Recent demographic trends indicate a rise in the number of women with preschool-aged children who are in the workforce. As a result, the number of children who need full or part-time child care has also risen dramatically. Building upon a longstanding interest in the effects of caretakers' behaviors on children, developmental and educational psychologists have studied intensely the effects of non-maternal care on children's well-being. The effects of child care on other members in the network - the child care workers, the workers' families, and the children's families - have not been investigated as thoroughly. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of job stress in child care workers in determining positive and health-enhancing outcomes to all members of the child care network. Within the theoretical framework of the Person-Environment Fit model of job stress, this project will employ a two-phase design to study the origins and nature of job stress in four groups of providers (assistants in for-profit child care centers, assistants in non-profit child care centers, licensed family day care providers and recently terminated licensed family day care providers). Phase One will consist of a series of focus groups conducted separately with members of each of the worker cohorts. Phase Two will consist of a cross-sectional survey of members of each group. The major aims, of this study are: (1) to identify the most common job-related stressors in each of the provider groups; (2) to identify factors that influence why workers remain in or leave the profession; (3) to develop and test for validity and reliability a Child Care Worker Job Stress Inventory; (4) to determine the feasibility of conducting future studies of job stress with unlicensed in-home providers and """"""""nannies"""""""", and (5) to develop sufficient contacts within the child care community to support future, long-term projects.
