Parenting by mothers from marginalized communities and the role of socioeconomic disadvantage: insights from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia

Stanislava Van Laer; Daniela Fiľakovská Bobáková; Peter Kolarcik; Ofer Engel; Andrea Madarasová Gecková; Sijmen A Reijneveld; Marlou L A de Kroon

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1362179

Parenting by mothers from marginalized communities and the role of socioeconomic disadvantage: insights from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia

Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 5:15:1362179. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1362179. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Stanislava Van Laer^{1

2}, Daniela Fiľakovská Bobáková^{1

2

3}, Peter Kolarcik^{1

2

3}, Ofer Engel⁴, Andrea Madarasová Gecková^{1

2

5}, Sijmen A Reijneveld⁴, Marlou L A de Kroon^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Kosice, Slovakia.
² Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Kosice, Slovakia.
³ Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czechia.
⁴ Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
⁵ Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁶ Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health, Youth Health Care, University of Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

Background: Roma living in marginalized communities often face poor living conditions and material deprivation, which may negatively impact parenting. Our aim is to compare the parenting behavior (support, harsh discipline, and stimulation) of mothers from marginalized Roma communities and the majority population in Slovakia. We also examine the role of socioeconomic disadvantage and related worries in the differences in parenting behavior between these groups.

Methods: We obtained cross-sectional data from mothers of children aged 14-18 months using the first wave of the longitudinal RomaREACH study dataset. Two groups were included in the sample: 93 mothers from MRCs and 102 mothers from the majority. We performed multiple regression and mediation analyses to assess whether the educational level of mothers, the degree of poverty, and poverty-related feelings of stress and worries explain parenting behavior differences between the groups of mothers.

Results: We found significant differences in parenting, especially in harsh disciplining and stimulation. These two domains were significantly associated with maternal education, degree of poverty, and poverty-related stress and worries. The degree of poverty partially mediated stimulation differences between the two groups of mothers.

Conclusion: Parenting in MRCs seems harsher and less stimulative than parenting in the Slovak majority. These differences are associated with the socioeconomic disadvantage of mothers. The degree of poverty partially explains why parenting in MRCs is less stimulative. These results may inform intervention efforts aimed at disadvantaged families.

Keywords: early childhood; marginalized Roma community; mothers; parenting; socioeconomic disadvantage; stress and worries.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under Contract No. APVV-19-0493 and by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Reg. No. 1/0593/21.