Working Odd Shifts Can Hurt Parent/Child Relationships

Research from NC State’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology indicates that working a job that doesn’t keep 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours can hurt the relationships between parents and adolescents, increasing the likelihood that children will engage in delinquent behaviors. In some circumstances, though, an unconventional work schedule can be a benefit for children.

Professor of Sociology Toby Parcel is the co-author of a paper, “Parental Nonstandard Work, Family Processes, and Delinquency During Adolescence,” published online in the Journal of Family Issues. She worked with with Ph.D. sociology student Josh Hendrix, lead author of a paper on the research, to determine the impact of “nonstandard” work schedules on child-parent relationships and delinquency. They examined nationally representative data from 1,986 adolescents aged 10-17 and evaluated various configurations of households and work patterns.

Read about the fascinating findings in this news release by Matt Shipman in NC State’s news office.