Care is important for children's growth and development, but lack or inadequacy of resources for care can constrain appropriate caregiving. The objectives of this study were to examine whether maternal resources for care are associated with care behaviours specifically infant and young child feeding, hygiene, health-seeking, and family care behaviours. The study also examined if some resources for care are more important than others. This study used baseline Alive & Thrive household surveys from Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. Measures of resources for care were maternal education, knowledge, height, nourishment, mental well-being, decision-making autonomy, employment, support in chores, and perceived instrumental support. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of resources for care with child-feeding practices (exclusive breastfeeding, minimum meal frequency, dietary and diversity), hygiene practices (improved drinking water source, improved sanitation, and cleanliness), health-seeking (full immunization), and family care (psychosocial stimulation and availability of adequate caregiver). The models were adjusted for covariates at child, parents, and household levels and accounted for geographic clustering. All measures of resources for care had positive associations with care behaviours; in a few instances, however, the associations between the resources for care and care behaviours were in the negative direction. Improving education, knowledge, nutritional status, mental well-being, autonomy, and social support among mothers would facilitate provision of optimal care for children.

中文翻译：

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孕产妇资源与护理行为的关联因资源和行为而异。


护理对于儿童的成长和发展很重要，但护理资源的缺乏或不足可能会限制适当的护理。本研究的目的是检查母亲的护理资源是否与护理行为（特别是婴幼儿喂养、卫生、寻求健康和家庭护理行为）相关。该研究还检验了某些护理资源是否比其他资源更重要。本研究使用了来自孟加拉国、越南和埃塞俄比亚的 Alive & Thrive 家庭调查基线。护理资源的衡量标准包括孕产妇教育、知识、身高、营养、心理健康、决策自主权、就业、家务支持以及感知的工具性支持。进行了多元回归分析，以检验护理资源与儿童喂养做法（纯母乳喂养、最低进餐频率、饮食和多样性）、卫生习惯（改善饮用水源、改善卫生设施和清洁）、追求健康（全面免疫）和家庭护理（社会心理刺激和足够的护理人员）。这些模型针对儿童、父母和家庭层面的协变量进行了调整，并考虑了地理聚类。所有护理资源指标均与护理行为呈正相关；然而，在少数情况下，护理资源与护理行为之间的关联呈负相关。改善母亲的教育、知识、营养状况、心理健康、自主性和社会支持将有助于为儿童提供最佳护理。