Family Functioning And Child Well-Being Amongst Urban Malay Single Mother Families Influence Of Risk And Protective Factors.
A large and growing number of Malaysian families with children are headed by single mothers. Past research has found that single mother families and their children experience more difficulties in the context of family life and well-being than two parent families. This study was designed to determ...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6034/1/FEM_2005_8.pdf |
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| Summary: | A large and growing number of Malaysian families with children are headed by single
mothers. Past research has found that single mother families and their children
experience more difficulties in the context of family life and well-being than two parent
families. This study was designed to determine the contribution of risk and
protective factors in predicting urban Malay single mothers' family functioning and
child well-being. In addition, this study examined the moderating role of protective
factors (risk x protective factor interaction) on the relationships between risk factors
and family functioning and child well-being. Multiple factors in several domains
(individual, family and extra familial) were identified as risk and protective factors.
The risk factors were economic strain, depression, work stress and neighborhood
problems. While, the protective factors were self-esteem, coping competence,
parenting behavior and social support. Family functioning was composed of two subdimensions;
cohesion and adaptability while child well-being consisted of three subdimensions,
self-regulation, cognitive competence and self-worth. Findings from this
study are based on the data collected from 158 urban Malay single mothers who had at
least one child between the ages of six to twelve years. The most critical finding was
the evidence to support the moderating role of protective factors on the relationships
between risk factors and family functioning and child well-being. Overall, the risk and
protective factors considered in this study explained between 17-35% of the variance
in single mother's family functioning outcomes and 13-21% of the variance in child
well-being outcomes. The findings imply that economic strain is the single most
important risk factor affecting child well-being. Protective factors account for
substantial variance in family functioning; they account for more unique variance
(28%) than the risk factor measures (3%). There was evidence that the presence of
protective factors was likely to reduce the impact of risk factors. Parenting behavior
provided the best protective barrier between risk factors and family functioning.
Findings also suggest that urban Malay single mothers with higher levels of protective
factors are more likely to have better family functioning and child-well-being
outcomes. In addition, results indicate that urban Malay single mother families that
have balanced family functioning are more likely to have children with higher levels of
child-well-being. The risk factor index (RFI) was found to be significantly related with
all the child well-being outcomes but none of the family functioning outcomes.
However, the protective factor index (PFI) was significantly related with both the
outcomes. These results highlight the role of protective factors in promoting better
family hnctioning and child well-being and the extent to which protective factors
buffer risk factors that might compromise outcomes. Consideration should be given to
both risk and protective factors in the design of interventions aimed at strengthening
family functioning and enhancing child well-being in urban Malay single mother
families. |
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