Leslie A. Bosch

Retaining Early Childhood Education Workers: A Review of the Empirical Literature

ABSTRACT Low retention in the child care workforce is a persistent challenge that has been associated with negative outcomes for children, staff, and centers. This article reviews the empirical literature, identifying common correlates or predictors of retention for child care workers. Searches were conducted using several databases, and articles that presented quantitative or qualitative data on retention for center-based child care workers in the United States were reviewed in detail. Seven themes emerged as potential predictors of retention: wages and benefits, job satisfaction, organizational characteristics, alternative employment opportunities, demographic characteristics, job characteristics, and education and training. Although some of the findings were mixed, increased retention was generally associated with the following: working in a publicly operated or nonprofit center that meets accreditation or policy standards, being older, maintaining a higher-level position, having more tenure and experience, receiving higher wages, and reporting higher job satisfaction. Based on these studies, child care centers should seek to increase pay, recruit staff with more experience, and aim to improve job satisfaction among staff to help increase retention. In addition, government-funded professional development incentive programs may help child care centers meet the goals of a high-quality, educated, and stable workforce.

Identity style and relationship quality for pregnant cohabitating couples during the transition to parenthood

In this study, we tested the association between identity formation and intimacy formation in a diverse sample of pregnant cohabitating couples (N = 127 individuals). Using S. K. Whitbournes identity process theory, we examined how identity style (balanced, accommodative, assimilative) is associated with various aspects of relationship quality. As hypothesized, a balanced identity style (ability to maintain self-stability while retaining flexibility) is associated with positive relationship quality (higher relational maintenance), whereas an accommodative identity style (reliance on external sources of authority for inner guidance) is associated with negative relationship quality (lower commitment, lower satisfaction, lower love, higher conflict, higher ambivalence). Consistent with E. H. Eriksons theory of psychosocial development, individuals high on accommodative identity style report difficulty negotiating many aspects of their romantic relationship, a pattern that may serve to exacerbate the stress typically associated with the transition to parenthood for cohabiting couples.

Identity Style During the Transition to Adulthood: The Role of Family Communication Patterns, Perceived Support, and Affect

Young adulthood is a crucial period for identity development and an unclear sense of identity has been associated with deleterious psychological and social outcomes. Using structural equation modeling, this study tested a mediational model that connects family communication patterns (conversation orientation, conformity orientation, conversation × conformity) to identity styles (informational, normative, diffuse-avoidant) to perceptions of social support and affect (positive, negative) in a sample of 275 university students. An informational style was associated with higher levels of conversation orientation, higher levels of conformity orientation, and the interaction between conversation and conformity orientation. A normative style was associated with high conversation orientation and high conformity orientation. A diffuse-avoidant style was associated with conformity orientation alone. In turn, the informational style was positively associated with negative affect; the normative style was positively associated with perceptions of support and negatively with negative affect; and the diffuse-avoidant style was negatively associated with perceptions of support and positively associated with negative affect. Results indicate that identity style partially mediated the association between family communication patterns and perceptions of social support and negative affect. Hence, identity style may represent one mechanism by which the cumulative effects of family communication patterns affect psychosocial outcomes among young adults.

Deployment and family functioning: A literature review of US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq

The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have led to historically high rates of military deployment for the United States. The increased deployment tempo of the current conflicts necessitates a closer look at the literature on the impact of deployment on families specific to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this article, we review the qualitative and quantitative literature on the impact of OEF and OIF deployment on families. The review included 38 articles organized into four major areas: (1) Family Changes and Transitions, (2) Child Maltreatment, (3) Spouse Stress and Mental Health, and (4) Marital Relationship Quality. Results of this review are discussed in terms of the need for additional research on individual differences between families and greater emphasis on how deployment impacts the well-being of spouses. We conclude with a discussion of limitations.

A review of the impact of US military deployments during conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on children's functioning

Recent military conflicts have resulted in longer and more frequent deployments than past conflicts for US Servicemembers; this increased deployment tempo has potential consequences for youths well-being. This review article synthesizes the research that has examined the impact of parental deployment in the United States since 2001 on youths functioning. Extant literature reveals that, while parental deployment is directly associated with increased academic problems, it has a more complex association with behavior problems, peer relationships, and physical health problems. For these outcomes, variables such as parent well-being and child age played a role in the impact of parental deployment on youth. These findings highlight the need for additional research on the complex association between parental deployment and youths functioning, and the factors that might moderate this association.

Predictors of Financial Identity Development in Emerging Adulthood

To explore how emerging adults grapple with the increasing demands of fiscal responsibility, the present study tests a model of identity formation in the domain of finance. We draw on Erikson’s theory of identity formation as operationalized by Marcia’s identity status model, which details four identity statuses: achieved, foreclosed, moratorium, and diffused. A sample of college students (N = 1,511) were surveyed at two time points: in their first (ages 18–21, T1) and fourth (ages 21–24, T2) years of college. Primarily, we find evidence for financial identity stability, although we found some evidence for financial identity regression from moratorium to foreclosed status. After controlling for T1 financial identity, T1 variables were most predictive of changes in T2 foreclosure: Increases in foreclosure were predicted by measures of perceived parental socioeconomic status, parental communication, financial education, and subjective norms at T1.

Identity Style and Marriage for Pregnant Cohabitors as They Begin the Transition to Parenthood

The transition to parenthood is a difficult time for almost all individuals, with possibly unique difficulties for pregnant cohabitors given simultaneous challenges of identity, intimacy, and impending parenthood. The authors examined how identity style was associated with aspects of marriage, including attitudes toward marriage and reasons not to marry, for 127 pregnant, unmarried, cohabitors. We were particularly interested in the accommodative identity style characterized by a lack of sense of self whereby individuals avoid personal decisions and instead allow contextual demands to determine their outcomes. After controlling for demographics and depressive symptoms, results demonstrated that higher accommodative identity style scores were associated with more negative attitudes toward marriage and greater self-doubts as reasons for not marrying. We discuss how the difficulty of transitioning to parenthood may be compounded for pregnant cohabitors who lack a sense of self, which may undermine their efforts to establish intimacy with their partners.