O trabalho dos pais como um exossistema na bioecologia do desenvolvimento dos filhos

Abstract

This doctoral thesis has the general objective of investigating whether and how parents´work constitutes an exosystem with influence on the bioecology of children’s development. To this em, the work was organized into two studies: Study I entitled “Characteristics of parent´s work and their relationship with the bioecology of children’s development” aimed too explore the relationship between the variables of parents´work (general characteristics, level of stress and quality of life at work) and the development of children. This is an exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative data approach 204 parents of children aged 0 at 6 years particiopated, who had some type of paid activity. The results revealed the relevance of the PPCT model for understanding the relationship between parents’ work and children’s development. A statistically significant relationship was found between variables relating to parents, such as level of education (p < 0,001), gender (p < 0,001) and age group (p < 0.03), and activities carried out with their children, such as singing (p<0,003), reading/telling stories (p < 0,04), playing, watching screens (p < 0,02), talking about the child’s day (p < 0,01), with the context Family (including carrying out joint activities and frequency of Family meals, p < 0,05) and the characteristics of the parent´s work, such as: main paid activity (p < 0,001), location and method of commuting to work (p < 0,001), shift (p < 0,001), schedule (p < 0,001), working time (p < 0,001), effort required (p < 0,001) and stress at work (p < 0,04), as well such as changes in parents’ work due to the COVID-19 Pandemic (p < 0,001) and whether the parents`company offers early childhood incentives. Furthermore, mesosystemic relationships were identified, such as parents´ability to monitor their children’s school activities and aspects related to time (schedules, shifts, commuting and parents’ working hours). Two logistic regression models were created, using suspected developmental delay and work stress as mediating variables. In the first model, the influence of the characteristics of parents´work was highlighted, such as the type of effort required, and parents´concerns about children´s learning and behavior, together with elements of the school microsystem, in the assessment of suspected child abuse developmental delay (p < 0,041). In the second model, quality of life at work and parents´main paid activity, together with their concerns about children’s learning and behavior, were statistically significant in predicting stress at work (p < 0,063). In sum, this study offers consistent conclusions about the complex interaction between parents’ work and their children’s development, highlighting the importance of considering multiple variables and systems in future analyzes in this área. Study II entitled “Parents’ work as an esoxystem in the bioecology of children’s development and the implications of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic” aimed to investigate changes in the exosystem constituted by parents’ work during the COVID-19 Pandemis, theoretically examining these transformations and their impacts on the bioecology of children development. The study adopted a descriptive approach with qualitative data analysis, resulting in a Thematic Analysis. The results highlight several changes in the parents’ work environment, such as work overload and tehe implementation of modalities such as home office and hybrid work. Difficulties in professional performance were also identified due to remote school activities in the home environment. This thematic analysis presents evidence of the relationship between the exosystem of parents’ work and children’s development, promoting a theoretical discussion about elements that make up Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT model. The results presented theoretically and empirically demonstrate the proposed and defended thesis and can serve as a basis for reformulating public and private policies aimed at early childhood, aiming to improve the quality of life at work and combat the stress associated with it. This can result in greater job satisfaction for parents, with benefits for Family relationships, joint activities, games and school support for their children, contributing positively to child development. Future research is necessary to deepen the findings and practical and political contributions, since these characteristics tend to negatively harm the course, direction and meaning of proximal processes. It is suggested that studies be carries out to evaluate children, using standardized scales that can investigate different aspects of development. As well as studies on the perception of parents´work, in addition to other studies with a larger number of participants that allow the generalization of data and prediction of studied variables.