Maternal Parenting Behaviors Perceived by Children and Mothers' Family Stress in Low Income Divorced and Intact Families

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to explore the differences in maternal parenting behaviors and mothers' family stress by children's sex and parental divorce and to investigate the relationships of maternal parenting behaviors with mothers' family stress in low income families. Participants of this study were 166 children of 4 to 6 grades and their mothers from low income divorced and intact families. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, two-way ANOVAs, Pearson's correlations. The result were as follows: Girls perceived more maternal warmth than boys in divorce families, but boys perceived more maternal warmth than girls in intact families. Boys perceived more maternal supervision than girls in intact and divorced families. Mother of divorced families had more childrearing stress than mothers of intact familes. In divorced families, children whose mothers had high levels of childrearing stress perceived less maternal warmth and supervision, and children whose mothers had high levels of work-family conflicts perceived less maternal warmth. In intact families, children whose mothers had high levels of economic stress perceived less maternal supervision.주제어(Key Words) : 저소득층 아동(low income children), 이혼 가정(divorced families), 양부모 가정(intact families), 어머니 양육 행동(maternal parenting behaviors), 어머니의 가족 스트레스