The Experiences of Employment in Single -Parent Families: Implications for Single Mothers and Their Adolescents
Gillman, Sally A.
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/87786
Description
Title
The Experiences of Employment in Single -Parent Families: Implications for Single Mothers and Their Adolescents
Author(s)
Gillman, Sally A.
Issue Date
2003
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Reed Larson
Department of Study
Human Resources and Family Studies
Discipline
Human Resources and Family Studies
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
Language
eng
Abstract
This study examines the subjective experiences of single-parent, mother-headed families. Ninety-four working single mothers and their adolescents reported on their experiences using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and provided reports of their momentary experience in different contexts when signaled by alarm watches for two 1-week periods. Mothers' experiences of work showed a negative relationship with their experiences of being together with their adolescents' after controlling for their overall experiences. In addition, mothers' experiences of work were negatively related to adolescents' perceptions that their mothers were companionate, leaning on their adolescents for support. However, mothers' experiences of time together with their adolescents was positively related to adolescents' perceptions that mothers were companionate. Mothers' experiences of work appeared unrelated to adolescents' psychological well-being, experiences of school and the experience of time with their mothers in the overall sample. However, variations were revealed in three age different age contexts: pre-adolescents (10--12 years old); middle-adolescents (13--15 years old); and later-adolescents (16--19) years old. In a subset of single mothers who reported being somewhat to very stressed at work, mothers' negative and positive emotions were shown to be transmitted to their adolescents in time sequence analyses. In addition, a bidirectional relationship emerged as adolescents' negative emotions were transmitted to their single mothers. Narrative explanations revealed 3 different coping styles mothers use to dampen their negative emotions from work and keep them from crossing over into their relationships with their adolescents. As a whole, single mothers' experiences of work and experiences of time together with their adolescents were shown to be relatively separate contexts.
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