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Role strengths and strains of African-American mothers

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Abstract

This paper reports the findings from a study on perceptions of parental role strain as reported by 592 African-American mothers of minoraged children. The research focused on the extent to which utilization of traditional African-American networks would alter role strain reports. The availability of supportive current partners, number of minor children living in the home, availability of relatives in the same state, and residence in the Northeastern section of the United States were each significantly related to the respondents' role strain reports. The author analyzes the findings in terms of their individual, local and national implications for prevention.

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Additional information

The Program for Research on Black Americans of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan generously provided data for this study. Gratitude is expressed to Vivian Wood, Rose Gibson and Robert Taylor for their critiques of earlier versions of this work.

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Lewis, E.A. Role strengths and strains of African-American mothers. J Primary Prevent 9, 77–91 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01326529

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