Predicting infant outcome in families of employed and nonemployed mothers

Marsha Weinraub, Elizabeth Jaeger, Lois Hoffman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Differences in infant outcome, predictor variables, and their relationships were explored as a function of maternal employment. Thirty 18-month-olds and their mothers were studied. Child intelligence, attachment security, and dependency were measured, as well as frequency of stressful events in the mother's life, quality of the parents' marital relationship, frequency of the mother's social contacts, and extent of the mother's emotional and parenting supports. Also included were the mother's ability to cope; satisfaction with emotional, parenting, and child care supports; and role satisfaction. For children of employed mothers, attachment and dependency were negatively correlated; securely attached children showed less dependency behavior. For employed mothers, satisfaction with child care and frequent social contacts predicted secure child attachment. Satisfaction with child care, role satisfaction, and ability to cope were strongly interrelated. For nonemployed mothers, maternal coping predicted attachment security, while frequent social contacts predicted greater child dependency. Predictors of child outcome were highly interrelated for nonemployed mothers, with satisfaction with emotional supports playing a pivotal role. These differences suggest that different models to predict infant outcome in employed and nonemployed mother families may be appropriate.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)361-378
Number of pages18
JournalEarly Childhood Research Quarterly
Volume3
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1988
Externally publishedYes

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