Non-standard work schedules and child development

描述(申请人提供)：这个项目的目的是研究母亲的非标准工作与孩子的行为、认知测试分数和身体质量指数(BMI；或身高体重)之间的关系。我们专注于母亲工作的非典型和不可预测的方面，这些方面可能通过影响家庭和儿童的收入、母亲的心理压力、育儿行为、家庭例行公事以及儿童的护理环境和时间使用来影响家庭和儿童。我们特别关注母亲工作时间的时间安排(晚上、周末或夜间)和规律性(工作时间不可预测，每天或每周都会发生变化)。具体地说，我们的研究有以下目标：具体目标1：估计母亲就业的时机和规律与孩子的行为、认知测试分数和BMI之间的关系。具体目标1a：如果存在联系，审查哪些儿童发展成果与这种产妇就业条件最为相关。具体目标1b：如果发现了母亲就业的时间和规律与儿童发展之间的联系，检查是否可以通过[家庭收入]、母亲心理压力、育儿行为、家庭惯例以及儿童的照料环境和时间使用来解释这些联系。具体目标1c：审查这些关联是否因[产妇教育、产妇福利使用]、种族/族裔以及儿童的年龄、性别和家庭结构而异。具体目标2：在双职工家庭中，审查母亲和父亲的工作安排与子女发展之间的联合关系。为了回答这些问题，我们将使用来自两个数据集的数据，每个数据集都是纵向的，包含非标准工作条件的关键衡量标准，并包含丰富的儿童发展和家庭进程衡量标准。母亲的工作经历显然是感兴趣的，不仅研究人员和政策制定者感兴趣，而且从业人员和其他直接与家庭一起工作的人也感兴趣。我们提议的研究的独特之处在于，它能够识别经常发生但研究不足的劳动力市场条件对儿童的影响。公共卫生相关性：这项研究的结果将确定母亲面临的共同工作条件对儿童的影响。这项研究有望对美国国立卫生研究院具有重要意义和相关性，因为研究结果将确定哪些儿童可能因父母的就业挑战而面临发展风险，以及哪些儿童表现良好。这些调查结果不仅可以帮助政策制定者和实践者更好地了解母亲就业对儿童的影响，还可以指出需要新政策和支持的领域，以促进儿童的健康发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this project is to examine the relationships between nonstandard work among mothers and children's behavior, cognitive test scores, and body mass index (BMI; or weight-for height). We focus on atypical and unpredictable aspects of maternal work that may affect families and children through their impact on income, maternal psychological stress, parenting behavior, family routines, and children's care settings and time use. Our particular focus is on the timing (evenings, weekends or nights) and regularity (work hours that are unpredictable and change from day to day or week to week) of maternal work hours. Specifically, our study has the following goals: Specific Aim 1: Estimate the associations between the timing and regularity of mothers' employment and children's behavior, cognitive test scores, and BMI. Specific Aim 1a: If linkages exist, examine for which of the child development outcomes are such maternal employment conditions the most germane. Specific Aim 1b: If linkages between the timing and regularity of maternal employment and child development are found, examine whether they can be explained by [family income], maternal psychological stress, parenting behavior, family routines, and children's care settings and time use. Specific Aim 1c: Examine whether any of these associations vary by [maternal education, maternal welfare use], race/ethnicity, and children's age, sex, and household structure. Specific Aim 2: In dual-earner households, examine joint associations between mothers' and fathers' work schedules and child development. To answer these questions, we will use data from two data sets, each of which is longitudinal, contains key measures of non-standard work conditions, and is rich with measures of child development and family processes. The work experiences of mothers are clearly of interest, not only to researchers and policy makers, but also to practitioners and others who work directly with families. Our proposed research is unique in its ability to identify the consequences for children of commonly-occurring, but understudied labor market conditions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The results of this study will identify the consequences for children of common work conditions faced by mothers. This research promises to be significant and relevant for the NIH because the results will identify children who may be at developmental risk due to their parents' employment challenges, as well as children who are faring well. Such findings can not only assist policymakers and practitioners in better understanding the consequences for children of maternal employment, but also point to areas in which new policies and supports are needed in order to promote children's healthy development.