Associations of low-income working mothers' daily interactions with supervisors and mother-child interactions

This study investigated associations of low-income working mothers' daily interactions with supervisors and their interactions with children. Sixty-one mothers of preschool-aged children were asked to report on their interactions with their supervisors at work and their interactions with children for 2 weeks (N = 520 workdays). Results show significant within-day spillover from the quality of mothers' perceived work interactions with supervisors to their reports of interactions with children. Supervisor criticism was positively correlated with harsh and withdrawn mother-child interactions on the same day. Supervisor recognition for good work was positively associated with warm mother-child interactions on the same day. Lagged analyses showed some significant associations between perceived supervisor interactions on a given day and mother-child interactions the next day. © National Council on Family Relations, 2011.

Duke Scholars

Author Anna Gassman-Pines Sanford School of Public Policy