Maternal Parenting Stress Based on Employment Status: Testing Measurement Invariance Using Multi-Group Latent Class Analysis

초록

The primary objective of this study was to test measurement invariance using a multi-group latent class analysis to examine parenting stress across groups of employed and unemployed mothers. This study analyzed data from the third to eighth waves (ages 3-8) of the Panel Study on Korean Children, including a final sample of 1,796 participants with verifiable maternal employment status at the third wave. This analysis identified latent class classification patterns of maternal parenting stress in two groups and assessed similarities and differences in latent classes at both the latent and indicator levels. The key findings were as follows. First, the number of latent classes for parenting stress was consistently determined as three across both groups, indicating a similar model structure, regardless of employment status. Second, the examination of measurement invariance at the latent level revealed a structural invariant model, suggesting that mothers, regardless of their employment status, experienced parenting stress in fundamentally similar ways. This was evidenced in their comparable response patterns to stress-related indicators and aligned fluctuations in stress levels over time. Third, an item-level analysis revealed a notable difference in responses between employed and non-employed mothers when their children were 3 years old, suggesting that employment status may influence how maternal parenting stress is perceived during early childhood. This study provides significant insights into the relationship between maternal employment status and parenting stress by applying the multi-group latent class analysis, contributing to a deeper understanding of maternal parenting stress patterns in different employment contexts.

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