Miller-Day, M., & Swanson, D. (2005). A summary of preliminary findings by study phase: A study of maternal work transitions, parenting, and adolescent adjustment. A report submitted to the William T. Grant Foundation. [PDF format]

This preliminary summary reports basic descriptive findings and some inferential findings from the first 2 phases of the study. This report gives the readers and overview of some of the important, surprising, or interesting findings in this study to-date.

Miller-Day, M. (May/June, 2005). HOMEwork: An ethnodrama. [PDF format]

Based on observational data and narratives collected through in-depth interviews with mothers, adolescents, and social service professionals in the community, a stageplay an ethnodrama was developed, produced, and performed for more than 150 policy makers, program developers, community agencies, and community members in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Community organizations have requested additional performances for the state legislature and for local social service agency staff. DVD's of the performance were created for dissemination to agencies and organizations with the possibility of a re-staging of the ethnodrama at the Pennsylvania State Capital Building for state legislators.

Miller-Day, M. (May, 2005). Parenting adolescents and managing low income work: What's a mother to do? Presentation of preliminary findings, Health Policy and Administration Speaker Series, Pennsylvania State University. [PDF format]

The audience for this presentation was primary health policy, human development and family studies students and faculty at the Pennsylvania State University.

Miller-Day, M. (2004). Maternal work transitions and family communication. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention in Chicago, IL.

The audience for this presentation was primarily researchers in the area of family communication and public health policy. This paper presented some key findings from the on-going study focusing on findings from the second phase of the research the home-based interviews with working poor mothers. This presentation reported preliminary descriptive information on maternal employment related variables, maternal well-being, and mother-adolescent communication.

Swanson, D., Miller-Day, M., & Wagstaff, D. (2003). Sixth grade mother's use and perceptions of Harrisburg School District Services: A research briefing and report. Report to the Harrisburg School District and Staff. [PDF format]

The project team presented the findings from the year-one results of a telephone survey to the Superintendent of the school district. This telephone survey was administered with mothers of 6th grade children in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The briefing and report summarized findings pertaining to mothers' awareness of family-focused service programs, use of services, satisfaction with services, involvement in their child's academic life, and frequency of communication with their child. The report also served to provide suggestions to the district representative for improving services to low-income families in the district.

Miller-Day, M., McManus, T., Matsunaga, M., & Swanson, D. (Working Paper) (2006). When mom’s away, there’s no time for play: Maternal employment, parentification, and conflict’s affect on adolescent depression. [PDF format]

Parentification, or unpaid child labor, arises when parents are unable to fulfill their parental responsibilities, making this phenomenon common among adolescents of low-income working families in which parents often hold multiple jobs. Because of the demands of assuming adult responsibilities during a critical developmental stage, parentification may lead to problematic parent-adolescent interactions and depression. The goal of this study was to examine adolescent parentification in relation to low wage maternal work, parent-adolescent conflict, and adolescent depression.

Manuscripts in-progress [PDF format]