Informal and formal supports and maternal child-rearing practices in at-risk and non at-risk psychosocial contexts

Abstract

This study investigated two questions. First the differences between the social networks call on to solve problems of at-risk and non at-risk mothers. Second, how the risk status and source of support influence the relation between the mothers' social support and their parental practices. Self-report data about the sources and support satisfaction of the informal and formal networks, and the reported use of negligent, coercive and inductive practices were obtained from a sample of 481 mothers, 235 referred by the Social Services and 246 non-referred mothers. Results of discriminant analyses indicated that the social support for non at-risk families relied heavily on the partner and the school. For at-risk families, a supplementary network emerged, consisting of the social services, voluntary associations, neighbours, friends, police and the child protection agency. The relation between support satisfaction and child-rearing behaviour depended on the risk status and the source of support. Specifically, there were beneficial effects of satisfaction with grandparent and school support on positive and negative parental behavior no matter the risk status. There was also a beneficial effect of satisfaction with partner support on positive parental behavior. However, a detrimental effect of satisfaction with partner support as well as with aunt/uncle support and social services support was observed on negative parental behavior in the at-risk group.

Introduction

Families experiencing negative psychosocial conditions (e.g., marital violence, low educational background, poverty, lack of social support, substance abuse) are typically on social assistance and receive many forms of support delivered by the social agents of the municipal services in terms of cash assistance, work activities, education, and health-related services, among others. The present study explored two issues. First, the informal and formal social networks used by mothers referred by the social services as living in at-risk conditions in comparison to those used by non at-risk mothers. Second, the relationship between the satisfaction with social support and the three types of parental behaviour: coercive, neglectful and inductive reasoning strategies which are found to be related to child adjustment. What is tested here is the proposition that the beneficial effects of social support on parenting vary depending on the mothers' risk status and the source of help.

Social support is defined as the process by which the social resources provided by the informal and formal networks allow instrumental and expressive personal needs to be met in everyday situations as well as under crisis conditions (Lin & Ensel, 1989). The informal networks comprise the intimate and confiding relationships with relatives, friends and neighbours. They also include the individual's participation in voluntary organizations, clubs and services, and political and civic organizations (Cowen, 2000). Informal support consists of a rich system of private exchanges embedded in a natural framework of mutual assistance and obligations in the primary group, the neighbourhood and the community (Wills, 1991). The formal network is comprised of the services provided by professionals belonging to institutions (e.g., schools, churches, and social services). Service delivery is embedded in a framework of unidirectional exchanges, guided by protocols and applied by experts in accordance with standards of quality. Overall, people tend to seek informal support to increase their feelings of competence, personal worth and self-confidence in their personal resources (Gottlieb, 1983). It is also a way to protect the privacy of their lives that is usually jeopardized when vulnerable parents have to seek formal support for solving their problems.