THE EFFECTS OF PARENTS WORKING-CONDITIONS AND FAMILY ECONOMIC HARDSHIP ON PARENTING BEHAVIORS AND CHILDRENS SELF-EFFICACY

In this study we investigated the effects of parents' working conditio ns and family economic hardship on parenting behaviors, and their subs equent effects on the self-efficacy of adolescent children. We ran sep arate structural equation models for employed fathers (n 316) and moth ers (n 316) in intact, dual-earner families. The models employed panel data at four points in time, and used multiple reporters to reduce me asurement error. Both the father's working conditions and the family's economic stress affected the father's parenting behaviors. For employ ed mothers, in rural dual-earner families, only family economic strain affected parenting behaviors; this finding was attributed to employme nt characteristics of the women in our sample. Parents' use of inducti ve parenting techniques and avoidance of harsh parenting behaviors, in turn, contributed to adolescents' self-efficacy. The effects of fathe rs' working conditions on parenting practices and children's outcomes remained robust even when family economic strain was included in the m odel.