An increasing number of children care for themselves (self-care) while their parents are employed outside the home. A literature review suggested a connection between child care concerns and employed parents' increased stress, role overload, and lower productivity. This study evaluated the impact of an educational training program for families with children in self-care. Twenty-one rural families with children currently in self-care participated in this study. For most families, having children in self-care had little impact on factors which influence the parents' employment preformance. The treatment lowered the amount of time parents worried about their self-care children, but did not effect telephone use or the confidence level for parents and children. / Graduation date: 1991

Thesis (M.S.)--Long Island University, 1989. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-98).

Thesis (M.A. in human development)--Washington State University, May 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-56).

近几十年来，出国务工在一些国家和地区越来越成为普遍现象。在全球化的影响下，宏观层面的劳动力资本流动影响着出国务工家庭的个人生活。为了了解出国务工家庭儿童的社会心理发展情况，本研究运用社会资本和抗逆力理论，建立生态系统模型，从积极的视角分析四个方面的社会资本对不利环境儿童的社会心理发展的作用。 / 现有研究表明，与完整家庭类型的儿童相比，出国务工家庭儿童的社会心理发展的影响是否具有差异性尚不明确，在不同地区、不同人群有着不同的结果。据此，本研究关注不同情景变项中的环境因素，强调因情境而释放的积极力量而促使儿童产生积极的发展结果。文章提出即使面对父母缺失，出国务工家庭儿童仍然可以通过环境中的保护性因素的积极作用而表现出良好的社会心理发展结果。基于此，研究以社会资本和抗逆力作为考察儿童成长环境的社会和个人所具有的优势资源，讨论不同情境中的社会资本──家庭社会资本、学校社会资本、朋辈社会资本和社区社会资本和个人所具有的抗逆力对儿童社会心理发展的积极作用，并且通过对比分析，验证出国务工家庭的儿童和完整家庭的儿童对于社会资本作用机制和通过抗逆力的作用机制是否对于社会心理发展结果具有差异性。 / 本研究采用后实证主义研究范式，运用定量研究方法，通过横断面问卷调查方法，收集中国吉林省延吉市来自完整家庭与出国务工家庭的儿童社会心理发展情况。运用T-test和结构方程的统计分析方法，进行均值检验、路径分析和多群组比较分析。 / 研究表明，延吉市出国务工的现象较为普遍且以朝鲜族家庭居多。与以往研究一致，本文发现家庭、学校、朋辈和社区社会资本对儿童社会心理的发展具有积极的预测作用，而抗逆力在社会资本与社会心理发展的过程中起到了中介作用。家庭始终是影响儿童发展最为重要的场所；相对于出完整家庭的儿童，延吉市出国务工家庭的儿童在社会资本、抗逆力方面处于弱势地位，并且这些儿童成长的优势资源的欠缺可能是来自于因父母务工而造成的父母缺失的影响，但社会资本的欠缺并未带来两群组的儿童在社会心理发展水平的不同作用机制。据此，我们有理由相信，可以通过社会资本建设和抗逆力的培养，提高出国务工家庭儿童的社会心理发展水平。 / 本研究运用社会资本理论和抗逆力建构社会生态系统模型，从儿童优势视角将社会因素与个人因素相结合，对于分析处境不利儿童具有重要的理论意义。而且，本研究扩展了社会资本在中国情景的适用性。另外，在社会资本理论的指导下，分析出国务工家庭儿童的社会心理发展为相关社会政策的制定、社会服务的开展提供宝贵的指导意见。最后，文章指出未来需要定性研究方法理解出国务工家庭儿童的经历，运用纵贯研究设计进一步探讨社会资本在不同人群和社会情景中的功能。 / In recent decades, workers coming from overseas have become a common phenomenon in some countries and regions. Under the influence of globalization, the flow of labor capital at the macro-economic level is affecting the personal life of the families of those working overseas. In order to understand the psychosocial development of the children who are left behind when one or both parents work abroad, this study employs social capital theory and resilience theory, and builds an ecological system model from a positive perspective to analyze in four dimensions the effects of social capital on the psychosocial development of children in unfavorable environments. / Existing studies show that the significant differences in psychosocial development between children who have a parent or parents working abroad and children in intact families are still ambiguous, and different regions and populations have different situations. This study focuses on the children's environment in different social contexts and emphasizes the positive effects of the social contexts that can enhance the psychosocial development of children. Looking at the situation from such a perspective, this study believes that there are protective factors that can cause children who have one or both parents working abroad to manifest favorable psychosocial development outcomes despite parental absence. Based on this assumption, this thesis regards social capital and resilience as advantageous resources embedded in social contexts and individual ability. It explores the positive influence of family social capital, school social capital, peer social capital and community social capital in different social contexts and the effect of the resilience of individual ability on the psychosocial development of children. Moreover, it tested whether or not the effects of social capital and resilience on the psychosocial development of children were different between children who have a parent or parents working abroad and children who live in intact families. / Adopting the paradigm of post-positivism, the researcher used quantitative research methods and conducted a cross-sectional survey to collect data from Yanji City, Jilin Province, China. This thesis was designed to explore the impacts of social capital and resilience on the psychosocial development of children who have one or both parents working abroad. The data was analyzed using T-test and structural equation modeling methods to test differences in means and to do path analysis and multi-group analysis. / This study found that working abroad is a common practice for Yanji residents, especially for those of Korean ethnicity. In alignment with previous findings, it indicated that family, school, peer and community social capital can positively predict the psychosocial development of children; resilience has a mediating effect on the relationship between social capital and the psychosocial development of children. One of our most important findings is that family plays the dominant role in the development of children. In addition, compared to children living in intact families, children who have one or both parents working abroad are disadvantaged with respect to social capital and resilience, and the deficiency in these resources may arise from the absence of parents who work abroad. Besides the above findings, the multi-group analysis showed that the effects of social capital on resilience and psychosocial development between the two groups are identical. This means it is reasonable to improve the psychosocial development of children through social capital building and resilience motivation regardless of whether or not one or both of their parents work abroad. / In this thesis, the researcher constructed an ecological framework based on social capital and resilience theories in order to combine the positive factors from social contexts and individual ability, which is theoretically meaningful for the study of the development of disadvantaged children. Meanwhile, this study advanced the use of social capital theory in a Chinese context, hence potentially fortifying its universal applicability. In addition, by using the theory of social capital to analyze the psychosocial development of children who are left behind when their parents work abroad, this study has valuable implications for policy making and social service design. The study also informs future research to employ qualitative research methods to understand the experience of those left-behind children and adopt longitudinal designs to examine the functioning of social capital within various populations and socio-cultural contexts. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 欒卉. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-251). / Abstracts also in English. / Luan Hui.

Breastfeeding is the best food source for the nutritional and health needs of young children. However when a mother returns to work, breastfeeding may be discontinued prematurely. The purpose of this study was to study infant feeding practices used by working mothers in Nairobi. Mothers attending clinics at two hospitals, one a private hospital serving higher socioeconomic groups and the other a public hospital represented the low socioeconomic groups, were interviewed. A structured interview was held with 444 mothers (200 from the low socioeconomic group and 244 from the high socioeconomic group) between January 5th and February 11th 2000. All mothers with infants aged 16-48 weeks who were willing to participate were interviewed. The prevalence of breastfeeding at the time of the study was found to be 94.1%. The low socioeconomic group exhibited a higher prevalence of breastfeeding (99%) with a 10% difference between the low and high socioeconomic groups. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 13.3% at three months. Early introduction of other feeding methods was high, with 46.4% of the mothers introducing other feeding methods before one month. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors that were associated with exclusive breastfeeding using two separate models for exclusive breastfeeding at one month and two months. The mode of work (fixed working hours as opposed to shift work) was associated with exclusive breastfeeding for at least month (OR=0.45) and two months (OR=0.39). Insufficient milk and return to work were the main reasons cited for cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. / Multiple linear regression was used to find out whether growth rates differed between feeding methods and types of foods for complementary feeding. Bottle-feeding had a significant negative association (-0.240, p=0.018) with baby weight and a downward trend was evident in baby Z-score for age exhibiting a risk of growth faltering in all infants. The results of this study indicate that the prevalence of breastfeeding in Nairobi Kenya has remained considerably high. Working mothers are still committed to breastfeeding despite the long working hours of separation (mean 46.23 hours). However exclusive breastfeeding is low, recommendations are made for interventions to promote exclusive breastfeeding and policies with strategies to enable working mothers to exclusively breastfeed for at least four months.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2006. / Title from title page screen (viewed on May 30, 2006). Thesis advisor: Cheryl Buehler. Vita Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The twentieth century has witnessed a revolution in the ways in which the social division of labour is organised, and in terms of how waged work and caring for children are reconciled. This study explores family policy from the perspective of its capacity to manage the socio-economic risks emanating from combining the roles of breadwinner and caregiver which many parents are beginning to do in contemporary society. This study is focused on Russia and Sweden, countries which have a large share of their female population in the labour force and an institutionalised public policy directed towards meeting the challenges of childrearing in dual-earner families. In the first empirical stage of the study, I examine the establishment and development of family policies in these countries, and analyse their effects in terms of how they have attempted to reconcile the competing demands of work and family life in recent years, specifically, by focusing on three main components: parental leave regulations, the organisation of early childcare and education, and schemes of financial assistance and support for families with children (including their impact on poverty reduction, with the use of Luxemburg Income Survey data). The next stage, involved the exploration of the normative setting in which employment and parenting are realised. To do this I used survey data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), and its modules on Family and Gender Roles. In the final stage, by conducting in-depth interviews with families in Stockholm and St. Petersburg I was able to examine how decisions about using the available public means of assistance and support are negotiated within households, and which factors, other than public policy, influence such decisions. The results of these three empirical parts are juxtaposed in order to establish the relation between official inputs into family policy and the complex picture of its outcome in the two countries.

The South African White Paper for Social Welfare (1997:58) acknowledges the importance to children of living in a secure and nurturing family. Nevertheless, many families are unable to fulfil their parenting roles as a result of the increasing pressures in society. One of these pressures concerns the employment of parents. There is an increasing tendency for people to relocate to bigger cities where there are more job opportunities. This then results in many children being left in the care of grandparents or other relatives while the biological parents pursue job opportunities in other cities. The aim of this study was to enhance an understanding of children’s experiences of these voluntary parental absences and the factors that contribute to their resilience during this process. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was employed and seven primary school children (10-12 years) from Port Elizabeth participated in semi-structured interviews including drawings. Trustworthiness was ensured and data analysis was conducted by using Tesch’s model (in Creswell, 1998). Four themes were derived from the study: Children’s perception of a family, where the participants defined family according to characteristics of (amongst others) care and love; Children’s experiences of living with a substitute family, where there was a process of detachment from biological parents, attachment to the substitute family and present experiences in the new family; Resilience in children, where the participants revealed their ways of coping; and, lastly, Suggestions from the participants on how other children in the same situation could cope.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the latchkey situation on children's relationships. A literature study on the concept `latchkey' children was conducted and it was established that there are only a few studies conducted on the phenomenon. However, most of the literature consulted established that self-care has a negative and positive impact on children's relationships with the self, their parents, siblings, peers and educators. To confirm the findings from the literature study an empirical study was conducted by means of collecting data from three `latchkey' children, three educators and four parents. The empirical research confirmed the findings of the literature study that a latchkey situation has indeed a negative impact on children's relationships with the self and others. The empirical study did, however, not confirm the positive impact of a latchkey situation on children's relationships with the self, parents, siblings, peers and educators. / Educational Studies / M. Ed (Guidance and Counselling)