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Mom's Job Stress May Spread
to Kids
by: Rita Jenkins
Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress
levels of their children, but allowing them to spend more time
in childcare can help overcome these effects, according to new
research published in Developmental Psychobiology.
Children whose mothers found their jobs emotionally exhausting
or otherwise less rewarding had higher levels of the stress hormone
cortisol than children whose mothers reported more enjoyment
from their jobs, researchers found in a study involving more
than 50 nursery school children.
Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in
the children whose mothers experienced less job satisfaction.
Placing those children in childcare would help to significantly
reduce their stress, the research suggests.
The researchers also found that children from families that
were either highly expressive or very reserved exhibited higher
than average cortisol levels.
Greater support is needed for working mothers to help improve
their job satisfaction and increase the availability of affordable
childcare options, says the report.
More Time in Childcare
Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb, a health psychologist and senior lecturer
at the University of Bath, Dr. Christina Chryssanthopoulou from
the University of Kent and Dr. David Jessop, a neuroimmunologist
at the University of Bristol collaborated on the study.
To measure cortisol levels, they took saliva samples in the
morning and evening from 56 children aged three to four years
old. They also surveyed mothers about their workplace conditions
and home life over a six month period.
"Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference
to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction,"
says Dr. Turner-Cobb.
"It can help protect children from the effects of their
mother's low job quality and emotional exhaustion. Ensuring that
mothers of young children have good support in the workplace
is essential for supporting both mothers and their children,"
she adds.
"Improving the job satisfaction of working mothers means
that they are less stressed themselves," says Dr. Jessop,
"and extending the availability of affordable and adequate
childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers
but, in doing so, may improve the long term health of their children."
Healthy Adaptation to Stress
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure
and cardiovascular function and immune function. It also controls
the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Cortisol secretion increases in response to stress, whether
physical -- such as illness, trauma, surgery or temperature extremes
-- or psychological. It is a normal and essential response without
which we would not be able to function in everyday life.
When these levels remain high or become disrupted in some
way over a prolonged period of time, however, they may have consequences
for health. It is important to promote healthy adaptation to
stress in children, and good quality childcare is one way of
doing this, say the authors.
Copyright 2005 Daily News Central
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