work-family conflict, parenting and quality...

CRICOS Provider No 00025B uq.edu.auuq.edu.au

WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT, PARENTING

AND QUALITY OF LIFE

A Study Exploring Differences betweenHealthy and Chronically Ill Children

and their Parents

uq.edu.auuq.edu.auCRICOS Provider No 00025B

Antonia Kish, Divna Haslam & Peter Newcombe

School of PsychologyThe University of Queensland, Australia


STUDY AIMSExamine levels of:

• Work-family conflict (WFC)• Dysfunctional parenting• Child & parent Quality of Life (QoL)between samples of parents & children where the child has a chronic illness compared to samples of parents & children where the child has no illness (healthy controls).


WHY CHILD CHRONIC ILLNESS?• Prevalent in both Australian & Canadian children

• Australia: 2 in 5 (1.5 million)1

• Canada: ~ 500 0002

1ABS (2009), 2Canadian Institute of Child Health (2000), 3Shaw & Tanamas (2012), 4

Catanzariti et al. (2009), 5 Public Health Agency of Canada (2011), 6DIAMOND Project Group (2006), 8Robertson et al. (2004) 9

Australia: 10% of children, highest in

5 - 9 year olds1

Canada: at least 13%3

Australia: > 5,700, rate rising4

Canada: 26,000 (1-19 years), highest

rate in world5,6

Australia: 23% of 6-7 year olds; 16% of 13-14 year olds8

Canada: 12 to 25%9


CHILD

• Physical, psychological, social & educational consequences1

• Quality of Life (QoL)2

PARENTS/CAREGIVERS

• Work/ career3 & financial costs4,5

• Parenting 6• Wellbeing/QoL7

SOCIETY

• Economy – costs of health services8

• Governments, local communities9

• Workplaces & businesses9

1Bakiet al. (2004), Chavira et al . (2004), Albano et al. (2003), Van Ameringen et al. (2003),2Shaw & Páez (2002) Peterson et al (2003), 3George et al. (2008a; 2008b) 4 Newacheck & Kim (2005) 5 Emerson (2003), 6Hatzmann, et al. (2008); Brehaut et al. (2009), 8Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (2014), 9Willcox (2014)


PARENT EMPLOYMENT• Increase in number of dual-

earning families

– 58% in 2013; 40% in 1980s1

– 69% in 2014; 36% in 19762

• More women in the workplace3

– Australia: 40% in 1979 ➣53% in 20044

– Canada: 39% in 1976 ➣~73% in 20095

• High intensity lifestyle1Canstar Research (2013), 2Uppal, 2015, 3de Vaus (2009), 4ABS (2005), 5Statistics Canada (2010), 6Craig & Mullan (2013)


Craig & Mullan (2013)

PAID WORK

DOMESTICWORK CHILDCARE

TOTALWORK

DADS Australia 7.48 1.74 1.28 10.51

USA 7.43 1.70 1.32 10.46

Italy 7.68 0.69 1.04 9.41

Denmark 6.25 1.86 1.53 9.64

France 5.95 1.67 0.84 8.45

MUMS Australia 2.01 4.71 4.11 10.83

USA 3.15 3.56 3.53 10.25

Italy 2.31 4.48 3.12 9.91

Denmark 3.45 2.65 3.10 9.20

France 2.32 3.71 2.65 8.68


Work to family conflict (WFC)

Family to work conflict (FWC)

Work-family/life conflict


WELLBEING

Mental & physical health,

sleep & life satisfaction1,2

FAMILY

Child mental health3;

parent-child interactions4

WORK

Job performance & satisfaction1,5,6

turnover intensions7,8

1Greenhaus, Allen & Spector (2006); 2 Kalliath, Hughes & Newcombe (2012), 3Strazdins, OBrien, Lucas & Rodgers (2013), 4 Cinamon, Weisel & Tzuk (2007); 5Hoobler, Hu & Wilson (2010); 6 Yanchus et al., 2010; 7Karatepe, Kilic & Isiksel (2008); 8Balmforth & Gardner (2006)


Child Chronic Illness

Parent Employment

Parenting

Work-family/Family-work

Conflict

Parent & Child Parent & Child Quality of Life

(QoL)

Limitations

Methods & procedures used

Focus of research aims & questions

Established in research Little, but something known in researchUnknown


PREDICTIONSParents of children with a chronic illness, compared to those of healthy children are predicted to report higher levels of work-family conflict & dysfunctional parenting

Chronically ill children & their parents, compared to healthy children and their parents predicted to report lower QoL


Chronically Ill Children (n = 29)

HealthyChildren (n = 46)

GenderMale (fathers) 0 4

Female (mothers) 29 42Age 38.86 (8.87) 39.96 (5.15)Level of Education

Some high school 0 2Completed high school 0 6

Trade/technical college 10 12University degree 9 14

Marital StatusMarried/Cohabitating 24 37

Divorced/separated/single/widower 3 8Other (defacto) 2 1

Table 1a. General parent demographics (N = 75)

Parents


Chronically Ill Children(n = 29)

Healthy Children(n = 46)

Socio-economic status (SES)IRSAD 1 911.00 –

1157.00911.00 –1138.00

Employment statusFull-time 11 28Part-time 17 16

Other 1 2Working hours (per week) 29.60 (10.97) 34.37 (11.26)

OccupationWhite-collar 24 42

Blue-collar 5 4Table 1b. SES, overall parent employment status, work hours & occupation types. 1Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage; higher index scores indicate ‘most advantage’, low scores indicate ‘most disadvantage’


Partner Employment

Chronically Ill

Healthy

Full-time PrimaryCaregiverEmployment

Full-time 9 22Part-time 12 13

Total 21 35Part-time Primary

CaregiverEmployment

Full-time 1 1Part-time 2 0Other 0 1

Total 3 2

Chronically Ill

Healthy

PrimaryCaregiverEmployment

Full-time 1 4

Part-time 2 3Other 1

Total 3 8

Table 1c. Employment patterns of dual earning/two parent families

Table 1d. Employment patterns of one parent families


Chronic Illness n = 29

Healthy n = 46

Child Age, Genders & Illness Types 8.04 (2.24) 7.64 (2.04)Male (Total) 17 23

Type 1 Diabetes 7 --Asthma 6 --Eczema 4 --

Female (Total) 12 23Type 1 Diabetes 3 --

Asthma 7 --Eczema 2 --

Illness Severity1 (Total) 2.93 (1.03) --Type 1 Diabetes 2.10 (0.57) --

Asthma 3.38 (0.96) --Eczema 3.33 (1.03) --

Table 2. Child Demographics (N = 75)1Low levels indicate greater severity, where 1 = very severe & 5 = minimal

Children


Design & Distribution

• Cross-sectional survey

• Study advertised

Participant Involvement

• Parent & child

• Online access & completion

MEASURES/METHODSMeasures

• Work-Family Conflict Scale (WAFCS)1

• Parenting Scale2

• Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM) 4.03

• World Health Organisation Quality of Life Brief (WHOQoL-BREF)4

1Haslam et al. (2014), 2Arnold et al. (1993), 3Varni et al. (2001), 4WHOQoL Group (1998)


Higher scores indicate greater Work-Family Conflict

7

17

27

37

47

57

67

Wor

k-fa

mil

y co

nfli

ct

Mea

n Sc

ore

(WA

FC

S)

Parents

Work-family Conflict in Parents of Chronically Ill Children and Parents of

Healthy Children

Of a ChronicallyIll Child (n = 22)

Of a HealthyChild (n = 38)


Low scores indicate good parenting; high scores indicate dysfunctional parenting.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Par

enti

ng M

ean

Scor

e (P

aren

ting

Sca

le)

Parents

Parenting in Parents of Chronically Ill Children and Parents of Healthy Children

Of a Chronically IllChild (n = 26)

Of a Healthy Child(n = 39)

CRICOS Provider No 00025B uq.edu.auuq.edu.auHigher scores indicate better Quality of Life (QoL)

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5Q

uali

ty o

f L

ife

Mea

n Sc

ore

(WH

OQ

oL)

Parents

Quality of Life in Parents of Chronically Ill Children and Parents of Healthy

Children

Of a Chronically IllChild (n = 22)

Of a Healthy Child(n = 38)


Higher scores indicate better Quality of Life (QoL)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Q

uali

ty o

f L

ife

Mea

n Sc

ore

(Ped

sQL

–P

aren

t P

roxy

)

Parents

Quality of Life of Chronically Ill Children and Healthy Children (Parent Report)

Of a ChronicallyIll Child (n = 29)

Of a HealthyChild (n = 46)


Higher scores indicate better Quality of Life (QoL)

0102030405060708090

100Q

uali

ty o

f L

ife

Mea

n Sc

ore

(Ped

sQL

–C

hild

Rep

ort)

Child Group

Quality of Life of Chronically Ill Children and Healthy Children (Child Report)

Chronically Ill(n = 13)

Healthy (n = 12)


WHAT DO THIS MEAN?No significant differences between 2 groups in overall:

• WFC, dysfunctional parenting or parent & child QoL

No support for predictions

• WFC & dysfunctional parenting not higher in parents with CI children

• Parent & child QoL not lower in parents or children (in the CI group)


IMPLICATIONS

Might suggest

• Children are coping with their illness

• Parents coping with extra demands + work, family & parenting

Having a child with chronic illness does not seem to impact:

• Parent WFC, parenting, QoL


CONCLUSIONS

• Preliminary results

• Participant numbers

• Impact of other factors: severity/duration of illness, parent employment

• Next steps

– Test a proposed theoretical model of howall 3 variables interlink to impact QoL

– Basis for intervention to better lives of parents & children

work-family conflict, parenting and quality...

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