Daycare Staff Emotions and Coping Related to Children of Divorce: A Q Methodological Study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how daycare staff experience working with children whose parents have been divorced. The study examines the experience of divorce seen from the perspective of daycare staff. What emotional experiences have the employees had, and how do they cope with divorced parents and their children at the daycare facility?

The study shows that employees at the daycare facilities feel either ‘confident’ or ‘insecure’ when dealing with divorce at the daycare facility. Common for both experiences are that none of the employees have been trained in dealing with children whose parents have been divorced or are going through a divorce. The ‘insecure’ employees find that they easily become emotionally involved and they find it difficult to know how to deal with families going through a divorce. The ‘confident’ employees have a higher level of education, and the study shows that more early childhood educators are represented within this group. Furthermore, the study shows that there are striking differences in how staff view divorce:  The ‘confident’ employees experience that the daycare facility has fixed routines and tools for dealing with divorce and these are considered helpful in their work with parents going through a divorce. In contrast to this, the ‘insecure’ employees do not find the routines very helpful, and they feel that the tools available are inadequate. In addition, the study shows that the ‘confident’ employees find support in the framework plan for daycare facilities, whereas the ‘insecure’ employees need more guidance and training to deal with divorce.

The data collection and data analysis builds on the Q Methodology. The stages of data collection comprise a questionnaire survey developed on the basis of semi-structured open-ended questions regarding e.g. employees’ experiences in connection with children and their parents’ divorce. The questionnaire was sent to 64 daycare employees in four different municipalities. Moreover, the data collection includes in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. These were conducted in seven daycare facilities. Data was analysed using correlation and factor analyses.

Øverland, K., Størksen, I., Bru, E. & Thorsen, A.A. (2012). Daycare Staff Emotions and Coping Related to Children of Divorce: A Q Methodological Study. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 2012, 1-23.