Childcare providers: Work stress and personal well-being

Faulkner, Monica; Gerstenblatt, Paula; Lee, Ah Young; Vallejo, Viana; Travis, Dnika J.

doi:10.1177/1476718x14552871

Cited by 71 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In total, 26 articles met the inclusion criteria for health status ( Table 2). Two articles were excluded from the health status analysis because they involved qualitative methods and did not present prevalence estimates [36,37]. The themes from these papers were, however, integrated within the results section.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health status of the early care and education workforce in the USA: a scoping review of the evidence and current practice

et al. 2020

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Background: More than two million early care and education (ECE) providers care for young children in the USA each day. These providers tend to earn low wages and many are enrolled in public assistance programs. Nearly all ECE providers are female and they are disproportionately women of color. Despite the fact that these attributes place the ECE workforce at greater risk of chronic disease, the health status of the workforce is not established and the availability and effectiveness of interventions to improve their health status is also not known. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of both the published literature and current practice to identify all articles and interventions targeting the health status of the ECE workforce. Our search strategy identified scientific articles published in English within the past 10 years as well as any interventions targeting the ECE workforce that have been implemented within the past 3 years. Data from both scientific articles and practice were extracted using systematic methods and summarized. Results: Thirteen studies described some component of physical health including diet quality (11 studies), physical activity (8 studies), and height/weight/body mass index (7 studies), and 21 studies assessed component(s) of mental health including depression (15 studies), stress (8 studies), and mindfulness (3 studies). ECE providers reported a high prevalence of overweight, obesity, and chronic disease diagnoses and spend significant time being sedentary, and some report low diet quality. Mental health concerns in this population include depression and high stress. Eleven interventions targeting ECE workforce wellness were also identified; most focused on nutrition, physical activity and/ or stress. Conclusion: The limited evidence available for review describes a workforce in need of health promotion interventions to address high levels of mental and physical health challenges, some above and beyond peers with comparable demographic characteristics. Several promising interventions were identified from both the published and unpublished literature; these interventions should be further implemented and evaluated to assess their impact on the workforce.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health status of the early care and education workforce in the USA: a scoping review of the evidence and current practice

et al. 2020

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“…We may want to investigate ways to increase the job control of the lowest income childcare workers, which are typically staff. A qualitative study by Faulkner and colleagues with home-based and center-based child care workers found that common stressors were parental interactions, caregiving, and the failure of public perception to see child care as a profession [54]. Child care workers also reported sleep disruptions (e.g., dreaming about children/work), and physical exhaustion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health and Working Conditions of Women Employed in Child Care

Linnan

Arandia

Bateman

et al. 2017

IJERPH

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Over one million women are employed in child care and are among the lowest wage workers in the US. The health and working conditions of 674 child care workers (118 administrators and 556 staff) from 74 centers is described using baseline data from a larger intervention trial. Participants were 39.9 (±13.0) years old; 55.4% African American, 37.1% Caucasian, and 5.3% of Hispanic ethnicity. Seventy-six percent reported having an Associate’s degree or less; 42% were classified as at or below poverty (<$20,000); and exhibited many health risks such as excess weight, insufficient activity, poor diet, and inadequate sleep. We investigated potential differences by income and job category. Lower income participants were significantly more likely to be current smokers (19.9% vs. 11.7%), drink more sweetened beverages (1.9 vs. 1.5), and report higher depressive symptoms (15.5 vs. 12.6). Administrators worked more hours weekly compared to staff (46.4 vs. 40.6), are less active (100 vs. 126 min/week), more sedentary (501 vs. 477 min/day), and reported higher job demands (13.3 vs. 12.5). Given the numerous health issues and challenging work conditions, we hope our results serve as a call to action for addressing low wages and the work environment as a means of influencing the health and well-being of child care workers.

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“…Relatively high rates of turnover and stress, and low rates of employee satisfaction and stability, characterize a variety of professions related to child and family well‐being, including social work, home visiting, child protection, and early childhood education (e.g., Bridges, Fuller, Huang, & Hamre, ; Dillenburger, ; Faulkner, Gerstenblatt, Lee, Vallejo, & Travis, ). Although vastly different in many ways, these fields share important commonalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress and coping among early childhood intervention professionals receiving reflective supervision: A qualitative analysis

Frosch

Mitchell

Hardgraves

et al. 2019

Infant Mental Health Journal

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Reflective supervision/consultation (RS/C) is an important component of infant mental health training and practice. Given high levels of job stress reported by a variety of early childhood professionals, the present study offers a qualitative examination of early childhood intervention professionals’ perceptions of stress and coping before and after receiving regular RS/C. Thirty‐one professionals received 9 months of RS/C and completed semistructured interview questionnaires at the pre‐/postassessments. Questionnaires focused on job‐related experiences, including what participants found stressful and how they coped with job‐related stress. Inductive analysis techniques were used to identify themes that arose from the data. Relationships between themes were discovered through axial coding. Three key themes of individual, relational, and organizational stress were identified across the pre‐/postassessments. Similar themes were evident in reports of coping. Following 9 months of RS/C, analysis revealed greater detail and reflection among the majority of participants. These results contribute to the literature through identification of multiple levels of stress and coping as well as areas of continuity and change among participants receiving RS/C. Future research should consider how professionals’ reports of stress and coping relate to reported self‐efficacy and observed competence with young children and families.

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Childcare providers: Work stress and personal well-being

Cited by 71 publications

References 24 publications

The health status of the early care and education workforce in the USA: a scoping review of the evidence and current practice

The health status of the early care and education workforce in the USA: a scoping review of the evidence and current practice

The Health and Working Conditions of Women Employed in Child Care

Stress and coping among early childhood intervention professionals receiving reflective supervision: A qualitative analysis

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