Maternal Employment in a Family Context: Effects on Infant-Mother and Infant-Father Attachments.

Abstract

The present investigation examined the effects of full time maternal employment on (1) the quality of infant-mother attachments and (2) the quality of infant-father attachments. In addition, the infant's constellation of attachments to both his mother and father was treated as the unit of analysis in order to assess the effects of maternal employment on the family as a whole. The sample consisted of 35 dual-wage-earner families and 75 single-wage-earner families, both with first born one-year-olds. The families were comparable in age, education, and social class. In the dual-wage-earner families, all mothers resumed full time employment approximately 2 months postpartum, placing their infants in alternate home-based care. The quality of the infants' attachment relationships to mother and father was measured by separate, counterbalanced sessions of Ainsworth's Strange Situation, a procedure which permits a clinical evaluation of the attachments as secure (adaptive) or insecure (maladaptive). There were three major findings. First, the proportion of secure infant-mother attachments in dual and single-wage-earner families was not statistically different. Second, there was a significantly higher proportion of insecure infant-father attachments in dual-wage-earner families than in single-wage-earner families, but only for boys. Third, there was a significantly higher proportion of the most secure attachment constellation (secure attachments to both parents) in the single-wage-earner families, again only for boys. This study has indicated the importance of evaluating maternal employment effects in a family context. Negative consequences of maternal employment become apparent when the infant's attachments to both parents are simultaneously taken into account, but not necessarily when the maternal attachment is considered separately. In addition, it appears that maternal employment may have deleterious effects on boys' attachments to their fathers. An interpretation was provided based on evidence from other studies indicating greater vulnerability to stress in boys than in girls. Further research on family attitudes and interaction patterns should be the next step in underst and ing the effects of maternal employment on infant social development.