Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Educational Psychology

Major Professor

William A. Poppen

Committee Members

Julia A. Malia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the wide variety of different types of after-school care that parents use and how those types change over time. Next, the study examined the amount of complexity in parents' after-school care arrangements and the number of caregivers children are exposed to in their after-school experiences. Finally, this study examined how certain demographic factors (sex of child, parents' marital status, socioeconomic status, neighborhood safety, mother's work status, and ethnicity) influenced the amount of complexity or the number of care-givers to which a child was exposed. The subjects in this study were 585 children and families who are part of a multisite, longitudinal research project, the Child Development project. Subjects who participated in this study were approached at kindergarten registration in 1987 about participating in a longitudinal study. Approximately 75% of those families who were approached at each of three sites (Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee and Bloomington, Indiana) agreed to participate. This procedure then was repeated at all sites in 1988, and a second cohort group was recruited. Data were collected in the summer after fifth grade. Primary caregivers were asked to recall which types of after-school child care that were used to care for her/his child in the years between kindergarten and fifth grade. The amount of each child's waking hours spent in 12 types of after-school care were recorded. The number of care-givers each child was exposed to also was recorded. One finding of this study was that a wide variety of after-school care arrangements were used by families over the years. Another finding indicated that complexity (or total number) of after-school care arrangements increases from kindergarten through fifth grade. The number of informal caregivers increased slightly over time. Finally, family socioeconomic status and ethnicity were found to significantly affect the number of people who cared for a child from kindergarten through fifth grade. Low socioeconomic status families tended to have more custodial caregivers than middle or upper socioeconomic status families and Black families tended to have slightly more custodial caregivers provide care for their children than did white families.

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