Does Full-Day Kindergarten Reduce Parenting Daily Hassles?

Suite à la mise en oeuvre du programme d'apprentissage à temps plein de la maternelle et du jardin d'enfants, cette étude a comme but d'examiner les différences de stress parentale, en particulier les difficultés quotidiennes identifiées par des parents d'enfants inscrits à des programmes à temps plein et à temps partiel. En se basant sur un projet de démonstration intégrant la maternelle/le jardin et les services de garde d'enfants, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les parents d'enfants inscrits à un programme à temps plein éprouvent moins de difficultés quotidiennes. Dans le contexte d'une étude de suivi longitudinale sur la transition du programme à temps partiel au programme à temps plein dans la province, nous avons demandé aux parents participant à l'étude de remplir un questionnaire au sujet des difficultés quotidiennes des parents. Les résultats indiquent que le programme à temps plein diminue les difficultés quotidiennes seulement chez les parents employés à temps plein. Nous considérons les conséquences sur le plan politique de l'intégration du programme d'apprentissage à temps plein de la maternelle/du jardin d'enfants et des services de garde d'enfants. Mots-clés: maternelle à temps plein stress parental, tracas quotidian, emploi des parents, modèle de soins intégrés Parenting daily hassles are viewed as the recurring demands associated with raising a young child (Crnic & Greenberg, 1990) and contribute to parental well-being and parenting relationships (Crnic, Gaze, & Hoffman, 2005). The goal of this study was to examine differences in the daily hassles reported by parents of half-day and full-day kindergarten students following the phased-in implementation of full-day kindergarten in Ontario. Based on results from a previous demonstration project of integrated kindergarten and childcare, it was hypothesized that parents of full-day kindergarten children would experience fewer daily hassles related to education and childcare. Four hundred and forty-nine parents participating in a longitudinal study tracking Ontario's transition from half-day to full-day kindergarten were asked to complete a survey of their experiences with early childhood parenting daily hassles, as well as a demographic questionnaire as part of the larger study. We investigated whether parents of children enrolled in full-day programs experienced reductions in parenting daily hassles as compared to parents of children in half-day programs. Overall, parents of children enrolled in full-day kindergarten reported similar levels of daily hassles to parents of children in half-day programs. Additional analyses of demographic factors indicated that full-day kindergarten was related to lower levels of daily hassles for parents who worked full-time. Policy implications regarding integrated full-day kindergarten and childcare are discussed. Keywords: full-day kindergarten, parenting stress, parenting daily hassles, parent employment, integrated care model
Introduction Parenting Stress Stress is considered a continuous interaction between a person and the environment (Lazarus, 1984). Parenting stress can result from the discrepancy between the demands of parenthood and [...]