Childhood Disabilities and Differential Parental Time Investments in Siblings

• In Event: Social and Emotional Wellbeing for Differently-abled Individuals and their Families

Abstract

Objectives
This study evaluates parental time investments in youths with disabilities relative to their siblings using nationally representative time diary data from the United States.

Background
Parents probably play the most important role in a child’s developmental trajectory. Prior research demonstrates causal links between parental time investments in their children and positive child development (Attanasio et al., 2020; Gertler et al, 2014; Grantham-McGregor et al., 1991; Walker et al., 2005). As parents allocate their time and resources across multiple children, child characteristics in a household may lead to differential time investments among siblings. Health shocks to a child (i.e. having a disability) may be an important determinant of parental time investments. Parents may compensate for health deficiencies through heavy involvement or overparenting (Feldman et al., 2016; Gagnon et al., 2019; Hamilton et al., 2015; Semrud-Clikeman, 2007). Parents may therefore allocate more time to children with disabilities relative to their siblings.

Method
This study used the American Time Use Survey (2008-2019) to evaluate parental time investments in children. We evaluated parent-child one-on-one time, which likely fosters parent responsiveness and engagement as well as children’s cognitive development (Altintas, 2016). We also evaluated “quality time,” a measure of time spent in activities fostering parent attention and child development (Price, 2008). We included a third measure of total parent-child time, recognizing that parents serve as social models whenever with their children (Wikle, Ackert, & Jensen, 2019). First, using fixed effects regression analysis, we made across-family comparisons of the oldest two household children in families to determine if time investments differed in households where the oldest child had a disability relative to families where no children had disabilities (N=14,370). Next, we used fixed effects regression analysis to analyze within-family sibling comparisons of parental time investments in households of children with disabilities (N=648).

Results
Parents of disabled children spent more one-on-one time with their disabled oldest household child relative to their second household child. The pattern of spending more one-on-one time with an older disabled child was distinct from families without a disabled child. When evaluating within-family sibling differences, we found that parents spent an additional 15 minutes daily in one-on-one time and 61 minutes daily in total time with their disabled child relative to other household children.

Conclusion
Our findings have important implications for the development of children with disabilities and their siblings. The additional care we observe from parents likely promotes youth development for their disabled children. Our research presents parental time investments as a plausible mechanism leading to difficulties experienced by siblings of disabled youth, such as lower academic achievement (Black et al., 2020; Breining, 2014; Breining et al., 2015; Fletcher et al., 2015). We demonstrates reasons why the situation can take a toll on family members (Hamilton et al., 2015). We point to a need for greater support for families of youth with disabilities. Respite programs which provide quality care to disabled children may be especially valuable by allowing parents to more easily meet the developmental needs of all their children.

Authors

• Jocelyn Wikle, Brigham Young University
  Presenting Author

• Alexander C. Jensen, Brigham Young University
  Non-Presenting Author