While a single parent's shift work may upset children,
couples that work odd hours don't have a negative
impact on their teenagers.
Image: iStockphoto

Couples working shift work can be assured that their job has little impact on the mental health of their teenage children, according to a new study.

The study, based on a survey of about 1700 youths as part of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia series, compared those whose parents worked standard day-shift to those who worked non-standard hours.

Curtin Business School research associate and principal author of the study, Associate Professor Mike Dockery, described the results as “surprising”.

“The results were unexpected because the available literature suggested that parents working non-standard schedules had a negative effect on their children’s health and well-being,” he said.

“The study has demonstrated that in two-parent families, the impact of a parent working non-standard hours on their teenagers is, at most, very minor.

“However, the same does not hold for sole parent families.  These children displayed inferior mental health if the parent worked shift work.  Children from sole parent families also displayed inferior mental health to their peers living in two-parent families.”

The study surveyed youth aged 15-20 years and the report notes that “within two-parent families the impact of parental work arrangements diminishes as children enter adolescence and become more independent of their parent.”

The report found that “two parent families offer greater flexibility to combine work and family priorities and at times may enable an increase in the time at least one parent is available to spend with the children.”

Associate Professor Dockery said shift work should not be seen as negative, particularly for two-parent families.

“To the extent that non-standard hours may be a mechanism for meeting the needs of some families, such flexibility is clearly desirable,” he said.

The study, co-authored by Jianghong Li and Garth Kendall, will appear in the journal, Social Science & Medicine.