Implications of parents’ work travel on youth adjustment

ABSTRACT

Guided by ecological, work–family spillover and crossover frameworks, this study examined mechanisms linking parental work travel (i.e. nights per year) to youth adjustment (i.e. externalizing and internalizing behaviours) through youth’s perceptions of parenting (i.e. knowledge, solicitation) with traveller and youth gender as moderators in a sample of 78 children in 44 two-parent families residing in the United States. The findings from multilevel analyses suggested that mothers’ travel nights predicted lower levels of maternal knowledge, with variation by traveller and youth gender. Mothers’ and fathers’ work travel and perceived parenting were predictors of youth’s externalizing behaviours, whereas only fathers’ work travel and perceived parenting were predictors of youth’s internalizing behaviours. Tests of indirect effects indicated that maternal work travel linked to youth’s externalizing behaviours through youth’s perceptions of maternal knowledge. These findings add to our limited understanding of work–family issues for parents who have the unique work demand of frequently travelling.

RESUMEN

Guiados por marcos ecológicos, trabajo-familia y modelo crossover. Este estudio examinó los mecanismos que vinculan los viajes del trabajo de los padres (es decir, noches por año) en la adaptación de los jóvenes (es decir, comportamientos externalizados e internalizados) a través de las percepciones de los jóvenes sobre la crianza de los hijos (es decir, el conocimiento, la solicitación) con el género de viajero y la juventud como moderadores, una muestra de 78 niños en 44 familias ambos padres residentes de los Estados Unidos. Los hallazgos de los análisis multinivel sugirieron que las noches de viaje de las madres predijeron niveles más bajos de conocimiento materno, con variación del género de viajero y de la juventud. Los viajes de trabajo de las madres y los padres y la percepción de los padres fueron predictores de los comportamientos de externalización de los jóvenes, mientras que sólo los viajes de trabajo de los padres y la percepción de los padres eran predictores de los comportamientos de internalización de los jóvenes. Las pruebas de los efectos indirectos indicaron que el viaje del trabajo materno está relacionado con los comportamientos de externalización de los jóvenes a través de las percepciones de los jóvenes sobre el conocimiento materno. Estos hallazgos agregan a nuestra comprensión limitada de los problemas trabajo-familia para los padres que les demanda viajar con frecuencia debido a que tienen un trabajo único.

KEYWORDS:

• Children’s adjustment
• multilevel modelling
• parenting
• parents’ work travel
• work and families

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Adaptación de los niños
• modelización multinivel
• paternidad
• trabajo de los padres
• trabajo y familias

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the interviewers who collected these data and all of the families and children who participated in this project. Portions of this manuscript were presented at the National Council for Family Relations Conference (November, 2013), San Antonio, TX (Anisa M. Zvonkovic, Principal Investigator).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Lorey Wheeler is a Research Assistant Professor in the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research focuses on the role of family in normative youth development from early adolescence into adulthood and includes outcomes related to interpersonal relationships, psychosocial adjustment, and health primarily among Latino families. Grounded in cultural-ecological and developmental perspectives, her work addresses macro forces (e.g. gender and culture) and proximal and distal contexts (e.g. families, workplaces), and the mechanisms by which these systems are linked to youth development and family dynamics. She received her doctoral degree in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University.

Anisa Zvonkovic is Professor and Department Head of Human Development in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on the interplay of work life and interpersonal relationships with a particular interest in job demands. Her work has focused on qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews and daily diaries from multiple informants within families.

Andrea Swenson is now an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Stout after graduating with her PhD in human development at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on family relationships in context of work – addressing the connection between different work contexts and intimate relationships.

Caitlin Faas is an assistant professor of psychology at Mount St. Mary’s University. Her research interests include family issues, emerging adulthood, and educational outcomes.

Shelby Borowski is currently a masters’ student at Virginia Tech in the Human Development department with a concentration in Family Studies. Her research focuses on the work–life interface, more specifically how work demands influence individuals, couples, and families.

Ruth Nutting is the Coordinator of Behavioural Health within the University of Kansas School of Medicine at Via Christi Family Medicine Residency. Her research focuses on the effects of chronic illness on young adult couples, including life-cycle transitions, relationship satisfaction, and health-related coping. The main goal of her programme of research is to educate healthcare providers in a greater understanding of the systemic and psychosocial factors surrounding the impact of chronic illness. With this understanding, healthcare systems will be better able to successfully facilitate individual and systemic coping, as well as positive health-related outcomes.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant number R01HD047783].