Substitute Child Care, Maternal Employment and the

This study investigates three hypotheses: (1) there is a positive relationship between maternal satisfaction with substitute child care and maternal work satisfaction; (2) there is no relationship between satisfaction with substitute child care and the quality of mother-child interaction; and (3) there is a positive relationship between maternal work satisfaction and the quality of other-child interaction. The majority of data was obtained from 89 employed mothers from 190 intact families in rural and urban Pennsylvania. Each family either had children enrolled in day care centers or had their names on a day care waiting list. Three instruments (two scales and a questionnaire) were administered during structured interviews which measured maternal satisfaction with child care and employment as well as the quality of mother-child interaction. The theoretical constructs of role dominance an