Examining the Effect of Material Hardship on Parenting Stress in Unmarried Parents: The Moderating Roles of Instrumental Support, Supportive Coparenting, Fathers' Residential Status, and Race
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Researchers have been particularly interested in how contextual and psychosocial factors increase unmarried parents’ risk for parenting stress because of its potentially harmful impact on parental and child outcomes (Belsky, 1984; Crnic & Low, 2002; Peterson, Hennon, & Knox, 2010). In particular, research has shown that economic hardship increases parents’ risk for parenting stress (Bronte-Tinkew, Horowitz, & Carrano, 2010; DeKylen, Brooks-Gunn, McLanahan, & Knab, 2006; Teitler, Reichman, & Nepomnyaschy, 2004). The goal of this study was to test a model that examined: (1) the impact of mothers’ material hardship on both mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress in unmarried families; and (2) whether instrumental support, supportive coparenting, fathers’ residential status, and race moderated the impact of material hardship on parenting stress. This study found that mothers’ material hardship was related to mothers’ parenting stress, but not fathers’ parenting stress. Instrumental support, supportive coparenting, fathers’ residential status, and race were not significant moderators. Directions for future research are discussed.
Author: Artie S Maharaj
Institution: University of Connecticut
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2278500286