Assessing Work-Family Conflict Experienced by Chinese Parents of Young Children: Validation of the Chinese Version of the Work and Family Conflict Scale.

While there a number of measures to assess work-family conflict already exist, there are no well-validated measures exist for clinical use with Chinese parents. This study sought to validate a Chinese version of the work and family conflict scale (WAFCS), a brief 10-item scale developed for clinical and research use with parents. Relying on a sample of 447 Chinese parents in Hong Kong, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the WAFCS. Results showed that a two-factor model, similar to that of the original scale, fit the data well. The scale had concurrent and discriminant validity, while the scale's measurement invariance across gender and its internal consistency were also supported. Such robust psychometric properties suggest that the WAFCS is a promising tool that can be applied in a variety of research and clinical settings to examine work-family conflict experienced by Chinese parents.

Parenting in a 24/7 Economy: Mothers' Non-standard Work Schedules and Involvement in Children's Education.

Evidence suggests that parental involvement in children's education has a positive impact on children's educational achievements and wellbeing outcomes. The trend toward 24/7 economies has obliged many mothers to work non-standard schedules (i.e., schedules outside traditional daytime, Monday-Friday work schedules). This has raised concerns over how non-standard work schedules affect parenting behaviors, including paternal involvement in children's education. Using data from mothers of young children (age 5-6) in Hong Kong (N = 433), this study examined the association between maternal work schedules and involvement in children's home and school activities. The results of structural equation modeling found that weekend work was associated with lower levels of home-based involvement. By contrast, working non-standard hours was linked with higher levels of school-based involvement. This pattern suggested that non-standard work schedules could make it either easier or harder for mothers to balance work and family responsibilities, depending on the circumstances (i.e., whether they work non-standard hours or weekends). These findings, indicating that the effects of non-standard work schedules are not uniformly negative or positive, warrant sophisticated policy efforts to address the potential adverse effects of non-standard work schedules and avoid undermining their potential to be used as a family-friendly option.

Area-socioeconomic disparities in mental health service use among children involved in the child welfare system.

Relying on data from a nationally representative sample of youth involved in the child welfare system (CWS) in 1999-2000 (the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, Cohort 1) and 2008-2009 (Cohort 2), this study implemented a diverse set of disparity indicators to estimate area-socioeconomic disparities in mental health (MH) services use and changes in area-socioeconomic disparities between the two cohorts. Our study found that there are area-socioeconomic disparities in MH service use, indicating that the rates of MH service use among youth referred to the CWS differ by area-socioeconomic positions defined by county-level poverty rates. We also found that area-socioeconomic disparities increased over time. However, the magnitude of the increase varied widely across disparity measures, suggesting that there are different conclusions about the trend and magnitude of area-socioeconomic disparities, depending upon which disparity measures are implemented. A greater understanding of the methodological differences among disparity measures is warranted, which will in turn impact how interventions are designed to reduce socioeconomic disparities among children in the CWS.