Case Study: Impact of a Mother's Career on a Child's Development

This case study explores the multifaceted impact of a working mother's professional life on her child's psychosocial development, using the scenario of Raffaella, a single working mother. It addresses how the increasing cost of living necessitates dual-income families, often leading mothers to return to work soon after childbirth. The study highlights the potential effects on children's cognitive functions and emotional well-being due to limited parental time and reliance on childcare services, which can have both positive and negative impacts. Maternal stress, stemming from demanding careers, is also examined for its potential adverse effects on both the mother and child's health, including harsh parenting and developmental issues. Furthermore, the study delves into how stress affects overall health, triggering physiological responses that can lead to various health problems, and how these stresses can trickle down to children, potentially weakening their immune systems and affecting their long-term health. The case also touches upon the importance of parental bonding, cultural values, and the broader sociocultural context in managing work-family balance, emphasizing that a stressful childhood can have lasting implications on a child's health and development. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Running head: CASE WORLD SCENARIO
CASE WORLD SCENARIO
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Part 1
Proposed question: How can the professional life of a working mother can affect the psychosocial
development of a child?
With the increasing standard of living and increasing health care complications the cost of living
are increasing drastically, due to which employment has become mandatory for both the members of a
family, be it a male or a female. Most of the mothers get back to their job right after that delivery which
shows that most of the mothers get back to the job while their children are in the infant stage. The case
study reveals that Raffaella is a working single mother who works in a very demanding position in a
company which required continuous contribution of Raffaella, due to which Raff cannot spend enough
time with her child. Studies have shown that most of the working mother cannot append ample with their
kids which directly affect the psychosocial wellbeing of the kids and impacts the later cognitive function
of the kids (Hetherington 2014). Mailey et al.(2014) have argued with the fact that working mothers are
more likely to involve personal caregivers for the child in order to show high levels of sensitivity towards
the child and mainly does that to ensure a good quality of life for the child. Again it has been frequently
found that the poor day care services for the child can pose negative impact on the emotional and the
social development of the child. It has to be remembered that provision of a quality of care for the child
also requires financial support. Hence employment for mothers are necessary (Hetherington 2014).
Furthermore Åkerstedt et al. (2013) have also opined that working mothers with sense of satisfaction and
accomplishments can serve as a good role model for the kids. Mother who can manage work and the
family can incorporate good sense of ethics in the kids. Again it is not only the working status of the
mother that impacts the emotional wellbeing of a child, but factors like availability of care from both the
parents, presence of an extended family and presence or absence of a paternal figure and presence or
absence of siblings- affects the quality of life of every child. Parental bonding enhances the spiritual and
the emotional development of the child as it makes the child to feel safe and important. It is evident from
the case study that Raff had to work for long hours and hence becomes stressful, may be due to her
demanding position. According to Thompson (2014) maternal stress has been related to harsh parenting,
maternal depression or depression in the child, poor socio- emotional, cognitive and physical
development of the child and it can have long lasting effects on the wellbeing of both the mother and the
child. Lamb (2012) have also opined that presence of both the parents is essential for an infant as one can
take care of the child in absence of the other. Furthermore reflecting on the sociocultural background of
Raffaela, it should be mentioned that she come off a Roman Catholic family and it is her values that
enables her to manage both the professional and the personal life. Hence her last resort was to seek help
from a child care center. It has already been stated that child care centers can also have negative impacts

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in the child. Lamb (2012) have stated that children who spend more time in day care center are more
likely to suffer from infections, gastrointestinal diseases and respiratory distress, that can lead to child
morbidity.
Part 2
How stress may play a part in illness?
Stress is thought to be an important factor in many of the health problems. As an individual
encounters with stress, the body parts identifying the stimulus notifies the signal to the brain. The
message passes to the hypothalamus and the thalamus via the reticular activating system. The
hypothalamus receiving the stress signals activates two stress pathways- the endocrine system and the
autonomic nervous system (Thompson 2014). Due to the activation of the autonomic nervous system, the
heart rate, blood pressure body fluid retention and the respiration increases. The activation of the pituitary
gland occurs which in turn leads to the release of certain hormones (Laukkanen et al. 2014). The
chemicals from the brain elicits the flight and the fight response that causes acceleration of the heart rates,
dilation of the coronary arteries, dilation of the bronchial tubes , increase in anxiety, salivation, dilation of
the pupils and extreme feeling of tiredness (Thompson 2014).
Some of the common health problems that can be caused due to stress is nausea, spastic colon,
diarrhea, cold and the sinus infection, high blood pressure, migraine, asthma, hyperventilation, migraines,
headaches and also diabetes (Thompson 2014). It is evident from the case study that the Ellie is a CEO in
a company and has to spend long hours away from her child. She always thinks that she has not been a
very good mother and cannot coping up with her small child. This stresses her more. Parental stresses
may trickle down to the kids. Yelling are the surface symptoms of stress and Raff had been found to be
yelling at Ellie for few times. Further more stress can lead to prolonged cold and it can be seen that Ellie
was suffering from serious lung congestion that required patient attention. Studies have proved that babies
can actually sense stresses as they also can assess the bad and the good expressions. It has to be
remembered that a stressful child hood can weaken the immune system and explain the increased risk of
heart problems and diabetes in future. Stressful experiences can lead to inflammation and accelerate the
ageing of the immune system. Stress can have direct impact in the cognitive development and can have a
long lasting effect. Hence it can be said that the Raff’s stressful life can have long term implications on
Ellie’s health as well as her own health.

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References
Åkerstedt, T., Axelsson, J., Lekander, M., Orsini, N. and Kecklund, G., 2014. Do sleep, stress, and illness
explain daily variations in fatigue? A prospective study. Journal of psychosomatic research, 76(4),
pp.280-285.
Hetherington, E.M. ed., 2014. Coping with divorce, single parenting, and remarriage: A risk and
resiliency perspective. Psychology Press.
Lamb, M.E., 2012. Infant–father attachments and their impact on child development. In Handbook of
father involvement (pp. 109-133). Routledge Academic.
Laukkanen, J., Ojansuu, U., Tolvanen, A., Alatupa, S. and Aunola, K., 2014. Child’s difficult
temperament and mothers’ parenting styles. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23(2), pp.312-323.
Mailey, E.L., Huberty, J., Dinkel, D. and McAuley, E., 2014. Physical activity barriers and facilitators
among working mothers and fathers. BMC public Health, 14(1), p.657.
Thompson, R.A., 2014. Stress and child development. The Future of Children, 24(1), pp.41-59.

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Appendix
Questions-
1. How can the professional life of a working mother can affect the psychosocial development of a
child?
2. How single parenting of Raffaela can affect child care?
3. How diabetes can impact on parenting and child care?
4. Why do you think have happened to Ellie or have attributed to her chest congestion?