Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Mental health among single mothers in Cyprus: a cross -sectional descriptive correlational 
study  
 
Version: 1 Date: 25 Jan 2019  
 
Reviewer: Mhairi Campbell  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Thank you for the opportunity to review this paper, which I read with interest. Overall, the paper 
is clear and well written. The paper may benefit from stronger emphasis in the discussion and 
conclusion on what the findings contribute to advancing the lit erature on lone parents. Below are 
one major and some minor comments that may help to strengthen the paper.  
 
Major  
Line 118 There should be further details about how participants were recruited through 
snowballing.It is important to report information abo ut the process and whether this was within a 
particular group of women, e.g. older, higher educated, so the sample would provide interesting 
results for those sections of the population, but may not be a true reflection of the single mother 
population in C yprus.  
 
Minor  
Line 149 For readers not familiar with the rationale for different cut scores for the GHQ -28, a 
further sentence on how the 5/6 cut/score was selected would be helpful.  
Line 210 The introduction cites a reference saying lone mothers are mo re likely to be younger. In 
this sample, with mean age of 39 years and ¾ divorced, the sample does not seem to be 
particularly young, as discussed (Line 342). Perhaps the discussion should note that this study is 
not about young single mothers, who might h ave differing issues/needs to this sample?  
Line 264 The strong association between mental distress and single mothers in the lowest income 
category is important and perhaps could be emphasised more in the discussion - better financial 
support is required  for those on low income.  
Line 278 Possibly the finding about higher levels of distress among those who had more recently 
become single could be referred to again in the discussion. This could be tied in to literature 
about stress of divorce or separation , which is in general stressful for most people, however, 
parents without social support may find it more difficult to cope with their circumstances, and 
this may be made more difficult if they are a parent with sole custody of their child/ren (i.e. 
single  mothers). This would suggest interventions offering support or building resilience might 
be of benefit to this group of people. (this is merely a suggestion)  
Line 326 It would be helpful to provide more information about the benefits of using the GHQ -
28, the added benefit of using this measure rather than the measures used in previous studies.  
Line 330 A sentence to explain why this study did not use one of the measures used in other 
countries that would have enabled comparison of results, would be help ful. 
Line 380 'This could be mainly attributed to increased personal and family demands as well as 
child -related and work -related burdens' - what are the 'increased person and family demands' for 
single mothers with higher educational attainment? Is there  additional burden for this group of 
people in addition to burdens related to children and work?  
Line 403 This paragraph on employment discusses important findings which, along with findings 
relating to mental distress and lowest income, may be important issues to discuss and highlight 
the need for increased financial and social support for individuals in these circumstances.  
Line 488 Currently, the first sentence of the conclusion seems to repeat what is stated in the 
introduction, that a larger proport ion of single mothers experience poor mental health.  
There are a few cases of incorrect grammar or typos that require correction, e.g. Line 50 
'voluntary' probably should be 'voluntarily'.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comm ents to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
  
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical r eview?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares  in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you recei ved reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare I have no competing interests  
 
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