Concerted cultivation and parental satisfaction: a profile analysis via principal component analysis

This study bridges two literatures by asking how the intensive parenting style called concerted cultivation affects one aspect of parental well-being: parental satisfaction. We employ Profile Analysis via Principal Component Analysis to identify patterns of responses to questions about parenting style among 432 U.S. parents who responded to an online survey. Two profiles are identified, one of which resembles the time use dimension of concerted cultivation. Path models that use weights from the profile analysis show that heavy involvement in child extracurricular activities reduces satisfaction among mothers, but not fathers. Extracurricular activities also increase work-to-family conflict for employed mothers and fathers, which indirectly lowers satisfaction. The findings for a second profile suggest that involvement in children's schools increases mothers' and fathers' satisfaction. This study provides partial confirmation for journalistic and qualitative observations about the costliness of cultivation for advantaged parents.