships

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17058/psiunisc.v10i.20085

Keywords:

mental health, women, ender equity

Abstract

Introduction: The overload of care work, historically attributed to women, constitutes a central social phenomenon for understanding gender inequalities and their impacts on women’s mental health. Objectives: In this context, the present study aimed to understand how the overload of care work affects the mental health of working mothers who experience heterosexual relationships, identifying family organization regarding the division of care work, its effects on mental health, and the strategies mobilized to cope with this overload. Method: This is a qualitative and descriptive study conducted with ten women. Data were analyzed using the thematic categorical analysis technique systematized by Laurence Bardin (1977/2016) and organized into six analytical categories: “Women responsible for care work”; “Time poverty”; “Emotional effects of care work”; “Strategies to cope with stress related to care work”; “Loving and maternal dispositif”; and “Suggestions for problem resolution”. Results: The results show that the overload of care work produces significant impacts on women’s mental health, shaped by social and cultural norms that naturalize women’s responsibility for care. Conclusion: The study highlights the need for public policies that promote the equitable distribution of care responsibilities and provide psychological support to women, emphasizing that addressing this overload is fundamental to the promotion of women’s mental health and gender equality.

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Author Biographies

  • Laise Fagundes Pereira, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma - SC/Brazil

    Psychologist, Resident in Mental Health, Psychosocial Care and Rehabilitation.

  • Camila Maffioleti Cavaler, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC), Criciúma - SC/Brasil

    PhD in Psychology from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and Master’s degree in Psychology from the same institution. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC). Researcher affiliated with the Margens Research Center: Ways of Life, Family, and Gender Relations (UFSC) and with the Research Center on Legal Psychology (UFMG). Member of the Working Group on Legal Social Psychology of the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP). Member of the EQUALISAH Project: Men’s Health Qualification Strategy, linked to the Coordination for Men’s Health Care of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, a project developed to train Primary Health Care professionals to work with men in situations of violence. Works in partnership with Brazilian Courts of Justice to train professional facilitators of reflective groups for men who have perpetrated violence. Professor at the University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC), where she mainly teaches courses in Social Psychology, Psychology Applied to Law, and Systemic Clinical Psychology, as well as supervising internships and undergraduate thesis projects. In the field of research, she works on themes related to gender, mononormativity, and violence, with particular emphasis on studies of femicide in the state of Santa Catarina.

  • Giovana Ilka Jacinto Salvaro, University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma – SC/Brazil

    PhD in Human Sciences (2010) and Master’s degree in Psychology (2004) from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). Completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal (2020). Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Southern Santa Catarina (2000). Currently, she is a professor in the undergraduate programs in Psychology and Law, as well as in the graduate programs in Socioeconomic Development and Law, at the University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC). Member of the Brazilian Association of Social Psychology (ABRAPSO). Member of the Working Group entitled Psychology and Gender Studies within the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP). She has experience in the field of Psychology, with an emphasis on Social Psychology, working mainly on the following themes: subjectivities, gender studies and labor relations in urban and rural contexts, women’s human rights, and public policies. She supervises undergraduate research projects, undergraduate theses, master’s dissertations, and doctoral theses.

  • Simone Regina dos Reis Nunes, University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma – SC/Brazil

    Psychologist with a bachelor’s degree from the Lutheran University of Brazil (ULBRA) (2012), with a specialization in Community Management and Mental Health, also from ULBRA, Torres Campus (2014). She works mainly on the following themes: gender; violence; Historical-Critical Social Psychology; Organizational and Work Psychology; and School Psychology. She has practical experience in the field of intrafamilial violence, having participated as a co-author in the project to implement the Women’s Reference Center of Torres, Rio Grande do Sul. She is a member of the World March of Women. She also has practical experience in child clinical practice and psychological assessment. She is an Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of the Psychology Program at ULBRA Torres and holds a Master’s degree in Socioeconomic Development from the University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (UNESC) (2018).

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Published

2026-02-24

Issue

Vol. 10 (2026): Fluxo Contínuo

Section

Artigos de Pesquisa

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How to Cite

Fagundes Pereira, L. ., Maffioleti Cavaler, C., Ilka Jacinto Salvaro, G. ., & Regina dos Reis Nunes, S. . (2026). Care Work and Mental Health: A Study of Working Mothers in Heterosexual Relationships. Psi Unisc, 10. https://doi.org/10.17058/psiunisc.v10i.20085