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Maternal employment and parent-child relationships in single-parent families of low-birth-weight preschoolers.

BACKGROUND
The influence of premature birth of an infant in female-headed, single-parent families together or in conjunction with family environment factors, such as employment of the mother, on the mother-premature child relationship has not been considered in past studies.


OBJECTIVES
To explore differences in parent-child and family relationships for employed and nonemployed single mothers of low-birth-weight (LBW) and full-term preschool children and to describe the relationships of the mother's employment status, employment history, and employment attitude-behavior consistency to parent-child and family relationships.


METHODS
Single mothers with LBW (n = 60) and full-term (n = 61) preschool children provided data on their employment situation, the Parenting Stress Index, the Feetham Family Functioning Survey, and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment.


RESULTS
Employed mothers had more positive perceptions and provided more enriching home environments for their children. Greater attitude-behavior consistency was associated with more positive perceptions of the parental role.


CONCLUSION
Thus, in single-parent families, employment and consistency are positive influences on the mother-child relationship.