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This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multistressed 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-methods design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social, developmental, and mental health trajectories of outcomes. Through utilizing the Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM), we aim to detect the development and changes of the positive
The study elucidates the
In phase 1, 60 mother-child dyads from families receiving government financial assistance and with children aged between 7 and 12 years will be recruited. In-depth interviews will be conducted separately with mothers and children. On the basis of 120 interviews, a measurement for the construct of
This project is funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant (Singapore). The recruitment of 60 mother-child dyads has been achieved. Data collection will commence once the amendment to the protocol has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. Analysis of phase 1 data will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and the first set of results is expected to be submitted for publication by the second quarter of 2019. Phase 2 implementation will commence in the second quarter of 2019, and the project end date is in May 2021.
Findings from this study can potentially inform social policy and programs as it refines the understanding of low-income families by distinguishing trajectories of adaptive capacities so that policies and interventions can be targeted in enhancing the adaptive pathways of low-income families with children.
PRR1-10.2196/11629
The Singapore government has, in recent years, shifted its policies aiming to rectify the trend of income divide and make Singapore a more inclusive society. This is reflected in the national budget in the past decade [
Little is known, however, as to whether the new redistributive schemes have strengthened the organic adaptive capacities of the lowest quintile (bottom 20%) of households. In an attempt to bridge this gap, this proposed study seeks to examine adaptive microprocesses and approaches that low-income families used in their daily interactions and transactions to navigate the challenges and new redistributive opportunities in coping with financial constraints. This proposed study aims to advance the construct of family adaptation using an innovative perspective posited by the Social Relational Theory (SRT) [
Some of the dynamic constructs of
Economic deprivation is 1 pervasive environmental factor that cuts deeply to affect families and children in diverse ways. An overview of the literature suggests that families with low socioeconomic status do not only face significant physical and mental risks but also expose their children to various developmental vulnerabilities that have come to predict their developmental trajectories in major domains of functioning: physical and mental health, educational performance and achievement, emotional and behavioral well-being, as well as executive function and social competence [
Chronic economic strain influences children’s future life experiences and outcomes [
Economically deprived families are often compounded by attendant life stressors such as poor housing, chronic unemployment or unstable employment, single parenthood, teenage pregnancy, family violence, parental incarceration, and family members’ physical or mental health issues [
A body of research has built up to reveal the long reach of poverty on the psychological well-being of parents, particularly with mothers and in relation to maternal depression, and on specific coping styles [
The study aims to examine the following research questions:
To elucidate the
How are financial factors, including financial stress and resources, differentially related to home environment, parent stress, and parent and child outcomes?
Does
Are there subgroups of children with distinct trajectories in terms of the levels of positive
What is the strength of the relationships among financial stress, internal and external resources, home environment, parental stress, and outcomes according to gender and ethnicity?
What are the characteristics of the microagentic processes and the dynamics of intersections between families and the external ecological environment among families with positive children, parents, and family outcomes based on 2 SD above mean versus with outcomes 2 SD below mean scores?
This study will employ a sequential longitudinal mixed-methods design, which consists of 2 phases of data collection. In phase 1, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 60 mother-child dyads. To examine the adaptive processes of different families facing financial stress, maximum variant sampling criteria will be utilized to include (1) ethnicity (the 3 major ethnic groups of Chinese, Malays, and Indian families); (2) genders of children; and (3) family types: intact, single parent, and stepfamily. The mothers and children will be asked to describe their relationship with one another and share with the interviewers’ things that worry them the most and how they formulate solutions to these challenges. On the basis of the results from the 120 interviews, the team will operationalize and develop measures for the construct of
In phase 2 of the study, we collect repeated measures longitudinal survey data over 3 time points. A total of 800 pairs of mother-child dyads with children aged between 7 and 12 years whose families are receiving ComCare financial assistance will be invited to participate in this longitudinal study. Phase 2 tests the conceptual framework of this proposed study, built on known risk factors of children growing up in families facing financial stress, together with the measurements of
This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the National University of Singapore (S-18-003).
Singaporean families with 1 or more children aged between 7 and 12 years and currently receiving government financial assistance are eligible to participate in this study. The mother and 1 child within the mentioned age range will be recruited from each participating family. To examine the adaptive processes of different families facing financial stress, maximum variant sampling criteria will be utilized to include (1) 4 major ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and others; (2) both genders of children aged between 7 and 12 years; and (3) different family types: intact, single parent, and stepfamily.
The officers from the Ministry of Social and Family Development will identify recipients of ComCare financial assistance that fit into the recruitment criteria. A letter of invitation to participate in this study has been sent out to all these families. To expedite the recruitment process, 2 part-time research assistants (RAs) have been hired to telephone potential participants from the sampling list to attain the desired sample size. In addition to phone calls, the RAs will make home visits to potential participants by knocking on doors during the recruitment.
Schematic design.
Verbal consent will first be obtained when the families indicate interest to participate. Written consent will be obtained from both mother and child when the researchers visit the families. The RAs will also spend time to break the ice and build trust with the participants. The child and mother dyad will be interviewed separately. Children and mothers will be assured that the information provided by one party will not be disclosed to the other to maintain confidentiality.
Approximately 800 mother-child dyads from the same source will be sampled, based on the expected correlation of the variable (
After the initial data analysis of phase 2a, the major trajectories of adaptive behaviors will be identified among the samples. According to the trajectories identified, focus groups will be formed. From the original sampled families, the research team will invite participants from similar trajectories (outcome measures) for the specific focus groups to collect their input for the analysis. It is estimated that up to 150 participants will take part in the focus groups.
For covariates including gender, ethnicity, citizenship, and educational levels of mothers and children, a demographic form will be filled in to capture the basic information. The
These scales are selected as they have been used by researchers examining low-income families. This will facilitate the comparison of results. We will conduct separate Confirmatory Factor Analyses to validate the
The data analysis at this phase aims to stay close to the data, which are a low-level interpretation with the goal to understand the latent variables closely related to the construct of Family Agency. Thematic coding will be performed on all the transcripts of the semistructured interviews with the aid of qualitative software QSR Nvivo 11. Quasi-statistical analysis methods will be used to summarize data with descriptive statistics for concept clarification on the construct
Sequential Equation Model (SEM) will be used to analyze the data collected at the 3 time points. The estimated coefficients of SEM will provide the magnitudes of the level of influences on the various constructs on child and family outcomes. Descriptive statistics such as Pearson correlational analyses will be carried out to examine the degree of association of financial stress, internal and external resources, home environment, parental stress, and the 2 outcomes, breakdown by gender and ethnicity by chi-square. As gender and ethnicity are discrete variables and the number of groups is relatively small, multiple-group longitudinal SEM will be carried out to test whether the regression coefficients differ for gender and ethnicity. Factorial invariance across groups will be examined before proceeding with multiple-group longitudinal SEM. The existence of different trajectories in these low-income families will be examined using the Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM) to find out whether heterogeneity exists for the families. Factor scores will be generated for the dimensions of the
On the basis of these identified trajectories, qualitative data through FGDs (n=10) will be used to conduct contrasting case analysis. Moreover, 2 FGDs for each trajectory will be conducted separately with children and mothers (2 FGDs × 5 trajectories=10 FGDs with up to 15 members each) and will be used to closely examine the contrasting family processes between highest and lowest score cases. Group comparisons across ethnicities, family types, and family size among the positive deviance sample will be examined.
A total of 800 children aged between 7 and 12 years and their mothers matching the sampling criteria stated in phase 1 will be invited to participate. The sample size of 800 is based on the degree of accuracy of 0.034 [
This phase aims to obtain an intimate understanding of the microprocesses of low-income families. A total of 60 mothers and children will be interviewed separately with a semistructured guide. Children should be aged between 7 and 12 years and their families should be current recipients of financial aid from ComCare.
Children (n=800) together with their mothers (n=800) who fulfill the sampling criteria stated in phase 1 will be invited to participate. Survey interviews will be conducted with the same sample at 3 different points, with a 6-month interval before the next wave of data collection. The sample size determination has been provided in
Calculation for sample size has been illustrated in
One of the biggest challenges in collecting longitudinal data is the loss of contact over several time points, which will compromise the validity and integrity of the study [
The 800 child-mother dyads will be interviewed by 40 trained interviewers who will follow the same families over the 3 waves of interviews. Each interviewer will follow up with 20 child-mother dyads. All interviewers have to undergo intensive training in engaging low-income families, rapport building, interview skills, interview ethics, role playing, handling confidentiality, and cultural sensitivity, conducted over 3 weekends (15 hours in total). Systematic training manual documenting the protocols will be utilized to guide the interviewers.
In the 6-month gap between the waves of the interviews, the interviewers will make 1 call to each family per month and send festive greeting cards to keep in touch. The token of appreciation per dyad is incremental across progress time points to incentivize the participants to stay in the study. Nevertheless, the overall dropout rate is estimated to be 10 ± 5% [
Sample size determination based on degree of accuracy and population size.
Particular | Population (n=10,000) | Population (n=20,000) |
Degree of accuracy | 0.033 | 0.034 |
Sample size | 810 | 798 |
Calculation of sample size.
Phase 1 recruitment has achieved the planned 60 dyads as on October 1, 2018. Interviews will start in November 2018 and continue until February 2019. The development of the measurement scale for the
This proposed study aims to contribute to family research scholarship on 2 fronts:
Existing local, economic, and social policy researchers [
This meticulous examination of social problems to achieve a clear problem definition as the base of policy construction has to be balanced with similar attention in assessing the strengths of the low-income families and the environment that the policies target. Indeed, emerging behavioral economics research has shown that resource availability may be insufficient to
Peer-reviewer report from Social Science Research Council Singapore.
Questionnaires used in this study.
Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale
focus group discussion
Latent Growth Curve Model
research assistant
Sequential Equation Model
Social Relational Theory
This protocol publication is funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education Social Science Research Thematic Grant MOE2016-SSRTG-039. The authors would also like to acknowledge the valuable contributions by Dr Jonathan Huang in the preparation of this manuscript.
None declared.