Off-campus WSU users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your WSU access ID and password, then click the "Off-campus Download" button below.

Non-WSU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Access Type

WSU Access

Date of Award

January 2021

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

David Merolla

Abstract

The literature clearly shows a link between parenting and negative mental health outcomes, a risk that may be even higher among those who practice hegemonic mothering as well as stay-at-home mothers, and it follows that teacher-mothers may experience even more negative mental health outcomes than mothers whose children attend school outside the home. Teacher-mothers face unique stressors that may increase a mother's already high level of stress such as increased workload, role insecurity, curricula choices and related strain, lack of support from spouses, and lack of community support. I argue that homeschooling presents a unique chronic strain which can have a deleterious impact on homeschooling mothers' mental health. As such, this study aims to explore how teacher-mothers experience homeschooling, intensive mothering, and mental health focusing on the unique facets of homeschooling that can cause psychological distress. Through in-depth interviews with homeschooling mothers, I explore the impact of homeschooling on maternal mental health by examining the types of strain they experience and how they cope with the added strain of homeschooling.

Off-campus Download

Share

COinS