Context may explain why dads are happier and less stressed than moms

September 23, 2019

Science Daily/Penn State

Dads are often happier, less stressed and less tired than moms when taking care of kids, and researchers say these differences may come down to how and when childcare activities are split between parents.

In a study led by Penn State, researchers looked at childcare through the lens of a "care context." Going beyond measuring how much time mothers and fathers spend taking care of their children, the researchers also looked at the type of childcare activity, when and where it took place, who was present, and how much care was involved.

Cadhla McDonnell, a doctoral candidate in sociology and demography at Penn State, said the results suggest that while fathers in general are much more involved in their children's lives now than in the past, parenting is still highly gendered.

"There are many types of activities that can be considered childcare, but some are more strenuous or less enjoyable than others," McDonnell said. "A family trip to the playground is going to affect someone differently than changing diapers in the middle of the night, for example. In our study, we tried to capture those variations and see if they're related to the differences we see between mothers' and fathers' moods."

According to the researchers, previous work has shown that mothers tend to be more tired, stressed and unhappy than fathers during caregiving. But sociodemographic characteristics alone could not explain some of these differences. The researchers were curious about whether taking a closer look at how childcare activities were divided between parents could help explain discrepancies between parents' moods.

The researchers used data from the American Time Use Survey collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data included information about 4,486 childcare activities, as well as who performed the activity and that person's corresponding mood.

Additionally, the researchers analyzed each activity through the care context, which included five dimensions. The first was "activity type," and included physical (basic needs like eating and sleeping), recreational (like play and sports), educational (helping with homework or meeting with teachers), and managerial (planning doctor visits or transporting children).

The remaining dimensions included when and where the activity took place, who was present during the activity, and how much time the activity took.

The researchers found that fathers' childcare activities were more likely to be recreational and take place on the weekend, while mothers' activities were more likely to involve an infant and fit into the category of "solo parenting," that is, parenting without a partner present.

Also, the researchers found that taking the context of childcare activities into account fully explained differences in mother and father happiness, and partially explained differences in stress. It did not explain differences in tiredness.

McDonnell said the study -- recently published in the Journal of Family Issues -- suggests that moms are generally more tired and stressed than dads, and that they also are doing more childcare activities that tend to produce more stress and less happiness. But it is still not clear why these differences exist.

"Our findings show that some aspects of parenting are more enjoyable than others and that the way childcare is distributed between mothers and fathers right now brings more emotional rewards for dads than for moms," McDonnell said. "But it's impossible to say from our data whether this is the result of personal choices or whether it's a reaction to outside forces like job demands."

Additionally, the researchers found that despite their differences, one thing that remained consistent between mothers and fathers was how meaningful they found childcare.

"Traditionally caregiving has been seen as more central to women's identities than it is to men's, and that would suggest that mothers might find caring for their children more meaningful than fathers do," McDonnell said. "But that's not the case -- mothers and fathers both found caring for children highly meaningful and there is no difference by gender."

McDonnell said that in the future, additional research could focus on how gendered caregiving may have additional impacts on parents' well being.

"We know from other research that parents tend to have lower life satisfaction than non-parents, and this is especially true for women," McDonnell said. "An interesting question could be how that's related to gendered caregiving. Why do mothers seem to take on childcare in contexts that are less emotionally rewarding? For couples, how can they share caregiving in a way that is equally rewarding for both partners? These are all important questions."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190923155026.htm

Kids' sleep may suffer from moms' tight work schedules

October 15, 2018

Science Daily/Penn State

After studying the sleep habits of children from ages five to nine, researchers found that when mothers reported less flexibility in their work schedules, their children got less sleep. When they gained flexibility in their work schedules, their children slept more.

However, this link diminished when the researchers accounted for whether the children were given regular bedtime routines, suggesting consistent bedtimes may be the key to offsetting damage done by tight work schedules.

Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State, said the results give clues into how and why a parent's work schedule may affect their children's sleep.

"We've seen this link between inflexible work schedules and children's sleep patterns before, but we didn't know why it was happening," Buxton said. "Our results suggest that maybe it's about children not having a regular bedtime routine if their mother is working an inflexible job. We know positive routines especially are very important for positive child growth, so sleep may suffer if it's not there."

The researchers said the findings -- recently published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies -- also suggest that it could be helpful for employers to create policies that give employees more flexibility, both for the health of the employees and their children.

Soomi Lee, now an assistant professor at University of South Florida, who led the paper while a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State, said employers could begin by considering how to change both the structural and cultural practices that may hinder flexibility.

"If workplaces could improve employees' flexibility and control over when and where they work, that could be helpful," Lee said. "They could offer diverse flexible work options for employees, especially for working mothers, such as flextime, telecommuting, or job-sharing with another employee."

Buxton said the study gives parents with inflexible work schedules a way to possibly help their kids get more sleep.

"If parents can be there for their kids on a regular basis, and help them by having a regular bedtime routine, all of that's very beneficial for their long-term growth and development," Buxton said. "Children can be a delight to watch go to sleep. Perhaps you could start with a bath, then brushing teeth and reading books to create this sort of calm, together time as a family."

The researchers used data from 1,040 mothers and their children for the study. When the children were five and nine years old, their mothers were asked questions about how flexible they felt their jobs were. For example, if their "work schedule had enough flexibility to handle family needs."

At each time point, the mothers were also asked if their child had a regular bedtime, if their child had difficulty getting to sleep, and how many hours a night their child usually slept.

Buxton said it was important to measure how flexible the mothers thought their job schedules were, because some employers say their positions are flexible, but only ways that benefit the employer.

"Many adults, especially low-socioeconomic status workers who are single moms, are clock punching," Buxton said. "In many of these positions, people may be called in at the last minute, or sent home early after planning to be at work for a full day. Or, if they punch in five minutes late, they could get written up. These rigid environments are very flexible from the employer's perspective, but not at all useful to the employee."

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that overall, less workplace flexibility was associated with shorter child sleep time. An increase in workplace flexibility from when a mother's child was five to when he or she was nine was associated with children sticking to their bedtimes better and a 44 percent lower chance of the child having trouble getting to sleep.

Lee said that in addition to having implications for workplace practices, the findings also suggest ways healthcare workers can help families.

"Previous research has shown that early bedtime practices can have long-term influences on individual sleep," Lee said. "Clinicians and practitioners could consider speaking with working mothers about how to improve their children's bedtime routines. Future research could also continue to identify other modifiable factors linking parents' work and child sleep, so we can intervene to promote sleep health from childhood and to reduce future sleep health disparities."

Buxton and colleagues are continuing this research to the next study, in the transition to young adulthood, how sleep health trajectories may contribute to the emergence and persistence of modifiable disparities in sleep and well-being.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181015105448.htm