• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2009

The relations of mothers' attitudes regarding maternal employment to mothers' psychological well-being, mothers' parenting sensitivity and children's social competence were examined for mothers who worked full-time (extensively) from age 6 months of their children on, mothers who were not employed, and mothers who worked part-time or inconsistently during their children's early years. Longitudinal observations of 1,034 mothers and children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care from age one month to first grade were analyzed using structural equation models. As predicted, mothers and children benefited when maternal attitudes were consistent with mother's actual employment status. Among extensively employed mothers, those with positive attitudes about employment had better psychological well-being; among mothers who were not employed, those who believed that maternal employment would have negative consequences for children's development reported better psychological well-being. The findings suggested that whether the mother's status of employment is congruent with their beliefs, not whether the mother is working or not, predicted the mother's well-being and their child's social development.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.95-106
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of authentic parental competence and awareness of early childhood educational community on the life satisfaction of mothers with preschoolers depending on mothers' employment status. Methods: A total of 238 mothers (98 employed, 130 unemployed) whose children were attending early childhood institutes participated in a survey measuring three variables. Results and Conclusion: The findings of the study were as follows: First, there were positive correlations between authentic parental competence, awareness of early childhood educational community, and life satisfaction, regardless of employment status. Second, comparing employed mothers with unemployed mothers, a common variable affecting life satisfaction was social competence, a sub-variable of authentic parental competence. Further, self-system competence, a sub-factor of authentic parental competence, influenced life satisfaction for employed mothers, and sharing core values, a sub-variable of awareness of the early childhood educational community, influenced life satisfaction for unemployed mothers.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.43-56
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• 2010

This study explored time-use patterns of young children and compared the patterns according to mother's employment status. Using 6718 time diaries of 3359 children under age 5, as reported by their mothers, this study examined (1) the proportion of children who spent time on certain activities and the amount of time they spent on each activity for a weekday and a weekend day and (2) the proportion and the amount of time that children spent with certain adults. Compared to children with unemployed mothers, children with employed mothers spent more time during weekdays in child care centers and less time sleeping. These children also spent more time on education during weekends. The proportionate and actual times children spent with various adults also differed by the mother's employment status. Those with employed mothers spent less time with their mothers and more time with other relatives or teachers on weekdays. These results indicate that maternal employment corresponds with differing timeuse patterns from children's early life stages.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.229-239
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• 2013

This study attempted to examine whether there is a relationship between parental stress and the accessible and mobilizable social capital of mothers raising young children by the mothers' employment status. The sample included 284 employed and 287 non-employed mothers who have children younger than the age of 5. Three research questions were as follows: 1) do the accessible and mobilizable social capital of mothers and parental stress differ by the mothers' employment status? 2) are the accessible and mobilizable social capital of employed mothers related to the level of parental stress? And finally, 3) are the accessible and mobilizable social capital of unemployed mothers related to the level of parental stress? The results showed that no significant difference was found in accessing social capital by the employment status of mothers. However, employed mothers were capable of mobilizing more social capital for childcare assistance than non-employed mothers. The parental stress of employed mothers was significantly lower than that of non-employed mothers. For employed mothers, their mobilizable social capital contributed to the reduction of parental stress. For non-employed mothers, their capability of accessing social capital significantly predicted lower levels of parental stress. These results indicate that the concept of social capital could be taken into consideration when explaining the parental stress of married mothers raising young children.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.306-313
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• 2015

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with initiation and continuation of breastfeeding among Korean women in relation to their employment status. Methods: Data were collected using a web-based self-administered questionnaire from 1,031 Korean mothers living in Seoul with babies younger than 24 months. Demographic characteristics, education on breastfeeding, rooming in, breastfeeding during hospital stay, and breastfeeding knowledge were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with initiation and continuation at 1, 6 and 12 months according to mothers' employment status. Results: Breastfeeding initiation rates were similar regardless of mothers' employment status. Continuation rates decreased for both groups of mothers, but were significantly lower among employed mothers at all duration points. Unemployed mothers who were able to keep their babies in the same room during the hospital stay were more likely to initiate breastfeeding. The factor that was consistently associated with breastfeeding continuation for all duration points among unemployed mothers was whether the mother breastfed during the hospital stay. Higher knowledge scores and having an infant with atopic dermatitis were also associated with breastfeeding continuation at 6 months and 12 months, respectively for unemployed mothers, and receiving education on breastfeeding was associated with 12-month continuation for employed mothers. Conclusion: These results emphasize the significant roles of hospitals for breastfeeding initiation and continuation, with rooming-in, initial breastfeeding practice and education during hospital stay as important practices. In addition, for working mothers to continue their breastfeeding, significant support from the workplace is crucial.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-68
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• 2002

While the survival rate of preterm infants and employment rates of mothers with infants have been dramatically increasing, little is known about the impact of maternal employment and having premature infants on maternal health recovery after delivery. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine differences in postpartum health by mother's employment and infant's prematurity over time during the first 3 months postpartum. The study used a longitudinal design and was secondary data analysis from a large study. A convenience sample of 132 mothers was recruited with mothers who had fullterm or preterm infants through the postpartum unit. They were followed up for 3 times (at 1-2 days, 6 weeks, and 3 months) during the first 3 months postpartum period. Level of fatigue and hysical symptoms were indicators for postpartum physical health; Positive affect and negative affect were assessed for postpartum mental health, and role functional status after childbirth was for role performance. Finding indicated that health indicators changed significantly over time but there was no main or interaction effect for maternal employment status. There were main effects of infant's prematurity on positive affect, negative affect, and role functional status (self-care and social and community activities). This study enhanced the understanding of postpartum health of mothers with preterm infants as well as those with fullterm infants during the postpartum period.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.135-153
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• 2009

This study examined trends in private after-school lessons for preschoolers and elementary school children as a function of demographic characteristics such as children's age, socioeconomic status, and mothers' employment status. One thousand and sixty-three mothers completed questionnaires on demographic characteristics and their children's participation in private after-school lessons. Data were analyzed by chi-square, one-way ANOVA, t-test, and multiple regression analyses. Results demonstrated that older children and children from higher income and full-time homemaker families attended more private lessons. Age of children was the most influential variable among the demographic characteristics; that is, older children had more after-school lessons. Recommendations for future research are to focus on possible negative effects of excessive private lessons on children's socio-emotional development.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.461-480
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mothers' parenting beliefs and supportive interaction on maternal parenting stress. It also examined variations of the results by household income levels and mothers' employment status. Participants of the study were 770 mothers of children aged 23-31 months who were a part of the 2010 wave of the National Survey for Panel Study on Korean Children. The analyses revealed that parenting stress was affected by mothers' parenting beliefs and supportive interaction. Mothers' supportive interaction has been shown significantly to predict parenting stress in all four groups of this study. The results demonstrated that the strength of the relationship between parenting stress and parenting beliefs and reciprocal interaction varied based on the combination of income and work status. These findings suggested that income and employment status are important to examine collectively.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.498-506
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to determine the stress and the dietary habits of elementary school children and assess the associations with mother's employment status. The subjects were 423 students of 5th and 6th grade students (210 boys and 213 girls) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-Do. Two hundred fifty-two mothers had some kinds of job and 171 mothers were housewives. The students had stress the most from their studies/schoolwork (M = 2.37), while the least from "teacher/school" (M=1.51). The average stress score of the subjects was 1.76. The average score of dietary habits was 3.43. More specifically, the statement "not skipping breakfast" had the highest score (M = 4.04) and the statement "not substituting cereals, breads or drink milk for any meal" had the lowest score. Students with employed mothers had higher stress level than students with unemployed mothers. Students with employed mothers who have blue color job showed the lower dietary habits score than those with employed mothers who had other types of job. Students of employed mothers who go to school at dawn showed the lowest dietary habits score. In both employed and unemployed mothers, the stress score of students negatively correlated with the score of dietary habits. It was important for the mother to be at home when the students go to school and return. Based on this study, mothers should be aware of the stress level of their children get depending on their employment status. They should also provide their children to have good dietary habits and nutritional education regularly.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.15-25
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• 2012

This study examined the parenting beliefs and the achievement pressure of Korean mothers with five to seven year old children. The maternal parenting beliefs criterion (Ahn, 2001) and achievement pressure criterion (Hong, 2001) have been applied to 212 mothers living in Seoul or Kyonggi-Do area and analyzed. The results showed that the maternal parenting beliefs were influenced by the child's gender, while the maternal achievement pressure was not. And significant difference was seen only in between the educational background and the maternal parenting beliefs, and the employment status and interaction effects were not shown.