Shift Work, Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Socioemotional Well-Being

Abstract

Many U.S. employees with children work nonstandard hours, yet we know little about the linkages among maternal shift schedules, mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviors, and children's socioemotional outcomes. In a sample of 55 dual-earner families with children age 8 to 14 years and mothers working day versus evening shifts, the authors found that mothers' work schedules are unrelated to their parenting behaviors. However, fathers whose wives work evenings (vs. days) spend more time with children, know more about children's activities, receive more disclosures from children, and have better parenting skills, variables that are inversely associated with children's internalizing, externalizing, and risk-taking behaviors.