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Mothers' Work Schedule Inflexibility and Children's Behavior Problems.

ABSTRACT: Flexibility in work schedules is key to helping parents with young children balance work and caregiving responsibilities. Prior research shows that work schedule inflexibility is associated with greater parenting stress and work-family conflict. Through these negative implications for parental wellbeing, work schedule inflexibility may also adversely influence children's socioemotional development. This study uses data from an urban, birth-cohort sample of children born to predominantly unmarried parents, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, to test the hypothesis that mothers' perceived work schedule inflexibility is associated with children's behavior problems at age 5. Results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that mothers' high work schedule inflexibility was associated with more externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in their children, relative to experiencing low inflexibility. These associations were partially mediated by mothers' parenting stress and depressive symptoms, and for externalizing behaviors only, these associations were concentrated among single-mother and low-income families.

SUBMITTER: Pilarz AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9119633 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mothers' Work Schedule Inflexibility and Children's Behavior Problems.

Pilarz Alejandra Ros AR

Journal of family issues 20200724 6

Flexibility in work schedules is key to helping parents with young children balance work and caregiving responsibilities. Prior research shows that work schedule inflexibility is associated with greater parenting stress and work-family conflict. Through these negative implications for parental wellbeing, work schedule inflexibility may also adversely influence children's socioemotional development. This study uses data from an urban, birth-cohort sample of children born to predominantly unmarrie ...[more]

PMID: 35600098

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Project description:Young maternal age at birth has been consistently recognized as a factor contributing to externalizing behavior. However, estimates of the magnitude of this association across existing studies are inconsistent. Such inconsistencies cloud the interpretation of the literature and highlight the need for a systematic synthesis of existing empirical evidence. Further, the roles of possible moderators in the association remain to be revealed. Moderation analyses will enhance the field's capacity to evaluate needs and locate a subgroup of children born to teen mothers with particularly heightened vulnerabilities. To address these gaps, the present study had two primary aims. First, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the magnitude of the association between being born to young mothers and children's externalizing behavior across existing studies. Second, moderation meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate whether the influence of being born to teen mothers on children's externalizing behavior is stronger during specific developmental periods, for a specific gender, for a specific race, or across contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates at a societal level. The current study followed the PRISMA guidelines. The search utilized multiple electronic databases including Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE through July 2019. Standardized mean difference, Cohen's d, was used as a summary estimate of effect size. A random-effects model was conducted. Moderating effects were evaluated. Twenty-one effect sizes from 18 independent samples (n = 133,585) were included in the meta-analysis. The main meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis suggested a small yet robust association between teenage motherhood and children's externalizing behavior problems. The relevant moderation analyses detected no statistically significant moderating effect for a specific gender, for racial and ethnic minority groups, during a specific developmental period, or across varying contexts. The current meta-analysis findings suggest that the impact of young maternal age on children's externalizing behavior is small, yet independent. Further, such impacts of young maternal age were similar for girls and boys, in different racial and ethnic groups, across developmental periods, and across different contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates. Prevention efforts seeking to curb the emergence of youth's externalizing behavior should focus on parenting teens, regardless of their child's gender, race, age, or contexts. Further, the current findings suggest that prevention strategies for this specific group may benefit from a hybrid approach that combines universal, selective, and indicated prevention strategies.

Project description:Maternal insightfulness or the capacity to see things from the child's point of view, is considered to be a crucial construct for therapeutic change. In the present study, we aimed to implement the knowledge gleaned from the studies on attachment theory and maternal insightfulness into clinical practice to create an intervention program for mothers of children-at-risk due to inadequate parental care. We used drama therapy to "practice" maternal insightfulness in more "experiential" ways, because the use of creative expressive means may be accessible and effective for the target population of the study and help improve maternal care. We used a manualized 10-week drama therapy-group intervention, focusing on the core concepts of maternal insightfulness: insightfulness, separateness, complexity, and acceptance. We used various dramatic means to explore and experience these components of maternal insightfulness. Forty mothers of children-at-risk took part in eight groups of parental insightfulness drama therapy (PIDT). To evaluate the efficacy of the intervention, we used the Insightfulness Assessment (IA) interview, which produces 10 scales and a final classification of PI and non-PI. The Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) was used to evaluate a change in children's behavior problems. The assessment took place at three time points: before the intervention (T1), right after the end of the intervention (T2), and 6 months following the intervention (T3). Results at T2 showed a significant improvement compared to T1 in some of the maternal insightfulness scales, but not in the maternal insightfulness categorical classification. At T3, there was a significant change in the classification of the mothers, from non-insightful to positively insightful. At T3, there was also a significant decline in the children's externalized and general behavioral problems. The results of this study contribute to an evidence-based practice of using drama therapy in the treatment of mothers and children at risk.

Dataset Information

Mothers' Work Schedule Inflexibility and Children's Behavior Problems.

Publications

Mothers' Work Schedule Inflexibility and Children's Behavior Problems.

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