Parental work schedules and adolescent depression
Wen-Jui Han
Columbia University School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York NY, United States of America; Social Policy Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Daniel P Miller
Columbia University School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York NY, United States of America
PP: 36 - 49
Abstract
Using a large contemporary United States data set, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS), this paper examines the relationship between parental work schedules and adolescent depression at age 13 or 14, paying particular attention to the mechanisms that may explain this relationship.
Analysis based on structural equation modelling showed that increased work at night by mothers was significantly associated with a lower quality of home environment and fewer meals together, and this mediator was significantly linked to increased risks for adolescent depression. In addition, evening work by fathers was significantly associated with lower paternal closeness and this mediator was significantly associated with increases in adolescent depression.
In contrast, irregular shifts by both mothers and fathers increased the likelihood of mothers knowing where the child was and this relationship in turn reduced adolescent depression. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.
Keywords
adolescents, depression, nonstandard work schedules, shift work, sociology
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