Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intensive Mothering and Maternal Physical Health

该项目探讨密集育儿对健康的影响。与过去几十年相比，现在的女性花在孩子身上的时间要多得多。养育子女的高成本可能会在对孩子的投资和对自己的投资之间造成紧张关系。本文主要研究三个问题：1)强化育儿信念和行为如何影响母亲的身体健康；2)社会阶层和就业状况对1)的影响有何不同；3)强化育儿与儿童健康的关系如何受到母亲身体健康的影响。研究结果将对正式的卫生政策和更非正式的产妇自我保健宣传产生影响。本研究将使用雅芳父母与儿童纵向调查（ALSPAC）的面板数据进行纵向分析。这将有助于理清现代母性、产妇保健和儿童保健之间的关系。该项目将解决过去关于母性、社会阶层和就业状况的相互矛盾的证据。此外，它将解决最近在围绕强化育儿的操作化的文献辩论。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project explores the health impacts of intensive mothering. Women spend far more time with their children today than in the past several decades. The high cost to parenting may create tensions between investment in children and investment in self. Three principal research questions are addressed: 1) How intensive mothering beliefs and behaviors affect maternal physical health; 2) How the effects in 1) vary by social class and employment status; and 3) How the relationship between intensive mothering and child health is affected by maternal physical health. Findings will have implications for both formal health policies and more informal advocacy for maternal self-care.This study will conduct a longitudinal analysis using panel data from the Avon Longitudinal Survey of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). This will allow disentangling of the relationships between modern motherhood, maternal health, and child health. The project will address past contradictory evidence on motherhood, social class, and employment status. In addition, it will address recent debates in the literature surrounding the operationalization of intensive mothering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.