When work and worry collide: the mixed methods exploration of the impact of family work schedules and parental stress on children’s reading comprehension

Hao Liu ()
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Hao Liu: Changchun Normal University

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract This mixed-methods study explored how family work schedules, parental stress, and parental homework help interrelate to affect children’s reading comprehension in China. Quantitative data from 627 elementary students (grades 3–5, mean age = 9.4 years, SD = 0.8, 52% boys, 48% girls) were analyzed to identify broad relationships, followed by qualitative interviews with a subsample of 15 parents and 13 children to provide context. Quantitatively, increased parental work hours correlated with reduced homework help and poorer reading comprehension. Parental stress negatively impacted both homework help and reading outcomes. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that parental stress significantly moderated the indirect effect of work schedules on reading comprehension via homework help, with higher stress amplifying the negative impact of work schedules on reading comprehension through reduced homework help. Qualitative findings highlighted challenges in work-family balance, the pervasive influence of parental stress, family coping strategies for homework, approaches to fostering reading, and the importance of school-family partnerships. These results emphasize parental stress as a key moderator of homework help effectiveness and underscore the need for interventions and support for working families to enhance children’s academic success.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05802-y

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