Wisdom, Stress and Well-being: A Correlational Study among Parents of Children Below 18 Years

Abstract

Objectives: Caring for children comes with numerous responsibilities that can elevate stress levels and have a negative impact on parents’ well-being. Therefore, it is essential to identify factors which can buffer against these negative outcomes. The current study aimed to examine the association of wisdom as a protective factor with parental stress and wellbeing among parents with children below 18 years of age. Methods: The study employed a correlational design where Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationship among these variables. A total of 50 parents (27 mothers) from Chandigarh and its nearby cities participated in this study. Participants completed standardized questionnaires measuring their level of self-reported wisdom, parental stress, and mental well-being. Results: The findings showed that though the relationship of wisdom and its sub-components with mental wellbeing was positive, it was not statistically significant. Furthermore, while the correlation of affective, reflective and overall wisdom with parental stress was negative, none reached statistical significance. Notably, affective wisdom demonstrated the strongest negative correlation with parental stress. The negative correlation between parental stress and well-being was also not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study highlights that affective wisdom might be related to lower parental stress though the relationship was not strong enough to be conclusive in the present sample. Future studies with larger samples, different population contexts and longitudinal designs are needed to better capture the protective role of wisdom in parental stress and well-being.