Parent-Child Relationships in the Context of Family Homeless Shelters

• In Event: Individual Differences and Strengths Among Parents Experiencing Homelessness: Links to Child Adjustment

Abstract

Family homelessness represents a context of substantial risk, including chronic risks associated with extreme poverty as well as acute risks related to specific homeless episodes (Cutuli & Herbers, 2014; Haskett & Armstrong, 2019). Young children who stay in family homeless shelters show elevated rates of developmental delays as well as later academic difficulties (Fantuzzo & Perlman, 2010; Haskett et al., 2016). Research on resilience in children who experience homelessness indicates the potential for positive, nurturing parenting to protect healthy development despite the associated risks (Gewirtz et al., 2009; Herbers et al., 2014; Masten et al., 1993). Unfortunately, the same poverty-related risks that threaten children’s well-being can present challenges to developing parent-child relationships, and aspects of family shelter environments such as crowding and lack of privacy may further exacerbate these struggles (Perlman et al., 2014). Understanding how various factors challenge and support positive parenting in these contexts has potential for informing preventive interventions that might seek to bolster this crucial protective factor for children experiencing homelessness.
Participants were drawn from two samples of parent-child dyads recruited from emergency shelters for homeless families in Philadelphia. The first sample included 60 caregivers with at least one child age birth-5 years. The second included 22 caregivers with infants ages birth-12 months old. The average age of the children was 2.25 years (SD = 1.84 years). All caregivers in the sample were biological mothers, and the majority were Black (75%). Mothers completed structured interviews about themselves, their children, and their experiences including perceived social support and how long they had been residing in shelter. Quality of the parent-child relationship was assessed with the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS; Magana et al., 1985). In FMSS, parents are asked to speak out loud, describing their child and the relationship while being audio-recorded. Recordings were coded for expressed warmth and negativity (Caspi et al., 2004) with ICC >.75. Parent distress was measured with 14 depression items from the Symptom Checklist (SCL-25; Derogatis, Lipman, Rickles, Uhlenhuth, & Covi, 1974). Parenting stress was measured using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4-SF; Abidin, 2012).
To investigate which factors would predict quality of the parent-child relationship, we conducted a multiple regression analysis predicting FMSS scores from covariates of parenting stress, parent distress, social support, child age, and time in shelter. Results indicated significant effects for parenting stress (β = -.30, p = .02) and months in shelter (β = -.24, p = .04), with more parenting stress and longer times in shelter predicting lower scores on the FMSS. Parent distress, social support, and child age did not uniquely predict FMSS scores in the overall sample, though we did observe child age-related differences in FMSS scores within samples. These results show an important association between shorter shelter stays and more positive parenting. Also, stress related to parenting specifically, and not general distress, may be more fruitful targets for preventive interventions to support parent-child relationships in families experiencing homelessness.

Authors

• Alexandra R Buccelli, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author

• Katherine Hayes, Villanova University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janette E. Herbers, Villanova University
  Non-Presenting Author