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Parental frequency and satisfaction with children's daily activities

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Parental frequency and satisfaction with children's daily activities

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Content PARENTAL FREQUENCY AND SATISFACTION
WITH CHILDREN'S DAILY ACTIVITIES
by
Martha Acosta Rios
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2002
Copyright 2002 Martha Acosta Rios
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UMI Number: 1414888
UMI
UMI Microform 1414888
Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-1695
This thesis, written by
Marihfl M csfa ______________
under the direction o f h § !^ _ thesis committee, and
approved by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Director o f Graduate and Professional
Programs, in partial fulfillment o f the requirements fo r the
degree o f
Director
Date A u g u st 6 . 2002
Thesis Committee
m
Chair
n > ~
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Acknowledgments
This paper was completed thanks to the guidance and support of
many people. Professionally, my advisor, Dr. Gayla Margolin, and the
wonderful people in my lab, provided me with the guidance and encouragement
to complete this research. Personally, the support and love from my
friends and family helped me to persist, even when I was discouraged.
To Mary and Liz, thanks for the unending support and tons of laughter.
To Richard, thanks for believing in me, loving me unconditionally, and not
letting me give up.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments................................................................................................. ii
List of T ables.........................................................................................................iv
Abstract.....................................................................................................................v
Introduction...............................................................................................................1
Experimental Design and Methods..................................................................... 16
Results.....................................................................................................................23
Discussion.............................................................................................................. 40
References.............................................................................................................. 47
Appendices............................................................................................................. 57
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.....................................................................................................................25
Table 2 .....................................................................................................................28
Table 3 .....................................................................................................................30
Table 4 .....................................................................................................................32
Table 5 .....................................................................................................................34
Table 6.....................................................................................................................38
Table 7 .....................................................................................................................39
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ABSTRACT
Parental frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities
were examined in the context of marital and psychological distress in two-
parent families. Data were collected from a community sample of 118 families
(n=60 girls; n=58 boys) using a daily home questionnaire assessing parental
frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities; a questionnaire
assessing parental psychological distress (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised) and
a questionnaire assessing marital conflict between partners (Domestic Conflict
Index). Consistent with previous global and observational studies, the present
daily diary study found limited support for parents who were psychologically or
maritally distressed to demonstrate compromised parenting as evident by their
reports of less frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities.
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INTRODUCTION
Parents’ involvement in children’s daily activities significantly impacts
children’s psychosocial development. Academic/intellectual gains are found
when parents are actively involved with their children and their homework (e.g.,
Ho & Willms, 1996; Clark, 1983; Finn, 1993), when parents and children read
together (e.g., Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985), and when parents
encourage children to talk about their daily school experiences (e.g., Astone &
McLanahan, 1991; Ho & Willms, 1996; Finn, 1993). In addition to findings
relating parental involvement with positive outcomes, there also is literature
that suggests that a lack of supportiveness is associated with negative outcomes.
For example, lower social and cognitive scores for children have been
associated with infrequent mother-child activities (Morehouse, 1991).
Additional research has shown that parents of anti-social children often fail to
communicate and converse with their children about their child’s day
(Patterson, 1982).
The association between parental involvement and children's
psychosocial outcomes has been found for both mothers and fathers (e.g.,
Crouter, McHale, & Bartko, 1993, Lamb, 1987; Radin, 1994; Pleck, 1997;
Gottfried, Gottfried & Bathurst, 1988; Amato, 1987; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Mosley
& Thomson, 1995), despite fathers' lower levels of involvement with children
(e.g., Crouter & McHale, 1993). For example, Gottfried, Gottfried, and
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Bathurst (1988) report significant relationships between father involvement and
WISC IQ, academic achievement, and social maturity at ages six and seven.
Self-esteem, self-control, life skills, and social competence are also significantly
related to paternal involvement (Amato, 1987). More importantly, Mosley and
Thomson (1995) found that paternal involvement did influence children's
psychosocial outcomes beyond the effects of maternal involvement.
Specifically, high paternal involvement was associated with a lower frequency
of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and higher sociability (e.g., getting
along with others, carrying out responsibilities, and doing what parents ask),
after controlling for the effects of mothers’ involvement (Mosley & Thomson,
1995).
Given the importance of parental daily interaction and involvement in
children’s development, examining factors that could potentially decrease
parents’ involvement with their children is of significance. Although parents’
marital and psychological distress have been extensively investigated for their
impact on parenting, few of these studies have examined the effects of
psychological and/or marital distress on daily parenting activities. In addition,
much of the parenting literature also has neglected to account for the effects of
both marital and psychological distress, which tend to co-occur.
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Marital Conflict and Parenting
Various theoretical perspectives posit that contextual factors, such as
marital distress, impact parenting behaviors. Family systems theory explains
the association between the marital relationship and parenting behaviors as
resulting from the bi-directional influence of various subsystems within the
family ( Easterbrooks & Emde, 1988; Engfer, 1988). That is, the marital
relationship affects the parent-child relationship and vice versa. Within this
explanatory framework, the relationship between parenting and the marriage
could either be positively or negatively correlated. The spill-over hypothesis
(Engfer, 1988) characterizes the marital and parent-child relationships as being
positively correlated, such that mood, affect or behavior in one family
subsystem (e.g., marital relationship) is transferred to another subsystem (e.g.,
the parent-child relationship). For example, parents who are in marriages that
are fulfilling and supportive will be able to meet the demands of parenting in a
warm, supportive manner (Easterbrooks & Emde, 1988). But, parents who are
in distressed marriages may also react negatively toward their children and be
less emotionally available to parent (Easterbrooks & Emde, 1988). That is, a
parent’s personality and behavior are generalized to both the parent-child
relationship and the marriage (Engfer, 1988). In contrast, the compensatory
hypothesis (Engfer, 1988) details a negative correlation between the marriage
and the parent-child relationship. A parent may compensate for an unhappy
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marriage by becoming overly involved in the parent-child relationship in the
hopes of experiencing some satisfaction and fulfillment (Goldberg &
Easterbrooks, 1984). Or, parents in a happy marriage may view the child as an
obstacle to their happiness and thus react negatively to the demands of
parenting (Goldberg & Easterbrooks, 1984). These two competing hypotheses
have been investigated in a meta-analysis by Erel and Burman (1995), who
report greater support for the spill-over hypothesis as compared to the
compensatory hypothesis.
The relationship between impaired parenting and marital distress is
supported by much empirical evidence. Many studies have found that the
association between marital discord and childhood maladjustment, including
internalizing and externalizing syndromes, poor social competence, conduct-
related problems, health problems and poor academic performance (Cummings
& Davies, 1994; Grych & Fincham, 1990; Gottman & Katz, 1989; Fincham &
Osborne, 1993; Emery, 1982; Reid & Crisafulli, 1990) indirectly results from
an impaired parent-child relationship (e.g., Erel & Burman, 1995). Relative to
non-maritally distressed parents, parents experiencing marital discord show
various difficulties in parenting including increased withdrawal, emotional
unavailability, rejection, negativity, disagreements over child rearing, and
inconsistency and punitiveness in their discipline. In addition, they are likely to
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use angry parenting styles, display less warmth, and be less responsive (e.g.,
Block, Block, & Morrison, 1981; Dickstein & Parke, 1988; Howes & Markman,
1989; Fauber, Forehand, Thomas & Wierson, 1990; Jouriles, Pfiffner, &
O'Leary, 1988; Gottman & Katz, 1989; Grych & Fincham, 1990; Margolin,
1998; Miller, Cowan, Cowan, Hetherington, & Clingempeel, 1993). Couples
experiencing non-violent (Erel & Burman, 1995) as well as violent marital
conflict (Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Jouriles & LeCompte, 1991; O'Keefe, 1994)
may demonstrate poor parenting. Men who abuse their wives have been found
to be physically aggressive toward their children (O'Keefe, 1994), especially
their sons (Jouriles & LeCompte, 1991). In addition, batterers are reported by
their wives to demonstrate more irritability, less involvement in child rearing,
less physical affection and greater reliance on power assertion and physical
punishment when disciplining their children (Holden & Ritchie, 1991). The
globally-measured parenting difficulties of both maritally violent and non
violent couples are likely to also manifest themselves in their daily parenting
activities.
Very few studies have investigated daily parental involvement in
families with marital distress. High paternal involvement has been found in
some studies to be associated with good marital adjustment (Blair et al., 1994;
Jump & Haas, 1987; McBride & Mills, 1993) but, in other studies, to be
associated with poor marital adjustment (Crouter et al., 1987; Gerson, 1993;
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Russell, 1983, 1986). Paternal involvement also is found to be negatively
associated with frequency of conflict (Pleck, 1997). Mixed findings also
emerge when examining maternal involvement amidst marital conflict, although
some evidence suggests that mothers exhibit a compensatory process by
becoming more involved with their children as their marriages deteriorate
(Belsky et al., 1991). That is, mothers may attempt to counteract their
discontent with their marriage by becoming over-involved with their children.
Yet, as previously mentioned, the spill-over hypothesis has received the most
support within the literature with regards to the association between marital
distress and parenting behaviors in general. As such, it is hypothesized that
parents who are experiencing marital distress will report lower levels of
frequency of daily parent-child activities than parents who do not report marital
distress. Although the parenting literature has neglected to investigate parents’
subjective evaluations of their involvement with their children, the present
study investigates parental satisfaction. It is also hypothesized that parents who
are maritally distressed will report less satisfaction with daily parent-child
activities than parents who are not experiencing marital distress.
Parent’s Psychological Distress and Parenting
Various theoretical works also suggest that psychological factors such as
depression affect parenting. Cognitive theories of depression point to
cognitions as responsible for causing and maintaining depressive affect
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(Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Beck, 1967). Depressed individuals
are characterized as having negative views of themselves, others and the future
(Beck, 1967). A depressed mother’s negative view of herself is likely to impact
her parenting efficacy, with her negativity spilling over to her interactions with
her children. Depressed individuals have also been found to focus more on the
negative aspects of children’s behaviors and personality compared to non
depressed individuals (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). Negative views of
herself and her child may make it more likely that she would find the demands
of parenting aversive, and keep her interactions with her child at a minimum.
Beyond theoretical conceptualizations of depression, the manifestation of
depressive symptoms such as decreased energy, sad affect, irritability and
attentional problems are likely to affect parenting as well.
Parents experiencing psychological distress, such as depression, also
exhibit many of the same patterns of poor parenting found among maritally
distressed parents (Billings & Moos, 1983; Breslau, Davis & Prabucki, 1988;
Lee & Gotlib, 1989a, 1989b; Richters & Pelligrini, 1989). As with the marital
distress/conflict literature, the dysfunctional parenting of depressed mothers,
rather than fathers, has received the most attention from investigators, with
most of these studies focusing on infants rather than school-aged children
(Pleck, 1997).
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Depressed mothers display various difficulties when interacting with
their children. Mothers experiencing depression have been found to exhibit
very little positive affect and slow, non-contingent and inconsistent
responsiveness toward their children (e.g., Field et al., 1990; Field et al., 1988;
Hops et al., 1987; Davenport, Zahn-Waxler, Adland, & Mayfield, 1984;
Breznitz & Sherman, 1987; Kochanska, Kuczynski, Radke-Yarrow, & Welsh,
1987; Gordon et al., 1989; Hammen et al., 1987). This pattern of parenting
seems to suggest that depression may affect parenting by decreasing the effort
that parents put into interacting with their children (Downey & Coyne, 1990).
In their interactions with their children, depressed mothers show increases in
hostility and irritability directed toward infants (e.g., Cohn et al., 1986; Field et
al., 1990; Lyons-Ruth, Zoll, Connell, Grunebaum, 1986; Rutter, 1990) and
especially, school-aged children (Gordon et al., 1989; Hammen et al., 1987).
Both clinically and non-clinically depressed mothers demonstrate similar
parenting difficulties. For example, mothers in a nonclinical sample with
depressive symptomatology have also been shown to demonstrate hostility
toward their children (Panaccione & Wahler, 1986).
Given the empirical and theoretical evidence associating impaired
parenting and psychological distress, it is hypothesized that parents who are
psychologically distressed will report lower levels of frequency of daily parent-
child activities than parents who are not psychologically distressed. In addition,
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it is also hypothesized that parents experiencing psychological distress will
report less satisfaction with parent-child daily activities than parents who are
not psychologically distressed.
Interestingly, though, there also is evidence to suggest that depression,
itself, may not be the sole explanation for the parenting difficulties of depressed
parents. Depression and marital distress are highly interrelated. Depressed
women have a high rate of marital conflict (Weissman & Paykel, 1974) which
can last for up to four years after an episode of depression (Rounsaville,
Prusoff, & Weissman, 1980). Studies have demonstrated that a mother's
parenting can be affected by stress, with mothers' irritability increasing under
stressful situations (Cohn et al., 1986; Field et al., 1990; Lyons-Ruth et al.,
1986; Rutter, 1990). For example, mothers experiencing stressful life events,
such as divorce, have also demonstrated many of the same parenting difficulties
as depressed mothers (Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1982). Hetherington,
Stanley-Hagan, & Anderson (1989) found that after divorce, custodial mothers
often become self-involved, erratic, uncommunicative, inconsistent, and
punitive in their interactions with their children. Findings such as these argue
that the role of depression in parenting difficulties may not necessarily be direct,
but rather may be influenced by chronic stressors such as marital distress.
Several studies have shown that chronic stress and depressive symptomatology
are more predictive of mothers’ critical and unproductive behavior during
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interactions with their children than her current depressive diagnosis alone
(Gordon et al., 1989; Hammen et al., 1987). As such, it is hypothesized that
both marital and psychological distress will account for more of the variability
in frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities than either risk
factor alone, each accounting for unique variance above and beyond the other.
Parental Involvement with Children
The study of factors related to parents’ daily involvement with children
needs to consider differences in involvement for mothers and fathers. Although
both mothers’ and fathers’ involvement is associated with children's
development, estimates of parental time involvement generally indicate that
mothers, compared to fathers, spend more time with their children (e.g.,
Robinson, Andreyenkov, & Patrushev, 1988; Blair, Wenk & Hardesty, 1994;
Levant, Slattery, & Loiselle, 1987; McBride & Mills, 1993; Ahmeduzzaman &
Roopnarine, 1992; Roopnarine & Ahmeduzzaman 1993; Tulananda et al.,
1994). Although varying estimates of parental time involvement result from the
array of measures used, Pleck (1997) averaged across studies from the 1980's
and 1990's and found that fathers' proportional involvement was somewhat over
two-fifths (43.5%) of mothers' involvement (e.g., Robinson, Andreyenkov, &
Patrushev, 1988; Blair, Wenk & Hardesty, 1994; Levant, Slattery, & Loiselle,
1987; McBride & Mills, 1993; Ahmeduzzaman & Roopnarine, 1992;
Roopnarine & Ahmeduzzaman 1993; Tulananda et al., 1994). Increased
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maternal involvement has also been found in the small body of literature
specifically focused on involvement with school-aged children. Barnett and
Baruch (1987), for example, found that fathers of kindergartners and fourth
graders spent about 30 hours a week in total interaction time with children,
whereas mothers spent 45 hours a week. In terms of time alone with children,
fathers averaged 5.5 hours/week and mothers averaged 19.5 hours/week.
Russell and Russell (1987) found that Australian fathers interacted alone with
their six to seven-year olds about 2.4 hours per week, whereas mothers
interacted alone with their children 22.6 hours per week.
Child’s gender also influences interaction time between parents and
children, but more for fathers than for mothers. Fathers have generally been
found to be more sex-typed in their interactions with children, spending more
time with their sons than with their daughters, especially when children are
older (e.g., Amato, 1987; Barnett & Baruch, 1987; Blair, Wenk, & Hardesty,
1994; Crouter & McHale, 1993; Goldscheider & Waite, 1991; Harris &
Morgan, 1991; Huston, 1983; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Marsiglio, 1991). Ishii-Kuntz
(1994), for example, found that fathers spend about .5 to 1.0 hour per weekday
with children and 1.4 to 2.0 hours on Sundays, with more time reported for sons
for than daughters. Marsiglio (1991) also found that fathers with all boy
children were significantly more likely to spend time with them in leisure,
playing, project activities, and private talks than were fathers with all girls.
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Involvement in specific activities also is found to vary according to the gender
of the parent. Fathers generally spend more time in leisure activities (e.g.,
playing), whereas mothers spend more time in caretaking activities with
children (e.g., LaRossa, 1988). Although both mothers and fathers reported that
they talked to their children about their day and helped children with their
homework, these interactions were more likely to happen among mothers and
their children compared with fathers and their children (Russell & Russell,
1987).
Given the body of literature that has addressed parental involvement by
looking at differences between mothers and fathers with boys and girls, a
secondary objective of this study is to replicate previous findings. It is
hypothesized that frequency and satisfaction with daily parent-child activities
will differ by the gender of both the parent and the child. More specifically,
mothers, compared to fathers, are anticipated to report more frequency and
satisfaction with all activities combined, and fathers are anticipated to report
more frequency and satisfaction with playing activities than mothers. In
addition, fathers will engage in more activities and be more satisfied with
activities with sons than daughters, whereas mothers will show no differences
in engagement of activities by gender of the child.
In addition to looking at differences in involvement for mothers and
fathers with boys and girls, the literature addressing parental involvement has
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also focused on the effects of employment status and education on time spent
with children. Nock and Kingston (1988), for example, found that unemployed
mothers spent about six hours with school-aged children on workdays compared
to less than four hours for employed moms. Nevertheless, the amount of time
employed mothers spent directly interacting with their children and the quality
of care they provided were comparable to non-employed mothers (Nock &
Kingston, 1988). Morehouse (1991) found that mothers' level of involvement
in joint activities with their children did not vary as a function of their
employment status. Fathers in both single-earner and dual-earner families have
been found to spend about 2.5 hours per working day with children (Nock &
Kingston, 1988). Despite previous studies indicating fathers' tendency to be
more sex-typed in their interactions with children, Crouter and Crowley (1990)
found that dual-earner fathers, that is fathers whose wives were also in the labor
force, spent about as much time with both sons and daughters, whereas single
earner fathers spent about three times as much time with sons than daughters.
Parents in dual-earner households were found to spend more time with their
children on the weekends than couples in which the wife was not employed
(Nock & Kingston, 1988).
Parents’ education level has also been investigated with regard to time
spent with children. Generally, parental education has been found to be
positively associated with parental involvement. Specifically, fathers with
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higher levels of education are more involved with their children (e.g., Blair et
al., 1994, Russell, 1983, 1986; Marsiglio, 1991) and college-educated women
also spend more time with their children than less educated women and engage
their children in a greater variety of activities (e.g., Hill & Stafford, 1985).
A further objective of the present study is to explore the associations
between parental employment status, parental education and frequency and
satisfaction with daily parent-child activities. In addition, this study will also
explore parental age and its influence on frequency and satisfaction with parent-
child daily activities.
Present Study
The present study utilizes daily diary data which are unique in both their
prospective format and external validity (e.g., Huston, McHale, & Crouter,
1986). Retrospective, global data are often limited because of their reliance on
a respondent's memory and the aggregation of long time periods, leading to less
accurate data. Prospective data, on the other hand, allow for responses to be
made closer in time to their actual occurrence without aggregating over long
periods of time. A further advantage of this data set is its external validity, with
parent-child interactions being assessed at each child's home on a daily basis
rather than in the laboratory.
The present study builds on the parenting literature by examining
contextual and psychological factors that could potentially impact the various
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day-to-day parenting activities of school-aged children. More specifically, the
present study investigates the effects marital and psychological distress on
parental frequency and satisfaction with daily parent-child activities. The
"double-whammy" effect of marital conflict and depression is likely to explain
more of the variability in parenting than either risk factor by itself. To
summarize, the hypotheses for the present study include the following: (1)
Parents who are maritally distressed, compared to non-distressed, will report
less frequent and less satisfying daily parent-child activities; (2) Parents who are
psychologically distressed, versus non-distessed, will report less frequent and
less satisfying daily parent-child activities; (3) Together, marital and
psychological distress will account for more of the variability in frequency and
satisfaction with daily parent-child activities than either risk factor alone, each
contributing unique variance; and (4) Frequency and satisfaction with daily
parent-child activities will differ by the gender of both the parent and child.
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EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND METHODS
Participants
Families (n=180) within the Los Angeles area were recruited for the
Family Studies Project by public announcements and direct mailings. The
following criteria were required for participation in the Project:
(a) At least one 8-11 year old child in the family;
(b) Both parents and the child residing in the same house;
(c) Parents either biological parents of the child or living with the
child since age 2;
(d) Both parents and the child fluent in English;
(e) The ownership of a telephone;
(f) The parents and the child participate in at least one laboratory
session.
The present project analyzed data from a subset of these recruited
families, specifically those who also completed six weeks of daily home
questionnaires (n=l 18). These families received a total of one hundred and ten
dollars for their participation.
The 118 children in the study included 60 girls and 58 boys, with a mean
age of 9.37 (SD = .99) for girls and 9.78 (SD = 1.12) for boys. Parents' ages
ranged from 26 to 51 years (M = 38.14, SD = 5.24) for mothers and 27 to 57
years (M = 40.55, SD = 6.30) for fathers. Parents had been living together for 4
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to 28 years (M = 14.28, SD = 4.21). Mothers' educational level ranged from
less than high school education to graduate school (M = 14.64 years, SD =
2.14), with fathers' educational level ranging from high school graduate to
graduate school (M = 15.20, SD = 2.49). Couples' monthly incomes ranged
from $650.00 to $16,800 (M = $4,648, SD = $2,692). Thirty-eight percent of
the wives were unemployed, 28% were employed part-time and 33% were
employed full-time. For fathers, 82% were employed full-time, 8% worked
part-time and 10% were unemployed. Couples’ joint ethnicity was 65%
Caucasian, 16% Black, 2% Hispanic and the remaining 17% were biracial
couples or from another ethnic group.
Procedures
During Stage 1 of the Family Studies Project, families spent four hours
in the laboratory completing a battery of assessments with the help of a graduate
research assistant. Following the laboratory session, both parents were given
instructions for the completion at home of daily questionnaires. Each parent
was to fill out the forms separately every evening one half hour before bedtime
and mail in the questionnaires within 24 hours. Daily home questionnaires
were to be completed at the end of each day over a period of six weeks with the
exception of the first questionnaire, which was completed at the end of the 4-
hour laboratory session with the assistance of a graduate level research
assistant.
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Measures
Adult Home Data Questionnaire
Participants completed the Adult Home Data Questionnaire (Appendix
A; Margolin, 1992) over 42 consecutive days. The questionnaire consists of 88
items measuring the following domains on a daily basis: parental work and
home stress, children's behavior, parent-child interactions, marital interactions,
non-work related behaviors, and parent-child leisure activities. The present
study specifically focuses on the parent-child leisure activities.
The parent-child leisure activities consist of self-report responses to the
following question: Did you and your child do any one of the following
activities TOGETHER today? Circle YES or NO. The activities being
investigated for the present study are as follows: (a) playing, (b) doing
homework, (c) reading, (d) discussing the child's day, and (e) sports or
board games. In addition, if parents responded yes, they were asked to rate
how pleasurable the activity was for them on a scale of 1 (not pleasurable) to 4
(very pleasurable).
The items "playing" and "sports or board games" were summed to
generate a score for frequency of playing activities. "Doing homework" and
"reading" were summed to serve as an indicator of frequency of
academic/cognitive activities. Finally, a frequency score for "discussing the
child's day" was also generated.
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Summary scores for both frequency of activities and satisfaction with
activities were derived separately. A score for frequency of playing was
computed by adding up the number of times each parent participated in
"playing" or "sports games" over six weeks, resulting in a range of 0 to 82 for
mothers (M = 15.95, SD = 14.64) and 1 to 82 (M = 19.39, SD = 14.28) for
fathers. A frequency score for academic/cognitive activities score was
computed by adding up the number of times each parent participated in "doing
homework" and "reading" over a six week period, resulting in a range of 0 to 52
(M= 19.54, SD = 13.15) for mothers and 0 to 67 (M = 11.28, SD = 10.45) for
fathers. A score for frequency of “discussing the child's day” was derived by
adding up the number of times each parent participated in this activity over a six
week period, resulting in a range of 2 to 42 for mothers (M= 31.85, SD = 8.75)
and 1 to 42 for fathers (M= 25.56, SD = 11.04). Finally, a total leisure activities
frequency score was calculated by adding up the frequency scores for playing
activities, academic/cognitive activities and "discussing the child's day", with
scores ranging from 9 to 148 for mothers (M= 67.33, SD = 26.65) and 4 to 147
for fathers (M = 56.23, SD = 26.22).
Mean parental satisfaction scores for the 42-day period were calculated
for each parent for each type of activity. For playing activities, mothers' mean
satisfaction scores ranged from 0 to 4.00 (M= 3.02, SD = .95) with fathers'
scores ranging from 1.17 to 4.00 (M= 3.19, SD = .70). Mothers' mean
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satisfaction scores for cognitive activities ranged from 0 to 4.00 (M= 2.84, SD =
.87) and father's scores ranged from 0 to 4.00 (M = 2.32, SD = 1.19). Mean
satisfaction scores for "discussing the child's day" ranged from 2.05 to 4.00 (M
= 3.30, SD = .45) for mothers and 1.67 to 4.00 (M= 3.15, SD = .46) for fathers.
Finally, for all leisure activities combined, mothers' mean satisfaction scores
ranged from 1.22 to 4.00 (M=3.00, SD = .60) with father's scores ranging from
1.09 to 4.00 (M = 2.83, SD = .66).
Domestic Conflict Index
The Domestic Conflict Index (Appendix B; DCI) assesses conflict
between partners (Margolin, Burman, John & O'Brien, 1990; Margolin, John &
Foo, 1998). It is a 5 1-item inventory of marital conflict behaviors that contains
items assessing the incidence and frequency of physical aggression, emotional
abuse and anger between partners and includes all of the items from the
Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979). There are 14 physically abusive
behaviors (e.g., "pushed, grabbed or shoved spouse," "kicked, bit, or hit spouse
with fist"), 11 emotionally abusive behaviors (e.g., "frightened spouse," "tried to
prevent spouse from seeing/talking to family and friends") and 26 items
assessing anger (e.g., "screamed or yelled at your spouse," "insulted or swore at
your spouse").
Each partner was presented with the list of 51 behaviors twice, first
reporting whether or not they had directed any of the behaviors toward their
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partner and second, whether or not their partner had directed any of the
behaviors toward them. Each partner indicated (a) whether the behavior had
ever occurred in the relationship with the partner and (b) whether it had ever
occurred in front of their child. If an item was endorsed as having happened
sometime in the relationship, the respondent also reported the number of times
the behavior had occurred in the previous year using six categories, including
"not at all" (0), "once" (1), "2-5 times per year" (2), "6-12 times per year" (3),
"2-4 times per month" (4) and "more than once a week" (5). To score the DCI,
the six categories were assigned a score between 0 and 5, capturing how often
that particular behavior occurred over the past year.
Marital conflict scores were generated by choosing the highest total
score reported by husbands and wives on themselves or their partners of item
scores (0 to 5) given the under-reporting associated with marital aggression
(Margolin, 1987). Mothers' conflict behavior scores ranged from 2 to 98 (M =
28.50, SD = 18.56). Fathers' conflict behavior scores ranged from 0 to 78 (M=
23.84, SD = 15.41).
Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL 90-R)
The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (Appendix C; SCL-90-R;
Derogatis, 1983) is a 90-item self-report symptom inventory that measures
psychological distress. The inventory includes nine primary symptom
dimensions (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity,
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depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and
psychoticism). The SCL-90-R also includes seven additional items which are
not included in the nine primary symptom dimensions, but are particularly
relevant to depression (e.g., "sleep that is restless or disturbed;" Moffett &
Radenhausen, 1990). In addition, there are three global measures, the Global
Severity Index (GSI), the Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI), and the
Positive Symptom Total (PST). The inventory has been normed on community
nonpatients (Derogatis, 1983).
The SCL-90-R demonstrates good test-retest reliability over a one week
period, with coefficients ranging from .78 to .90 (Derogatis, 1983). Internal
consistency measures are also highly acceptable, with coefficients alpha ranging
from .84 to .90 (Horowitz et al., 1988). The SCL-90-R has also shown
convergent-discriminant validity in a study contrasting its dimensions with
those of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Derogatis, Rickels,
& Rock, 1976).
All items on the SCL-90-R are rated on a 5-point scale of distress,
ranging from "not at all" (0) to "extremely" (4). For the purposes of the present
study, the Global Severity Index (GSI) was used. The GSI provides a single
summary score that combines information on both numbers of symptoms and
intensity of distress. A GSI score is obtained by summing the scores for the
nine dimensions and the seven additional items, and dividing this score by 90
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(range = 0 to 4). Raw GSI scores were converted to T scores. Mothers' GSI T
scores ranged from 41.61 to 113.30 (M= 53.11, SD = 12.43). Fathers' GSI T
scores ranged from 44.19 to 97.96 (M= 53.11, SD = 10.18).
RESULTS
Overview
The first goal of this study was to investigate the associations between
marital and psychological distress and frequency and satisfaction with parent-
child daily activities. Toward this end, correlational analyses were generated.
In addition, correlations between parents’ education, age and employment and
frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities were also explored.
The second goal was to examine whether parents’ psychological distress and
marital conflict behaviors each uniquely predicted parental frequency and
satisfaction with parent-child daily activities with regression analyses generated
to achieve this goal. Finally, repeated measures ANOVA’s were conducted to
examine whether there are differences in fathers’ and mothers’ frequency and
satisfaction with parent-child daily activities with boys and girls.
Correlations Between Predictor Variables and Demographics
Mothers’ psychological distress was significantly correlated to their own
marital conflict behaviors (r = .39, p<.01) and fathers’ psychological distress
was also significantly correlated to their own marital conflict behaviors (r = .29,
P<.01). In addition, mothers’ and fathers’ marital conflict behaviors were
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significantly correlated (r = .78,p<.01) and mothers’ and fathers’ psychological
distress were also significantly correlated (r =.38, j k .01).
Mothers’ psychological distress was significantly correlated to their
employment status, (r = -.24, p<.01), but no other significant correlations were
found for their psychological distress and the remaining demographic variables
(e.g., education and age). No significant correlations were generated between
mothers’ marital conflict behaviors and their employment, age and/or education.
For fathers, no significant correlations were found for either their
marital conflict behaviors or psychological distress and their employment, age
and/or education.
Correlations Between Parents’ Demographic Variables and Frequency and
Satisfaction with Children’s Daily Activities
Table 1 presents correlations between mothers’ and fathers’
demographic variables (age, education, and employment) and frequency and
satisfaction with parent-child activities. These variables were also investigated
since previous research has found that they are related to parental involvement.
Mothers’ age was negatively correlated with satisfaction with cognitive
activities. Trends approaching significance were found for mothers’
employment and frequency of playing, mothers’ education and frequency of
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Table 1
Correlations for Mothers' and Fathers' Demographic Variables
with Frequency and Satisfaction with Parent-Child Daily Activities
Parent-child activities
Mothers' variables Fathers' variables
Education Employment Age Education Employment Age
Frequency Mothers ( n=118) Fathers (n = 118)
Playing -0.12 -0.16a -0.09
I
O
-0.19* -0.19*
Cognitive 0.01 0.00 -0.10 -0.05 -0.14 -0.04
Discussing Day 0.16a 0.11 0.11 0.03 -0.06 -0.09
Total 0.00 -0.05 -0.06 -0.10 -0.18* -0.16a
to
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Table 1 continued
Mothers' variables
Parent-child activities Education Employment Age
Mean satisfaction
Playing -0.03 -0.09 -0.04
Cognitive -0.163 -0.06 -0.19*
Discussing Day -0.14 -0.01 -0.07
Total -0.14 -0.09 -0.14
*£<.05. **£<.01. a £<. 10.
to
as
Fathers' variables
Education Employment Age
0.04 0.10 0.06
-0.05 -0.04 -0.04
-0.09 -0.10 -0.06
-0.03 0.00 -0.02
discussing day with child and mothers’ education and satisfaction with
cognitive activities.
Fathers' age was negatively correlated with frequency of playing.
Fathers’ employment was found to be negatively correlated with frequency of
playing and frequency of all activities. Trends approaching significance were
also found for fathers’ age and frequency of all activities and fathers’
education and frequency of playing.
Associations Between Marital Conflict and Psychological Distress and
Frequency and Satisfaction with Parent-Child Daily Activities
Associations between marital conflict and psychological distress and
frequency and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities were examined
using correlational analyses and are presented in Table 2. Correlational
analyses of each parent-child dyad (mother and son, mother and daughter, father
and son, father and daughter) were generated with the same general patterns
emerging. Therefore, separate analyses were conducted for each parent
combining data across girls and boys.
Mothers' marital conflict behaviors were negatively associated with
frequency of cognitive activities. In addition, mothers' marital conflict
behaviors were also negatively associated with their satisfaction with discussing
the child's day. Trends approaching significance were found for mothers’
frequency and satisfaction with all activities combined and marital
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Table 2
Correlations for Mothers' and Fathers' Marital Conflict Behaviors
and Psychological Distress with Frequency and Satisfaction
with Parent-Child Daily Activities___________________________
Mothers' variables Fathers' variables
Parent-child activities DCI GSI DCI GSI
Frequency
Playing -0.05 0.02 -0.02 0.03
Cognitive -0.18* -0.07 -0.08 0.06
Discussing Day -0.14 -0.22* 0.04 0.11
Total -0.1 T -0.09 -0.03 0.09
Mean satisfaction
Playing -0.05 -0.01 -0.12 -0.03
Cognitive -0.17 -0.12 -0.09 0.03
Discussing Day -0.23* -0.22* -0.20* -0.05
Total -0.17a -0.11 -0.14 0.01
Note. GSI = G lobal Severity Index. DCI = D om estic C onflict Index
*£><•05. **£><.01. a£><-10.
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distress. No other significant correlations between mothers' marital conflict
behaviors and frequency or satisfaction with parent-child activities were
obtained. Fathers’ marital conflict behaviors were negatively associated with
fathers’ satisfaction with discussing the child’s day. No other significant
correlations were generated for fathers' marital conflict behaviors and frequency
and satisfaction with children's activities.
Mothers' psychological distress was negatively correlated with their
frequency of discussing the child's day. Mothers' satisfaction with discussing
the child's day was also negatively correlated with their psychological distress.
No other significant correlations were generated between mother's
psychological distress and frequency or satisfaction with parent-child activities.
Fathers’ psychological distress was not found to be significantly correlated to
any of the involvement or satisfaction variables.
Associations Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Frequency and Satisfaction with
Parent-Child Daily Activities
Table 3 presents correlational analyses showing that fathers' frequency
of activities is positively correlated to their satisfaction with these activities, and
mothers' frequency of activities is also positively correlated with their
satisfaction with each activity. Table 3 also presents data on the correlations
between mothers’ and fathers’ frequency of involvement and satisfaction.
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Table 3
Correlations Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Frequency and Satisfaction
with Parent-Child Daily Activities_________________________________
Parent-child activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 . Frequency o f playing 42* * .39** .52** .14
32**
.31** .81** .37**
2 . Satisf. with playing activities
32**
.35* * .I T .14 .18* .32** .36** .76**
3. Freq. o f cognitive activities
24**
.2 2 ** .45** .18* .08 .73** .38**
4. Satisf. with cognitive activities .30**
26**
.61** .28* * .08 .41** .32** .73**
5. Frequency o f “D iscussing day with child” .34** .33**
32**
.31** .18* .22* .60**
jg **
6 . Satisf. w / “D iscussing day with child” .18 .45** .28**
3 7 ** 3 9 ** 3 7 * *
.28** .59**
7. Frequency o f all activities
7g**
.40**
67**
.53**
7 3 ** 3 7 **
.43**
8 . Satisfaction with all activities
3 7 **
.67** .57** .8 8 ** .41** .60** .60** .35* *
Note. M others’ reports ( n = 118) are expressed in italics above the diagonal; fathers’ reports ( n = 118) are expressed
below the diagonal. The diagonal contains correlations between m others’ and fathers’ scores on the respective variables.
Scores for satisfaction are mean satisfaction scores.
*p<.05. **p<.01. aj)<.10.
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Mothers' frequency of involvement is positively correlated with fathers'
frequency of involvement with playing, cognitive activities, discussing the
child's day and all activities combined. Mothers’ satisfaction is also positively
correlated with fathers’ satisfaction with all of these activities as well.
Regression Analyses Predicting Involvement and Satisfaction with Parent-Child
Daily Activities
Regression analyses were performed with frequency and satisfaction
with parent-child daily activities as the dependent variables and parents’
psychological distress (GSI) and marital conflict behaviors (DCI) as main
effects. Parents' age, education and employment were controlled for in these
analyses since they were found to be significantly correlated with parental
involvement and satisfaction and have been shown to be related to involvement
in previous research. Regression analyses were run with parents’ age, education
and employment entered at Step 1, and parents’ DCI and GSI scores at Step 2.
Analyses were conducted in this manner to test an additive model. Separate
analyses were generated for frequency and satisfaction as well as for mothers
and fathers. Results of the regression analyses for mothers' frequency and
satisfaction are presented in Table 4 and fathers' results are presented in Table
5.
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Table 4
Regression Model Predicting Mothers’ Involvement and Satisfaction
with Children's Daily Activities________________________________
Predictors
Step 1 Step 2
Parent-child activities
A ge
Beta AR2
Education
B eta AR 2
Em ploym ent
Beta AR 2
GSI
Beta AR 2
DC!
B eta AR 2
Frequency
Playing activities -0.03 0 . 0 0 -0.08 0 . 0 0 -0.14 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 -0.06 0 . 0 0
C ognitive activities -0 . 1 2 0 . 0 2 0.07 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 0.04 0.00 -0 .1 9 a 0.03
D iscussing day -0.05 0 . 0 0 0.13 0 . 0 1 0.08 0 . 0 1 -0.17 0.02 -0.07 0 . 0 0
A ll activities -0.07 0 . 0 0 0.04 0 . 0 0 -0.05 0 . 0 0 -0.04 0.00 -0.15 0 . 0 2
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Table 4 continued
Predictors
Step 1 Step 2
Parent-child activities
A ge
B eta AR2
Education
B eta AR2
Em ploym ent
B eta AR2
GSI
B eta AR 2
DCI
B eta AR2
Satisfaction
Playing activities -0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0.08 0 . 0 1 -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0.04 0.00
C ognitive activities -0.14 0 . 0 2 -0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 -0.03 0 . 0 0 -0.09 0.01 -0.15 0.02
D iscussing day -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0.13 0 . 0 1 0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0.21* 0.03 -0.16 0 . 0 2
A ll activities -0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 -0.08 0 . 0 1 -0.07 0 . 0 0 -0.09 0.01 -0.14 0.02
Note. n = l 18, d f = 3, 114 for Step 1; df= 5, 112 for Step 2
*p<.05. **p<.01. a p<.10.
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Table 5
Regression Model Predicting Fathers’ Involvement and Satisfaction
with Children's Daily Activities_______________________________
Predictors
Step 1 Step 2
Parent-child activities
A ge
B eta AR2
Education
B eta AR 2
Em ploym ent
B eta AR 2
GSI
Beta AR2
DCI
B eta AR 2
Frequency
Playing activities -0.15 0 . 0 2 -0 . 1 1 0 . 0 1 -0.16 a 0.03 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 -0.05 0.00
C ognitive activities -0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 -0.03 0 . 0 0 -0.13 0 . 0 2 0.07 0 . 0 0 -0 . 1 1 0 . 0 1
D iscussing day -0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 0.06 0 . 0 0 -0.06 0 . 0 0 0 . 1 1 0 . 0 1 -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0
A ll activities -0.13 0 . 0 1 -0.05 0 . 0 0 -0.17 a 0.03 0.08 0 . 0 1 -0.07 0 .0 0
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Table 5 continued
Predictors
Step 1 Step 2
Parent-child activities
A ge
B eta AR2
Education
B eta AR 2
Em ploym ent
B eta AR2
GSI
Beta AR 2
DC!
Beta
[
AR 2
Satisfaction
Playing activities 0.05 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 0 -0 . 1 1 0 . 0 1
C ognitive activities -0.04 0 . 0 0 -0.04 0 . 0 0 -0.03 0 . 0 0 0.06 0 . 0 0 -0 . 1 1 0 . 0 1
D iscussing day -0.04 0 . 0 0 -0.07 0 . 0 0 -0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0 .2 1 * 0.04
A ll activities -0 . 0 1 0 . 0 0 -0.03 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 0.05 0 . 0 0 -0.16 0 . 0 2
Note. n = l 18, d f = 3, 114 for Step l; d f = 5 , 112 for Step 2
*£<.05. **p<.01. a p<.10.
CO
U l
Mothers' Analyses:
Regression analyses of mothers' satisfaction with discussing the child’s
day indicated that their psychological distress contributed unique variance
above and beyond their marital distress and the demographic variables.
Mothers’ psychological distress did not predict above and beyond mothers’
marital distress for any of the other outcomes.
Mothers’ marital conflict behaviors were not found to predict above and
beyond their psychological distress for any of the outcomes. A trend did
emerge for mothers’ marital conflict behaviors to predict above and beyond
their psychological distress and the demographic variables for mothers’
involvement with cognitive activities.
Overall, one regression model was found to be significant for mothers.
Mothers' demographic variables, psychological distress and marital conflict
behaviors significantly predicted 10.7% of the variance in their satisfaction with
discussing the child’s day [F(5,117) = 2.68, pc.05].
Fathers' Analyses
Fathers’ psychological distress was not found to significantly predict
above and beyond their marital conflict behaviors or demographic variables for
any of the outcomes. Fathers’ marital conlfict behaviors, though, did predict
above and beyond the demographics and psychological distress for fathers’
satisfaction with discussing the child’s day. Trends emerged for fathers’
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employment to predict above and beyond fathers’ age and education for
frequency of playing activities and frequency of all activities.
In addition, one of the regression models for fathers was found to be
significant. Fathers’ demographic variables alone accounted for 7.9% of the
variance in their frequency of playing activities [F(3,117) = 3.18, p<.05].
Involvement and Satisfaction Comparisons between Parents by Sex of Child
Parental differences in involvement and satisfaction with children's daily
activities were analyzed using 2 x 2 mixed model ANOYA's (Gender of parent
x Gender of child) with parent gender as a within couple variable and child
gender as a between group variable. Parents’ age, education and employment
were also covaried out of these analyses. Tables 6 and 7 present the means,
standard deviations and univariate F ratios.
A significant parent gender x child gender interaction was found for
frequency of playing activities. That is, mothers reported more playing with
girls versus boys, with fathers reporting
more playing with boys versus girls. There was a significant main effect for
child gender for satisfaction with discussing the child’s day such that mothers
and fathers both reported higher satisfaction with girls versus boys. A main
effect for parent gender for satisfaction with all activities was found. That is,
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Table 6
Means and Standard Deviations for Frequency of Parent-Child Activities
for Mothers and Fathers of Girls and Boys.a _________________________
Girls (n = 60) B oys (n = 58) F-Test
Parent-child
A ctivities
M others Fathers
M SD M SD
M others
M SD
Fathers
M SD
Child
(CH)
Gender
F
Parent
(P)
Gender
F
P X
CH
Gender
F
M ean Freauencies
Playing 17.33 16.64 18.47 15.09 14.51 12.22 20.34 13.45 0.28 2.49 5.04*
C ognitive 20.28 12.48 11.55 10.84 18.76 13.86 11.00 10.10 0.00 0.25 0.36
D iscuss 31.92 8.71 27.68 10.17 31.78 8.85 23.34 11.53 1.49 .050 1.48
A ll activities 69.54 27.93 57.70 26.89 65.04 25.29 54.69 25.65 0.02 0.93 0.87
a d f= l, 110. A nalyses were conducted co-varying out parents’ age, education and em ploym ent.
Note: n = l 18 for mothers. n = l 18 for fathers.
*P<.05, **p<.01, ***£><.001. Subscript a indicates £><.10.
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Table 7
Means and Standard Deviations for Satisfaction with Parent-Child Activities
for Mothers and Fathers of Girls and Boys.3
Girls (n = 60) B oys (n = 58) F-Test
Parent-child
A ctivities
M others
M SD M
Fathers
SD
M others
M SD
Fathers
M SD
Child
(CH)
Gender
F
Parent
(P)
Gender
F
P X
CH
Gender
F
M ean Satisfaction
Playing 2.96 1.04 3.11 0.78 3.07 0.84 3.26 0.59 1.23 2.04 0 . 0 0
C ognitive 2 .96 0.87 2.48 1 . 2 1 2.71 0.85 2.14 1.14 2.91a 2.76a 0.03
D iscuss 3.37 0.43 3.28 0.44 3.21 0.45 3.00 0.43 9.48* 1 . 0 0 0.91
A ll activities 3.04 0.65 2.89 0.71 2.95 0.53 2.76 0.60 0.81 4.45* 0.07
a d f= l, 110. A nalyses were conducted co-varying out parents’ age, education and em ploym ent.
Note: n = l 18 for mothers. n=l 18 for fathers.
*g<.05, **£<.01, ***£< .001. Subscript a indicates £< . 10.
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mothers reported higher levels of satisfaction with all activities than fathers. A
trend was found for parents to report higher levels of satisfaction with girls
versus boys for cognitive activities and for mothers to report higher satisfaction
with cognitive activities than fathers.
DISCUSSION
This study was conducted to examine how parental stressors, both
contextual and psychological, influence the daily involvement of parents with
their children. It was hypothesized that parents who were psychologically or
maritally distressed would evidence less frequency and less satisfaction with
parent-child daily activities. Correlational support for these hypotheses was
found among some of these activities for both parents. More specifically, as
mothers’ marital conflict behaviors increased, their frequency of cognitive
activities with children decreased. Increases in mothers’ marital conflict
behaviors were also associated with less satisfaction with discussing the day
with their child. Mothers’ high levels of psychological distress were also found
to be associated with less frequency and satisfaction with discussing the child’s
day. For fathers, increases in their marital conflict behaviors were associated
with less satisfying discussions with children about their day.
Consistent with previous research, this study found limited correlational
support for the realtionship between impaired parenting amidst parental
psychological and/or marital distress. Retrospective, global and observational
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studies have documented that parents who are psychologically or maritally
distressed are more withdrawn, less responsive and more rejecting (e.g., Howes
& Markman; Fauber, Forehand, Thomas & Wierson, 1990; Gottman & Katz,
1989; Grych & Fincham, 1990; Margolin, 1998; Miller, Cowan, Cowan,
Hetherington, & Clingempeel, 1993, Gordon et al., 1989; Hammen, Gordon et
al., 1987; Downey & Coyne, 1990). The current study extended these findings
to daily parental involvement with children using measures taken on a daily
basis in the natural environment (e.g., the participants’ homes).
The co-occurrence and independent effects of both marital conflict and
psychological distress, which are often neglected in the parenting literature,
were also investigated in the present study. There was limited support for
parents' psychological distress and marital conflict behaviors predicting unique
variance in parental frequency and satisfaction with parenting activities.
Mothers' psychological distress accounted for unique variance above and
beyond mothers' marital conflict behaviors for their satisfaction with discussing
the child's day. A trend also emerged for mothers' marital conflict behaviors to
predict above and beyond their psychological distress for frequency of cognitive
activities. For fathers, their marital conflict behaviors contributed unique
variance above and beyond their psychological distress for their satisfaction
with discussing the childs’ day.
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That frequency and satisfaction with all of the investigated activities
were not found to be influenced by psychological and/or marital distress in the
current study may be due to the characteristics of the sample under
investigation. The current study did not use an identified sample of
psychologically or maritally distressed parents, but rather used a community
sample. Increased levels of psychological or marital distress are less likely to
be found in community samples. In fact, the mean scores for both mothers and
fathers in this sample did not reach any clinical cut-offs for psychological
distress. Total mean scores for marital distress were also found to be low
among mothers and fathers in this sample. It may be that for parents who do
not exhibit high levels of marital or psychological distress overall, daily
measures of these variables rather than global measures may be found to be
more related to the frequency and satisfaction of daily involvement with
children. In addition, six weeks may not have been enough time for the effects
of psychological or marital distress to manifest themselves with regard to
parental involvement and satisfaction with children's daily activities. This
might be especially true for parents experiencing subclinical levels of
psychological distress and low levels of marital conflict and particularly for
fathers, who have been found to spend less time with children than mothers.
Finally, the present study also investigated differences in involvement
by the gender of both the parent and the child. Although previous literature has
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found that fathers are more sex-typed in their interactions with children (e.g.,
Amato, 1987; Barnett & Baruch, 1987; Blair, Wenk, & Hardesty, 1994; Crouter
& McHale, 1993; Goldscheider & Waite, 1991; Harris & Morgan, 1991;
Huston, 1983; Ishii-Kuntz, 1994; Marsiglio, 1991), mothers reported playing
more with girls compared to boys, whereas fathers played more with boys
compared to girls in the present study. This may be due to the sample of
mothers and fathers in this study, who had high levels of education which has
been found to be associated with higher levels of involvement for both mothers
and fathers (e.g., Blair et al., 1994, Russell, 1983, 1986; Marsiglio, 1991; Hill &
Stafford, 1985). As far as gender of child, higher parental satisfaction was
found for girls compared to boys only for satisfaction with discussing the child's
day,. Interestingly, this study did not replicate previous findings in which
mothers are found to be more involved with children than fathers (Pleck, 1997),
although mothers did report higher levels of satisfaction with all activities as
compared to fathers. Another interesting finding was the bi-directional
influence of satisfaction and involvement, with increases in one parent’s
involvement and satisfaction being associated with increases in the other
parent’s involvement and satisfaction. Although satisfaction with parent-child
daily activities has received little attention in the literature, the current study
suggests that satisfaction with parent-child daily activities may be an important
factor to consider in order to better understand parental involvement. Perhaps
43
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an important predictor of future involvement is parents' satisfaction with their
current involvement.
Certain limitations to this study need to be acknowledged. Although
satisfaction ratings were obtained from parents, we do not know why parents
rated an activity as satisfying or not as satisfying. In addition, parents reported
on whether they participated in an activity or not, without any information
regarding the length of the activity or whether other adults or children were
present at the time. As mentioned previously, the use of a community sample
may have resulted in very little variance in the independent variables (e.g.,
marital and psychological distress), making it highly unlikely for the
hypothesized relationships between these variables and the frequency and
pleasure of daily parenting activities to be detected. Also, this study did not
look at the effects of parents' psychological or marital distress on their partners’
involvement and satisfaction with daily parenting activities or the effects of
children's behavior on their parents' involvement and satisfaction.
Despite these limitations, this study provides us with preliminary data
regarding the influence of parental psychological and marital distress on
parental involvement and satisfaction with parent-child daily activities. We
extend the findings of the body of research that has extensively examined
parenting amidst psychological and marital distress by studying the impact of
these factors on daily parenting activities. In addition, examination of parental
44
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satisfaction with daily parenting activities is an important component that has
virtually been ignored in previous research.
Understanding how marital discord and depression influence day-to-day
parenting has both theoretical and clinical implications. Marital conflict and
depression are both relatively chronic events whose impact may be understood
better using daily-diary data rather than global assessments of parenting. As
Patterson (1982) has demonstrated, the day-to-day interactions of families
contribute to the understanding of long-term changes and processes within the
family. Although global assessments and observational studies of parenting by
maritally distressed and depressed parents show that they are more withdrawn,
more rejecting and less responsive, we do not really know how this manifests
itself on a day to day basis with regard to the frequency and pleasure of daily
parent-child leisure activities in the home. It may be more helpful to understand
daily processes within the family because interventions targeting parental
involvement in daily activities with children may be easier to implement than
interventions targeting more global processes.
Future studies should attempt to investigate psychological and marital
distress on a daily basis and examine how these impact the frequency and
pleasure of daily parent-child leisure activities. Also, investigations should be
conducted over a longer period of time. The length of the interaction may be an
important determinant of parental satisfaction and bi-directional influences,
45
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such as children's satisfaction with shared parent-child activities, should not be
ignored in future studies. Parental expectations of spending time with their
children should also be explored as potential factors influencing involvement
and satisfaction. Qualitative data regarding why parents rate an activity as
satisfying or not satisfying could potentially provide us with a wealth of
information that may help us to better understand parental involvement.
46
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R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
APPENDIX A
F A M IL Y ST U D IE S P R O JE C T
A D U L T H O M E D A T A Q U E S T IO N N A IR E
Family ID#_
D A IL Y ST R E SS
_Day o f Interaction, Date Filled Out
b) moderate 1) M y productivity today w a s :............................................................... a) good
2) M y relations with people outside the hom e (e.g., work, doing
errands) w ere:.. . . a) good
3) M y contact with people I like (other than target-child and
spouse) was:............... a) high
4 ) Today I fe lt:.............................................................................................. a) energetic b) neutral
5) Today the stress I felt from my fam ily w a s :.................................. a) high
6 ) Today the stress I felt from other than my fam ily (work,
friends, activities) was: a) high
7) Overall my day outside my fam ily was:.......................................... a) very
positive
b) moderate
b) moderate
b) moderate
c) poor
c) poor
c) low
c) listless
c) low
b) moderate c) low
b) positive c) neutral
d )N /A
d) none
d) none
d) negative e) very
negative
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C H IL D 'S B E H A V IO R -
8 ) The follow ing describe my child today. C ircle all that apply.
a) happy
g)
cranky or whiny m) had a good day at school
s)
played w ell with friends
y)
cruel
b) sad h) argumentative n)
threw temper tantrum
t)
sassy to parent
z)
lied
c)
scared
i)
cooperated o) jealous o f a sibling u)
fought with a friend aa) swore
d) angry
j)
friendly
P)
disobeyed parent V)
fought with a sibling bb) stole
e)
anxious k) screamed
q )
demanded attention w) did homework cc) m oody
f)
calm
1 )
helpful r) played w ell alone X) destroyed an object
belonging to another
dd) cried
P A R E N T -C H IL D IN T E R A C T IO N
9) H ow much contact did you have with your child today? . a) none b) < 1
hour
c )l-3 h r s d )4 -6
hrs
e) > 6 hrs
1 0 ) H ow much love or affection did you show your child a) none b) som e c) a lot
today?
1 1 )
H ow angry were you with your child to d a y ? .................. a) none b) som e c) a lot
1 2 ) H ow angry was your child at you to d a y ? ....................... a) none b) som e c) a lot
13) H ow much did you punish your child today?.................. a) none b) som e c) a lot
14) W ere you too busy to do som ething your child wanted a) none b) som e c) a lot
you to do today?
L O
oo
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15) How much did you nag your child today? a) none b) som e c) a lot
16) How irritated were you with your child today? a) none b) som e c) a lot
17) How often did you warn your child she/he might be
punished?
a) none b) som e c) a lot
18) How m uch did you yell at your child today? a) none b) som e c) a lot
19) How much did you tell your child to stop doing som ething? a) none b) som e c) a lot
2 0 ) How much did you hug or kiss your child today? a) none b) som e c) a lot
2 1 )
more
How much did you ask your child to do som ething (chore)
than once?
a) none b) som e c) a lot
2 2 ) Overall my day with my child w a s :................................. a) very
positive
b)positive c) neutral
M A R IT A L IN T E R A C T IO N
23) H ow much contact did you have with your spouse today? . . a) none b) < 1 hour c )l-■ 3 hrs d) 4-6
24) Today I expressed anger or irritation at m y partner............... a)
none b) som e c) a lot
25) Today my partner expressed anger or irritation at m e............. a) none b) som e c) a lot
26) I felt distant or withdrawn from m y partner.............................. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
27) M y partner seem ed withdrawn or distant from m e.................. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
28) Today I hit, pushed, or shoved my partner................................. a)
not at all b) som e c) a lot
very
negative
L n
V O
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
29) Today my partner hit, pushed, or shoved m e............................. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
30) M y partner and I kissed and hugged each other today a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
31) M y partner and I had a good conversation today..................... a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
32) Today I nagged my partner.............................................................. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
33) Today my partner nagged m e........................................................... a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
34) M y partner ignored my w ishes or needs....................................... a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
35) I ignored m y partner's w ishes or needs.......................................... a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
36) I took my partner's feelings lightly................................................. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
37) M y partner took my feelings lightly............................................... a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
38) M y partner and I disagreed about a child-related issue a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
39) M y partner and I disagreed about an issue unrelated to
children. a) not at all b) som e c) a lot
40) Overall my day with my partner was: ................................... a) very b) positive c) neutral d) negative
positive
41) D id you and your spouse have any conflictual interaction today in the presence o f your child? Y es_
C T \
O
e) very
negative
N o______
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
42) If yes, please indicate your child's reaction to the interaction. Circle all that apply.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Cried e)
Show ed no reaction f)
B ecam e angry g)
Left the room
Listened or watched
T ook sides
Seem ed to feel distressed, sad, or frightened
h) M isbehaved or had a tantrum
i) Tried to make peace
j) B ecam e unusually w ell behaved
k) Picked a fight
43) D id you and your spouse show affection towards one another today in the presence o f your child? Y e s .
44) If yes, please indicate your child's reaction to the interaction. Circle all that apply.
a) Seem ed embarrassed c)
b) D isplayed jealousy d)
Show ed no reaction e)
W atched f)
Seem ed com fortable and happy
Joined in to also get som e affection
N o
PARENT-CHILD DAILY LEISURE ACTIVITIES - D id you and your child do any one o f the follow ing activities
TOGETHER today?
Circle NO or YES. If Y ES, rate how pleasurable you think the activity was FOR YOU.
Pleasurable Rating
N ot PI. = > Very PI.
45) Playing
46) Shopping
N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
Pleasurable Rating
N ot PI. = > Very PI.
51) D iscussing the N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
child's day
52) C o o k in g , chores, N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
yardwork
ON
Reproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
P A R E N T -C H IL D D A IL Y L E IS U R E A C T IV IT IE S (con tin u ed ) - D id you and your child do any one o f the
follow ing activities TOGETHER today?
Circle N O or Y E S. If Y E S, rate how pleasurable you think the activity was FOR YOU.
Pleasurable Rating Pleasurable Rating
N ot PI. => V ery PI. N ot PI. => V ery PI.
4 7 ) D oing N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4 53) Sports or board N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
hom ework gam es
48) Reading N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4 54) Going out to an N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
event
49) Taking a walk N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4 55) Eating together N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
5 0 ) Dance, m usic, N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4 56) W atching T V or N O Y E S=> 1 2 3 4
art V CR
57) How much time did you spend in your car today? . a) none b) < 1 hr c) 1 - 2 hrs d) 2-4 e) > 4 hrs
hrs
58) How many hours did you sleep last night?................. a) < 2 b) 2-5 c) 5-7 hrs d) 7-9 e) > 9 hrs
hours hours hrs
59) How many m eals did you eat today?......................... a) none b) one c) two d) three e) > 3
o\
to
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
60) H ow many alcoholic drinks did you consum e
to d a y ? .......... a) none b) one c) two d)th ree e) > 3
61) H ow many cigarettes did you sm oke to d a y ? ........... a) none b) 1 - 1 0 c) 1 1 - 2 0 d) > 2 0
62) Did you experience physical discom fort to d a y ? .. .
a) none
b) slighl c) moderate d) a lot
63) Did you take any non-prescription medication
tod ay?.. . . a) yes b) no
64) H ow much time did you spend exercising today? . a) none b) < 30
c)
30-60 min d) > 1 hr
mins.
65) H ow many paid hours did you work today? . . . a) none b) < 4 hours c) 4-8 hrs d) 8 - 1 2 hrs
6 6 ) H ow many unpaid hours did you work today? . a) none b) < 4 hours c) 4-8 hrs d) 8 - 1 2 hrs
67) H ow much time did you spend watching T V or V C R today? a) none b) < 1 hour c) 1-3 hours d) 3-6 hrs
6 8 ) H ow much time did you read for pleasure today?............... a) none b) < 1 hour c) 1-3 hours d) > 3 hrs
69) D id you have sexual intercourse within the last 24 hours?.
a)
yes b) no
70) H ow much time did you spend relaxing today?, a) none b) < 1 hour c) 1-3 hours d) 3-6 hrs
July 9, 1991
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R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
APPENDIX B
I D # _____________
Domestic Conflict Index
Margolin, G., Burman, B., John, R. S., & O’ Brien, M. (1990)
University of Southern California
No matter how well a couple gets along, there are times when they disagree on major decisions, get annoyed about something the other
person does, or just have spats or fights because they’re in a bad mood, or tired, or for some other reason. People have many different ways
of expressing frustration, annoyance, or hostility with one another. Attached you will find a list of some things that you and your partner
may have done. You will find that some of these items apply, while others do not. Please be sure to consider all items, even if they seem
extreme.
First, decide if this behavior has ever occurred. If yes, indicate whether or not it happened in front of your child. Next, indicate how
frequently this behavior occurred within the last year (regardless of child’s presence).
If the behavior has never occurred in the history of your relationship, circle “No” under “Ever” and go on to the next question.
From o n e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Have you: Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 - 1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1
per
week
1 . screamed or yelled at your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 . insulted or swore at your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
3. damaged a household item, or some part of your home,
out of anger towards your spouse
No Yes No Maybe Yes
4. withheld affection from your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
5. deliberately disposed o f or hid an important item o f your
spouse’s
No Yes No Maybe Yes
6 . sulked or refused to talk about an issue No Yes No Maybe Yes
7. monitored your spouse’s time and made him or her
account for where he/she was
No Yes No Maybe Yes
8 . made plans that left your spouse feeling excluded No Yes No Maybe Yes
9. left your spouse and were unsure whether you were
going to return
No Yes No Maybe Yes
O v
4^
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
From on e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Have you: Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 -
1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1 per
week
1 0 . been angry if your spouse told you that you were
using
too much alcohol or drugs
No Yes No Maybe Yes
1 1 . been very upset if dinner, housework, or home repair
work was not done when you thought it should be No Yes No Maybe Yes
1 2 . done or said something to spite your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
13. been jealous and suspicious of your spouse’s friends No Yes No Maybe Yes
14. purposely hurt your spouse’s pet No Yes No Maybe Yes
15. purposely damaged or destroyed your spouse’s
clothes, car, and/or other personal possessions
No Yes No Maybe Yes
16. insulted or shamed your spouse in front of others No Yes No Maybe Yes
17. locked your spouse out of the house No Yes No Maybe Yes
18. told your spouse that he/she could not work, go to
school, or go to other self-improvement activities
No Yes No Maybe Yes
19. tried to prevent your spouse from seeing/talking to
family or friends
No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 0 . had an extramarital affair No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 1 . restricted your spouse’s use of the car or telephone No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 2 . made threats to leave the relationship No Yes No Maybe Yes
23. blamed your spouse for your problems No Yes No Maybe Yes
24. tried to turn family, friends, or children against your
spouse
No Yes No Maybe Yes
25. ordered your spouse around No Yes No Maybe Yes
26. been insensitive to your spouse’s feelings No Yes No Maybe Yes
27. frightened your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
ON
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
From on e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Have you: Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 -
1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1 per
week
28. treated your spouse like he/she was stupid No Yes No Maybe Yes
29. given your spouse the silent treatment/cold shoulder No Yes No Maybe Yes
30. criticized your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
31. called your spouse names No Yes No Maybe Yes
32. stomped out of the room, house, or yard No Yes No Maybe Yes
33. stayed away from the house No Yes No Maybe Yes
34. ridiculed your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
35. physically twisted your spouse’s arm No Yes No Maybe Yes
36. threatened to hit your spouse or throw something at
him/her in anger
No Yes No Maybe Yes
37. pushed, grabbed, or shoved your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
38. slapped your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
39. physically forced sex on your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
40. burned your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
41. shaken your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
42. thrown, smashed, hit, or kicked something No Yes No Maybe Yes
43. prevented your spouse from getting medical care that
he/she needed
No Yes No Maybe Yes
44. thrown or tried to throw your spouse bodily No Yes No Maybe Yes
45. thrown an object at your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
46. choked or strangled your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
47. kicked, bit or hit your spouse with a fist No Yes No Maybe Yes
48. hit your spouse, or tried to hit your spouse, with
something
No Yes No Maybe Yes
Os
Os
R eproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
From on e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Have you: Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 -
1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1 per
week
49. beat up your spouse (multiple blows) No Yes No Maybe Yes
50. threatened your spouse with a knife or gun No Yes No Maybe Yes
51. used a knife or a gun on your spouse No Yes No Maybe Yes
In this section, you will answer the same types of questions about vour spouse. Again, you will find that some of
these items apply, while others do not. Please be sure to consider all items, even if they seem extreme.
From on e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Has your spouse Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 - 1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1
per
week
1 . screamed or yelled at you No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 . insulted or swore at you No Yes No Maybe Yes
3. damaged a household item, or some part of your home,
out of anger towards you
No Yes No Maybe Yes
4. withheld affection from you No Yes No Maybe Yes
5. deliberately disposed o f or hid an important item of yours No Yes No Maybe Yes
6 . sulked or refused to talk about an issue No Yes No Maybe Yes
7. monitored your time and made you
account for where you were
No Yes No Maybe Yes
8 . made plans that left you feeling excluded No Yes No Maybe Yes
9. left you and you were unsure whether he/she was
going to return
No Yes No Maybe Yes
1 0 . been angry if you told him/her that he/she was using too
much alcohol or drugs
No Yes No Maybe Yes
Reproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
From o n e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Has your spouse Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 - 1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1
per
week
1 1 . been very upset if dinner, housework, or home repair
work was not done when he/she thought it should be
No Yes No Maybe Yes
1 2 . done or said something to spite you No Yes No Maybe Yes
13. been jealous and suspicious of your friends No Yes No Maybe Yes
14. purposely hurt your pet No Yes No Maybe Yes
15. purposely damaged or destroyed your clothes,
car, and/or other personal possessions
No Yes No Maybe Yes
16. insulted or shamed you in front of others No Yes No Maybe Yes
17. locked you out of the house No Yes No Maybe Yes
18. told you that you could not work, go to school,
or go to other self-improvement activities
No Yes No Maybe Yes
19. tried to prevent you from seeing/talking to family
or friends
No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 0 . had an extramarital affair No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 1 . restricted your use of the car or telephone No Yes No Maybe Yes
2 2 . made threats to leave the relationship No Yes No Maybe Yes
23. blamed you for his/her problems No Yes No Maybe Yes
24. tried to turn family, friends, or children against you No Yes No Maybe Yes
25. ordered you around No Yes No Maybe Yes
26. been insensitive to your feelings No Yes No Maybe Yes
27. frightened you No Yes No Maybe Yes
28. treated you like you were stupid No Yes No Maybe Yes
29. given you the silent treatment/cold shoulder No Yes No Maybe Yes
30. criticized you No Yes No Maybe Yes
31. called you names No Yes No Maybe Yes
32. stomped out of the room, house, or yard No Yes No Maybe Yes
Os
00
Reproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
From on e year ago u n til to d a y ...
Has your spouse Ever? In front of your
child?
0 per
year
1 per
year
2-5
per
year
6 - 1 2
per
year
2-4
per
month
> 1
per
week
33. stayed away from the house No Yes No Maybe Yes
34. ridiculed you No Yes No Maybe Yes
35. physically twisted your arm No Yes No Maybe Yes
36. threatened to hit you or throw something at
you in anger
No Yes No Maybe Yes
37. pushed, grabbed, or shoved you No Yes No Maybe Yes
38. slapped you No Yes No Maybe Yes
39. physically forced sex on you No Yes No Maybe Yes
40. burned you No Yes No Maybe Yes
41. shaken you No Yes No Maybe Yes
42. thrown, smashed, hit, or kicked something No Yes No Maybe Yes
43. prevented you from getting medical care that
you needed
No Yes No Maybe Yes
44. thrown or tried to throw you bodily No Yes No Maybe Yes
45. thrown an object at you No Yes No Maybe Yes
46. choked or strangled you No Yes No Maybe Yes
47. kicked, bit or hit you with a fist No Yes No Maybe Yes
48. hit you, or tried to hit you, with something No Yes No Maybe Yes
49. beat up you (multiple blows) No Yes No Maybe Yes
50. threatened you with a knife or gun No Yes No Maybe Yes
51. used a knife or a gun No Yes No Maybe Yes
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73
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APPENDIX C ID # _
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SC L -90
DIRECTIONS: B elow is a list o f problem s that people som etim es have. Please mark the response that best describes how much discom fort
that problem has caused you during the past w eek, including today. Please do not skip any items.
3-
3 "
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N ot at all A little bit M oderately Quite a bit Extremely
1. H eadaches □ □ □ O D
2. N ervousness or shakiness inside □ □ D O
3. Repeated unpleasant thoughts that won't leave your mind □ □ □ O D
4. Faintness or dizziness
J l l O ^ ' l f □ □ O O
5. Loss o f sexual interest or pleasure □ □ ~.....□ ........ O O
6 . F eeling critical of others i : Q : 1 i::i; l l : 0 ' : : l '
,1 0 : 1 : 1 1 1
D
7. The idea that som eone can control your thoughts □ □ □ O O
8 . F eeling others arc to blame for m ost o f your troubles 1 1 a 4 1 $ : i: : « O i l l , l l : : ::sO: ' : : l l l r 1 0 1 1 l: ! ll 0
9. Trouble remembering things □ ........ □ ........ □ ......... ....... O O
10. W orried about sloppiness or carelessness
: |. . : Q f ! g : ...................... 1; 0 1 1 1 !
O
11. Feeling easily annoyed or irritated □ □ o O O
12. Pains in the heart or chest ....... : :;E H I : 1 1 ; O i l l ' l l
! l : V : A 0 1 1 1 0
13. Feeling afraid of open spaces or on the streets □ □ o .......... □ O
14. Feeling low in energy or slow ed dow n : : - : T: O W
1 1 1 1 0 % . . 0 ■ ■ ■ ! : : D
15. Thoughts o f ending your life □ □ o O 0
16. Hearing voices that other people d o not hear
f . It o c v ; : : ;
i i : : □ 1 1 I:;.,:IIO I . 1 : 0 l l l l O
17. Trembling □ □ o O 0
18. Feeling that most people cannot be trusted : □ ' .
::, □
D. ':l l O
19. Poor appetite □ □ □ O O
20. Crying easily □
□ D .. □ ! O
21. F eeling shy or uneasy with the opposite sex
□ □ D o O
< 1
O
Reproduced with permission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without p erm ission .
22. Feeling o f being trapped or caught
23. Suddenly scared for no reason
24. Temper outbursts that you could not control
25. Feeling afraid to go out o f your house alone
26. Blaming yourself for things
27. Pains in low er back
28. Feeling blocked in getting things done
29. Feeling lonely
30. Feeling blue
31. Worrying too much about things
32. Feeling no interest in things
33. Feeling fearful
34. Your feelings being easily hurt
35. Other people being aware o f your private thoughts
36. Feeling others do not understand you or are unsympathetic
37. Feeling that people arc unfriendly or dislike you
38. Having to do things very slow ly to ensure correctness
39. Heart pounding or racing
40. N ausea or upset stomach
4 1. Feeling inferior to others
42. Soreness o f your m uscles
43. Feeling that you are being watched or talked about by
others
44. Trouble falling asleep
45. Having to check and double-check what you do
46. D ifficulty m aking decisions
47. Feeling afraid to travel on buses, subways, or trains
48. Trouble getting your breath
Not at all A little bit Moderately Quite a bit Extremely
□ □ □ □ □
□ □ □ □ □
□ , 11 7 0 1I 1:; □
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49. H ot or cold spells
50. Having to avoid certain things, places, or activities because
they frighten you
51. Your mind going blank
52. N um bness or tingling in parts o f your body
53. A lump in your throat
54. Feeling hopeless about the future
55. Trouble concentrating
56. Feeling weak in parts o f your body
57. Feeling tense or keyed-up
58. Heavy feeling in your arms or legs
59. Thoughts o f death or dying
60. Overeating
6 1. Feeling uneasy when people are watching or talking about
you
62. Having thoughts that are not your own
63. Having urges to beat, injure, or harm som eone
64. Awakening in the early morning
65. H aving to repeat the sam e actions such as touching,
counting or washing
6 6 . Sleep that is restless or disturbed
67. H aving urges to break or smash things
6 8 . Having ideas or b eliefs that others do not share
69. Feeling very self-conscious with others
70. Feeling uneasy in crow ds, such as shopping or at a m ovie
71. Feeling everything is an effort
72. Spells o f terror or panic
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73. Feeling uncomfortable about eating or drinking in public
74. Getting into frequent arguments
75. Feeling nervous when you are left alone
76. Others not gi ving you proper credit for your achievem ents
77. Feeling lonely even when you are with people
78. Feeling so restless you couldn’t sit still
79. Feelings o f worthlessness
80. The feeling that som ething bad is going to happen to your
body
81. Shouting or throwing things
82. Feeling afraid that you w ill faint in public
83. Feeling that people w ill take advantage o f you if you let
them
84. Having thoughts about sex that bother you a lot
85. The idea that you should be punished for your sins
8 6 . Thoughts and im ages o f a frightening nature
87. The idea that som ething serious is wrong with your body
8 8 . N ever feeling close to another person
89. Feelings o f guilt
90. The idea that som ething is wrong with your mind
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Asset Metadata

Creator Rios, Martha Acosta (author)

Core Title Parental frequency and satisfaction with children's daily activities

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Clinical Psychology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,psychology, clinical,sociology, individual and family studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-301906

Unique identifier UC11341411

Identifier 1414888.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-301906 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 1414888.pdf

Dmrecord 301906

Document Type Thesis

Rights Rios, Martha Acosta

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA