Psychology

Traditionally, a mothers role has been considered to be in the home. When women enter the work force, they do not lose their unique attributes with respect to their nurturing roles nor do they give up the functions and reciprocities of the home. Instead, they have added new functions and dimensions of social participation to their key role as home-makers. Through time, the society has accepted that women not only have the capacity and the potential but also, they have the right to seek and enter the work force if they want to or if economic necessity so requires. This is the case for single mothers with find it imperative to work in order to earn her family a decent life. For single mothers, to provide for their children and for themselves the physiological needs such as food, water, sleep, and safety. Hence, a good quality of life is essential for a single mothers well being. The psychological well-being of over-burden single working mothers may have decreased as they are more prone to depression as compared with mothers with their husband.

This study revolves around the effects of multiply role strains experienced by single mothers and the social support they have to improve the quality of life of single working mothers. As a consequence of mothers performing multiple social roles, they are exposed to many sources of social support. These consist of help or assistance received from others that may promote emotional well0being and facilitate the performance of mothers social roles. These may take form of instrumental aid, information, or emotional sustenance. The objective of this study is to determine the quality of life of single working mothers in pursuit of striking a balance between role strains of work, mothering and leisure activities with the help of available social support. This may determine the significance of role strains and available social support on the quality of life compare the quality of life of mothers who are in different age groups and, identify common role strains of single working mothers and the coping mechanisms most commonly used by them.

METHODOLOGY
This study will simply revolve around life issues of single and working mothers, particularly the roles they perform and the kind of support they are receiving in return. Its focus is on the psycho-social domains of quality of life of single working mother of a certain state. In this effect, the study will be using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF survey questionnaire. Depending on the given time frame, approximately 100 respondents will be asked to participate in this study. Statistical reports are very minimal however, given that the researcher will find any statistics on single working mothers, the number of respondents will vary accordingly. The respondents should be randomly picked and should comprise at least one-half of the population. A qualitative method of research will be done through in-depth interviews using several key-informants from different age groups. A panel discussion would also be helpful to greatly distinguish different themes from different age groups.

In the hopes of providing valid results in this study, a survey that is well tested will be used that shall study the different variables of this study. It will be presented in Likert-scale format. Each part will be focusing on each variable. These variables consist of the social roles of mothers as the independent variables social support as the extraneous variables and, lastly the quality of life of single working mothers as the dependent variable of this study.  The third scale that will focus on social support will be surveyed using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support created by Zimet, Dahlem  Farely (1988). Their direct relationships will be studied using the Social Interactionism by George Mead in 1934. With this theory, the behaviour of single and working mothers can be explained through their perception of their roles as workers, mothers and social beings in general. These perceptions can aid or hinder them in their fulfilment of role expectations.

Data Analysis will be through tables of frequency of answers. Means will be computed to show the group score per item. Furthermore, ranking of domains will be done to show priority or significance in life of single working mothers. Pearsons correlation will be used in analysing variables of the study and the socio-demographic of respondents. In the qualitative research, key themes and patterns of responses will be identified and analyzed a narrative summary of each will be given.

RESULTS
Results of the socio-demographic study of Single working mothers across the state will probably show that most mothers have at least one dependent child, a sole provider, living with only their children, at least a college graduate, and with middle rank gross annual income. Over-all, role strains will be high among single working mothers. The biggest role that mothers have to fulfil with be working apart from taking care of the children and managing the household. However, quality of life of these single mothers will be perceived by them as good while some will rate themselves as having a poor quality of life. These may be accounted for by the amount of social support they receive. Majority will come from the family and friends while others consider their new significant other as their kind of social support.

DISCUSSION
Age plays a factor in a mothers quality of life. Results show that despite their more from the middle adulthood age group will have a good quality of life. Craig (2004) Asserted that time has always been an important aspect of the lives of single working mothers and their children. Parental attention children of single mothers receive are greatly decreased as single mothers are burdened with time pressure and time commitment to both work and their children.  In the study made by Milne (1999), he supports these findings wherein the most serious problem was lack of time to satisfy the demands of both work and domestic life. As much as mothers would like to spend time with their children, work has become a necessity for them. Time in finding balance is seen as a precious commodity that individuals attempt to manage, often competing demand on their time (Condon, 2007). Prioritizing of needs is also essential and these burdens act as a great stressor in a life of a single and working mother. Social support helps alleviate these role strains and psychologically maintains a good way of thinking.