JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multi-stressed low-income families in Singapore. It aims to bridge the knowledge gap left by existing poverty studies which are predominately risk focused. Through a sequential longitudinal mixed method design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social developmental and mental health trajectories of outcomes. Through utilizing the Latent Growth Curves Model (LGCM) we aim to detect development and changes of the positive family agency and adaptive capacities of these families over time. The construct of family agency is underpinned by the theoretical guidance from the Social Relational Theory (SRT) which does not treat family as a global concept. Instead, it considers child agency, parent agency and relational agency and the interactions among these members. It is hypothesized that positive family agency within low-income families may lead to better outcomes. We will address key research questions including whether the extent of positive family agency mediates the relationship between financial stress, resource utilization, home environment and parental stress.

Objective:

Objective:

The study aims to elucidate the construct – family agency – through interviews with mother-child dyads. It also aims to understand how financial stress and resources are differentially related to home environment, parent stress and parent and child outcomes

Methods:

All families in this have children between 7 and 12 years old and receive government financial assistance. In phase one, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 60 mother-child dyads. Based on the results from the 120 interviews, a measurement for the construct of Family Agency will be developed. This measurement will be pilot tested. In phase two, a longitudinal survey will be collected over three time points from 400 mother-child dyads (n=800). The three-waves of survey results will be analysed by LGCM to identify the trajectories of adaptation. Ten focus groups with 15 participants in each group will be conducted to validate the LGCM results. These participants of these focused groups are drawn from those who participated in phase 2a.

Results:

The trajectories of adaptive pathways of these poor families will be identified.

Conclusions:

Findings from this study can potentially inform social policy and programmes as it refines the understanding of low-income families by distinguishing trajectories of adaptive capacities so that policies and interventions can be more targeted in enhancing the adaptive pathways of low-income families with children.