46 research outputs found
Working it out: balancing work and care after the birth of a first child
No full textWomen in contemporary western economies have more options and more pressures to combine work with family responsibilities in the early years of motherhood. This chapter examines how these options are exercised as women make decisions about re-entry to the workforce following the birth of their first child. We present an analysis of data from a cohort of Australian women. The data were tracked longitudinally from pregnancy until their first child was 18 months old to identify patterns of approach and salient factors of influence as they negotiate the dual challenges of re-entry to the workforce and finding acceptable childcare. Mothers’ work intentions were mapped against actual return behaviour with return assessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after the birth of their child. Early returns were associated with jobs that offered less provision for maternity leave and availability of familiar trustworthy childcare. All mothers had high satisfaction levels with motherhood and their mothering role. However, working and non-working mothers rated the costs and benefits of maternal employment differently. Working mothers were more likely to see maternal employment as increasingly beneficial and less costly across the first 18 months of their child’s life. Each generation of parents faces different challenges in finding the balance between work and care. In this contemporary sample of mothers, the majority returned to work and adapted to the new reality of work options, which were somewhat different from their pre-parenthood ideals
Adapting to the work-life interface : the influence of individual differences, work and family on well-being, mental health and work engagement
No full textBronfenbrenner.s Bioecological Model, expressed as the developmental equation, D f PPCT, is the theoretical framework for two studies that bring together diverse strands of psychology to study the work-life interface of working adults. Occupational and organizational psychology is focused on the demands and resources of work and family, without emphasising the individual in detail. Health and personality psychology examine the individual but without emphasis on the individual.s work and family roles. The current research used Bronfenbrenner.s theoretical framework to combine individual differences, work and family to understand how these factors influence the working adult.s psychological functioning. Competent development has been defined as high well-being (measured as life satisfaction and psychological well-being) and high work engagement (as work vigour, work dedication and absorption in work) and as the absence of mental illness (as depression, anxiety and stress) and the absence of burnout (as emotional exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy). Study 1 and 2 were linked, with Study 1 as a cross-sectional survey and Study 2, a prospective panel study that followed on from the data used in Study1. Participants were recruited from a university and from a large public hospital to take part in a 3-wave, online study where they completed identical surveys at 3-4 month intervals (N = 470 at Time 1 and N = 198 at Time 3). In Study 1, hierarchical multiple regressions were used to assess the effects of individual differences (Block 1, e.g. dispositional optimism, coping self-efficacy, perceived control of time, humour), work and family variables (Block 2, e.g. affective commitment, skill discretion, work hours, children, marital status, family demands) and the work-life interface (Block 3, e.g. direction and quality of spillover between roles, work-life balance) on the outcomes. There were a mosaic of predictors of the outcomes with a group of seven that were the most frequent significant predictors and which represented the individual (dispositional optimism and coping self-efficacy), the workplace (skill discretion, affective commitment and job autonomy) and the work-life interface (negative work-to-family spillover and negative family-to-work spillover). Interestingly, gender and working hours were not important predictors. The effects of job social support, generally and for work-life issues, perceived control of time and egalitarian gender roles on the outcomes were mediated by negative work-to-family spillover, particularly for emotional exhaustion. Further, the effect of negative spillover on depression, anxiety and work engagement was moderated by the individual.s personal and workplace resources. Study 2 modelled the longitudinal relationships between the group of the seven most frequent predictors and the outcomes. Using a set of non-nested models, the relative influences of concurrent functioning, stability and change over time were assessed. The modelling began with models at Time 1, which formed the basis for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to establish the underlying relationships between the variables and calculate the composite variables for the longitudinal models. The CFAs were well fitting with few modifications to ensure good fit. However, using burnout and work engagement together required additional analyses to resolve poor fit, with one factor (representing a continuum from burnout to work engagement) being the only acceptable solution. Five different longitudinal models were investigated as the Well-Being, Mental Distress, Well-Being-Mental Health, Work Engagement and Integrated models using differing combinations of the outcomes. The best fitting model for each was a reciprocal model that was trimmed of trivial paths. The strongest paths were the synchronous correlations and the paths within variables over time. The reciprocal paths were more variable with weak to mild effects. There was evidence of gain and loss spirals between the variables over time, with a slight net gain in resources that may provide the mechanism for the accumulation of psychological advantage over a lifetime. The longitudinal models also showed that there are leverage points at which personal, psychological and managerial interventions can be targeted to bolster the individual and provide supportive workplace conditions that also minimise negative spillover. Bronfenbrenner.s developmental equation has been a useful framework for the current research, showing the importance of the person as central to the individual.s experience of the work-life interface. By taking control of their own life, the individual can craft a life path that is most suited to their own needs. Competent developmental outcomes were most likely where the person was optimistic and had high self-efficacy, worked in a job that they were attached to and which allowed them to use their talents and without too much negative spillover between their work and family domains. In this way, individuals had greater well-being, better mental health and greater work engagement at any one time and across time
Age and Experience: A Comparison of Work and Family Demands Across the Lifespan
No full textThis chapter explores the effects of work and family roles amongst employed Australian women employees, who varied by age (young to adult) and presence (or not) of children. The women were employed mostly in full-time, permanent jobs, although a third of mothers of the youngest children had part-time positions. Despite the differences in working hours, the women reported similar working conditions and levels of satisfaction with their jobs and family lives. Work-life balance was also similar for the women, even for busy mothers of young children, who had more negative family-to-work spillover, and busy mothers of primary school-aged children, who had higher levels of negative work-to-family spillover. For the latter, this may reflect the challenges of returning to full-time working hours whilst caring for children who were not yet independent. Surprisingly, the higher occupational role salience of younger women without children was associated with more emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Mothers of adult children showed the most robust, positive outcomes, with greater work engagement and less burnout than women without children, than mothers of primary school children, and less negative spillover between roles. Whilst younger children made mothers busier and increased negative spillover, mothers of older children benefited from their experiences and had gained competence and engagement in work in later life
Reflections and Insights on an Innovative Australian Perpetrator Intervention Program for Males and Females who Perpetrate Family Violence
No full textThis article presents qualitative reflections and insights from an evaluative research project on an innovative Australian program for male and female perpetrators of family violence. The study was guided by the Effects, Mechanisms, Moderators, Implementation, and Economic value (EMMIE) framework, with thematic analysis undertaken on the interviews of male and female perpetrators (N = 7), program facilitators (N = 6), and family members (N = 3). Potential gendered differences identified in the lived experience of male and female perpetrators were, first, the level of emotional expression and communication and, second, the level of self-reflection and insight. Despite these potential differences, both male and female perpetrators experienced the implementation of change to attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors relating to family violence as challenging.No Full Tex
Reframing Work-Life Interface Stressors as Challenges
No full textWhile our first book in this trilogy on resilience, resourcefulness, coping and recovery is focused more on the positivist outlook on life’s challenges, and the third book walks us through the heavy going of surviving trauma, this book focuses more on the 'know how', intra and inter psychically, about particular events that occur in life and how and why individuals react to them in different ways. Whether it is about internal resources, knowing how to tap into external resources, or how we determine that we are on the right path in life, this book examines interesting ideas and studies in the field of coping and survival. [Book Synopsis
Mastery or Misery: Conflict Between Separated Parents a Psychological Burden for Children
No full textThis qualitative research examined parenting, parental conflict, and parent–child relationships following separation in the context of Australian government reform in 2006 and subsequent changes to the Family Law Act (1975). Participants were English-speaking men and women, age 16 to 27 years. The research was guided by attachment theory and social conflict theory, and embedded in grounded theory. The Cooperative Competitive Parental Conflict model emerged from the data. Two factors moderated the parent–child relationship: emotional security and responsive parenting. The research found it was not parental conflict, but how parental conflict was handled, that created the psychological burden for a child
Can a childcare practicum encourage degree qualified staff to enter the childcare workforce?
No full textConcern to ensure that all children have access to high-quality educational experiences in the early years of life has instigated policies to increase the qualifications of staff in the childcare workforce, and in particular, to increase the number of degree qualified teachers. However, existing data suggests that employment in childcare is viewed less favourably than alternatives in the education sector by those undertaking Early Childhood Education degrees. For most, childcare is not a preferred place of employment. This study asked whether a practicum in a childcare setting would improve attitudes towards childcare and willingness to work in childcare settings. In a study of a cohort of Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) students, measures of attitudes to childcare and willingness to work in childcare were taken before and after practicum. Additionally, students provided accounts of their practicum experiences. Results indicate a trend in which there was a group increase in positive attitudes and willingness to consider work in childcare, but considerable individual differences influenced by the quality of the practicum experience. The relationship with, and model provided by, centre directors and group leaders in the practicum class was identified as a key influencing factor. Results are discussed in term of models of pedagogical leadership
Introduction: key issues on women who work
No full textThe concept of gender can be very prescriptive in outlining the pathways of a person’s life and can influence the distribution of roles that they occupy, through gender role stereotypes and societal expectations. More recent research about women and their work and family roles has shown that gender is a more fluid and dynamic construct than one based on reproductive ability or identity. The resources that women have available to them impact on their well-being in all facets of their lives and influence the balance that can be achieved between work and non-work activities. This volume explores women’s experiences in many diverse settings and economic situations, as they negotiate between work and non-work activities. The chapters include refugee women in Jordon and mid-level executives in Bangladesh, women employed part-time and as academics in the UK, women executives experiencing the ‘glass cliff’, and explore work-life balance and the challenges for mothers of very young children and adolescents. Finally, the effects of physiology on working women are explored through menstruation and menopause. In each chapter, women have shown agency in shaping their own lives and are resourceful in how they manage the challenges that they face
Mothers and fathers’ experiences of high conflict past two years post separation: A systematic review of the qualitative literature
No full textWithin a child custody context, this article systematically reviewed the available qualitative research of post separation, high conflict, co-parenting relationships. Separated parents’ experiences of high conflict were reportedly embedded in pervasive mistrust and disdain, and underpinned by concerns over differing parenting styles, or the other parent’s ability to adequately care for the child. The factors that potentially maintained conflict were parental concerns regarding the child’s safety and well-being when in the care of the other parent. The factor that potentially escalated conflict was disdain directed at the other parent’s concerns. Recommendations for future research and implications for social policy for these families are discussed.No Full Tex
A Child’s Hidden Struggles: Self-Efficacy and Painful Feelings in the Years following Parental Separation
No full textThe current study examined the influence of post-separation co-parental conflict on participants’ self-efficacy and current distress, through the Cooperative-Competitive Parental Conflict Model. Participants were a community sample of 77 people who experienced parental separation as a child. Cooperative co-parenting was positively associated with good fathering, good mothering, and negatively associated with blaming father/mother for the separation, loss, and abandonment, and seeing life through the separation. Low self-efficacy, blaming mother, and acceptance of the separation predicted participant’s current distress. The findings highlight the impact of post-separation co-parental conflict on children’s self-efficacy and current distress.No Full Tex
