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Child and Youth Mental Health Matters
Vancouver, BC May 6-8, 2012
Home Alone: What Do Children Do and Why Does it Matter
Mónica Ruiz-Casares, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University
Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University
[email protected]
Learning objectives
• To examine what circumstances lead to children being home alone, and the activities
they engage on while unsupervised.
• To improve our understanding of children’s appraisal of this care arrangement and the
impact it has on their physical and mental health.
• To generate discussion on alternative ways of supporting parents/caregivers, children
and youth when out of school.(Casper & Smith, 2002, 2004; Lopoo, 2005; Monica Ruiz-Casares & Heymann,
2009; Mónica Ruiz-Casares & Rousseau, 2010; M. Ruiz-Casares, Rousseau, Currie, & Heymann, In Press; Vandivere, Tour,
Zaslow, Calkins, & Capizzano, 2003)
References
Casper, L. M., & Smith, K. E. (2002). Dispelling the Myths: Self-Care, Class, and Race. Journal
of Family Issues, 23(6), 716-727.
Casper, L. M., & Smith, K. E. (2004). Self-Care: Why do Parents Leave Their Children
Unsupervised? Demography, 41(2), 285-301.
Kaplan, S. B. (2006). Children’s Views of Self-Care: Concepts of Autonomy and Risk. Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal
Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Available from
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p104117_index.html
Lopoo, L. M. (2005). Maternal Employment and Latchkey Adolescents. Social Service Review,
79(4), 602-623.
Ruiz-Casares, M., & Heymann, J. (2009). Children Home Alone Unsupervised: Modeling Parental
Decisions and Associated Factors in Botswana, Mexico, and Vietnam. Child Abuse and
Neglect, 33(5), 312-323.
Ruiz-Casares, M., & Rousseau, C. (2010). Between freedom and fear: Children’s views on home
alone. British Journal of Social Work, 1-18. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcq067
Ruiz-Casares, M. (2012). “When it’s just me at home, it hits me that i’m COMPLETELY ALONE”:
An online survey of adolescents in self-care. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and
Applied, 146(1–2), 135–153.
Ruiz-Casares, M., Rousseau, C., Currie, J., & Heymann, J. (2012). “I hold on to my teddy bear
really tight”: Results from a Child Online Survey on Being Home Alone. American Journal
of Orthopsychiatry, 82(1), 97–103.
Vandivere, S., Tour, K., Zaslow, M., Calkins, J., & Capizzano, J. (2003). Unsupervised time.
Family and child factors associated with self-care Occasional Paper Number 71.
Assessing the New Federalism: An Urban Program To Assess Changing Social Politics.
Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
12-­‐04-­‐27 Home Alone: What
Do Children Do and
Why Does it Matter
Mónica Ruiz-Casares, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University
Santé Mentale Jeunesse, CSSS de la Montagne
Vancouver, 8 May 2012
Overview
I. 
Children in self-care
a.  Associated factors
b.  Framework: Risk & opportunity
II.  Home alone in Montreal
III.  Home alone in Canada
a.  Survey background
¡ 
Children’s experiences home alone
b.  Mental health and lack of supervision
¡ 
Adaptive coping
¡ 
Maladaptive coping
c.  Lessons for practice & research
§ 
Ethical & methodological challenges
Factors associated with self-care
¡  Home alone more likely in families with
¡ less parental time/ability for childcare
¡ Poor mental health
¡ Poor working conditions
¡ child’s greater maturity and sense of responsibility
¡ perceived neighbourhood safety
¡ Other factors
– inability to afford childcare
– Single parenthood/few social supports
– Race
Source: Casper & Smith, 2002, 2004; Lopoo, 2005; Ruiz-Casares & Heymann, 2009; Vandivere et al. 2003
¡ Inadequate informal child care = no care
1 12-­‐04-­‐27 Lack of supervision: A framework
Child
Protection
System
Source: Ruiz-Casares, 2009
Home alone in Montreal
Ruiz-Casares, M. & Rousseau, C. 2010. Between Freedom and Fear:
Children’s Views on Home Alone. The British Journal of Social Work, 40(8),
2560-2577
Study overview
¡ Setting & participants
¡ Quebec context—Gardiens avertis
¡ 42 children in multicultural public school in Montreal
¡ 12-14 years
¡ 69% female
¡ 38% born outside of Canada
¡ Method
¡ In-person invitation in school
¡ Parental & child consent forms to interested children
¡ Group lunch discussions + in-class discussion
¡ Digitally recorded, transcribed, coded & analyzed by
themes.
2 12-­‐04-­‐27 Home alone: When & How
¡ 
¡ 
90% spend time in self-care
Great variation
¡  Frequency
¡ 
Duration
¡ 
Conditions (time of day or week,
alone or with sibs)
¡ 
Age & process to begin self-care
¡  Child readiness
¡  Parental perspective & trust
¡  Neighbourhood safety &
resources
Activities while home alone
¡ 
Work
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
Entertainment
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
Do household chores
Do homework
Watch TV
Use the computer (games, internet, etc)
Read
Socialize
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
Talk on the phone
Play with, help, or fight with siblings
Go out with friend(s) or invite them over
“Make out” with girlfriend/boyfriend
3 12-­‐04-­‐27 Household responsibilities
¡ Reasons
¡  Gratitude
¡  Shared responsibility
¡  Avoid parental anger
¡  Free parents to do other activities/rest
¡ Tasks
¡  Laundry
¡  Clean/arrange their room
¡  Wash dishes
¡  Dust/vacuum clean/sweep
¡  Clean bathroom
¡  Take garbage out
¡  Look after/assist younger children & pets
“When our parents are there, we cannot watch the
programs that we want—like very violent programs;
we can watch them when they are not there ... or
we cannot have a little private time ... play our video
games (PSP).”
12-year old boy
Risks & opportunities in self-care
Risks
Education
•
Disruption of
education/homework
Exposure to possible
injuries & abuses
from strangers
• Inadequate food
Opportunities
•
•
Physical
Wellbeing
Psychological
Wellbeing
Behavior
•
•
Feelings of loneliness,
boredom & fear
Exposure to negative
peer influence
•
•
•
Learn practical skills &
develop self-sufficiency
Protection against
abuses from strangers
(indoors).
Independence, patience,
& sense of
responsibility
Assist siblings with
homework
Help with domestic
tasks (respite & unpaid
care assistance)
• Allows other household
members to work
•
Economic &
Labor
•
Property loss/damage
(fire, gas, theft)
4 12-­‐04-­‐27 Children’s emotions
+
–
¡ Independence
¡ Loneliness
¡ Patience
¡ Boredom
¡ Responsibility
¡ Fear
¡ Self-sufficiency
¡ Self-knowledge
¡ Strangers/tramps
¡ Night/noise
¡ Violence/crime
¡ Unexpected
“When it's dark/night, it's scary! (…) I put music; I
turn everything on —like the computer, the TV, the
radio… all the time!”
12-year old girl
“Before, my mother used to work at a hospital from
3:00pm till midnight (…). I was with my two halfbrothers so we stayed all alone. My step-father was
at work—he works late sometimes. We had to stay…
sometimes to calm down we played the Nintendo or
something else or we told each other jokes or we
farted like crazy.”
12-year old boy
5 12-­‐04-­‐27 Safety concerns
¡ Object
¡ Property
¡ Environmental hazards
¡ Theft
¡ Physical health
¡ Kidnapping
¡ Harassment/rape
¡ Coping & Protection
¡ Safety lock, response to phone, etc
¡ Cooking vs. buying food
¡ Alone vs. with friends
“I live in an apartment so there are often false fire
alarms; I do not like that. It has happened twice
and I was all alone. (…) I am obliged to leave,
and besides I had a hamster before, so I had to
take him out too.”
13-year old girl
Summary of results
¡ Associated factors
¡ Age
¡ Family structure & limited support network
¡ Outcomes
¡ Household work
¡ Healthy immigrant effect
¡ Weaknesses & strengths
¡ Limitations
¡ Children’s views & self-selection
¡ Moderating factors
6 12-­‐04-­‐27 Home alone across
Canada
Ruiz-Casares, M. 2012. “When it’s just me at home, it hits me that i’m
COMPLETELY ALONE”: An online survey of adolescents in self-care. Journal of
Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 146(1–2), 135–153.
Ruiz-Casares, M., Rousseau, C., Currie, J., & Heymann, J. 2012. “I hold on to my
teddy bear really tight”: Results from a Child Online Survey on Being Home
Alone. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82(1), 97–103.
Online survey
¡ Content (25 + 6*)
¡  Demographics (individual, family, neighbourhood)
¡  Experiences of child care & home alone*
¡  Feelings/satisfaction with home alone*
¡  Advice to support children home alone*
¡ Pilot tested & translated (French & English)
¡ Posted online 4 consecutive weeks
¡ Anonymous, voluntary, & self-administered
Secondary analysis of survey data
Overview of respondents (n = 364)
Characteristic
Female (n = 357)
Age
≤ 10 years
11-12 years
13-14 years
15-17 years
≥ 18 years
Child-care arrangements (n = 356)
Parents
Older sibs or friends
Relatives or neighbors
Extra-curricular activity
Babysitter
Daycare center
N
%
276
77.3
13
41
92
167
49
3.6
11.3
25.4
46.1
13.5
287
117
96
94
34
29
80.6
32.9
27.0
26.4
9.5
8.1
7 12-­‐04-­‐27 Overview of respondents (cont.)
Characteristic
Residence in Canada
Type of locality (n = 230)
Rural
Small town
Medium-sized city
Large city
Family composition (n = 221)
Both parents
Mother only
Father only
Not living with parents
Home alone
N
%
340
93.9
26
51
76
77
11.3
22.2
33.0
33.5
137
69
11
4
344
62.0
31.2
5.0
1.8
95.0
Experiences & satisfaction
–  Almost 1/3 home alone since <11 years
–  Decision
¡  37% parents, 33% negotiated, 20% child
–  Reasons
¡  Mother (47%) or father (28%) began work outside home
¡  Parents were going out (45%)
¡  Nobody to care for them (35%)
–  Duration
¡  66% < 10 hours/week
¡  16% > 20 hours/week
–  60.5% enjoy being home alone
Activities while home alone
8 12-­‐04-­‐27 When home alone, caretakers…
Narrative groups
No Symptoms
disclosed (n = 64)
Symptoms
disclosed
(n = 119)
¡ Internalizing Behaviours
¡  Depression
¡  Anxiety
¡ Externalizing Behaviours
¡  Self-mutilation
¡  Suicide ideation/attempt
¡  Substance abuse
¡  Violence & delinquency
¡  Eating disorders
“I feel depressed and worry that i might hurt myself or
get very scared of alien, monster, murder etc.”
girl aged 12 years
“When im home alone is the time i usually cry or get
upset, it's a time where i can cut or a time when i
can just take my frustrations out.”
girl aged 15 years
9 12-­‐04-­‐27 “I struggle with an eating disorder, self harm, and
depression. When I am home alone, things tend to get
out of control in terms of my "maladaptive" coping
skills. Sometimes, I need medical treatment but there
is no one to take me to my doctor or the hospital.”
girl aged 17 years
Coping & support
¡  Adaptive
¡  Humour, denial (appraisal)
¡  Distraction, meditation
¡  Initiative & self-control
¡  New information and skills
¡  Safety (lock, response to phone, etc)
¡  Cooking vs. prepared food
¡  Attachment & reaching out
¡  Relationships (people, pets, toys)
¡  Alone vs. with siblings or friends
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
¡  Maladaptive
¡  Retreat & ‘bottle-up’
¡  Risk behaviours
Adaptive coping
“When i get scared, i will just stay in my room and think
positively. When i'm lonely, i will call a friend. When i'm
hungry, i will make something simple like cereal or not
eat at all. When i'm cold, i cuddle with blankets in my
bed.”
girl aged 15 years
10 12-­‐04-­‐27 Denial to distraction
“[I] ignore them [concerns] (or say to myself) that the
chance of being kidnapped & raped is very slim :)”
girl aged 15 years
“I just ignore [noises]."
girl aged 14 years
“[I] usually cry .. sometimes just go to sleep.”
girl aged 15 years
Distraction
“I play with my brother, try to teach my dog tricks, and
watch television to distract me from being afraid.”
girl aged 11 years
“I’ll call my friends or my boyfriend or go on msn and
facebook (…) read a book or go on the computer and do
something that will help take my mind off being scared.”
girl aged 10 years
“I (…) do things I normally wouldn't do in front of people
for fear of embarrassment. Like singing (really badly) to
music I like, or playing dress up.”
girl aged 14 years
Relationships & reaching out
“When i feel really lonely and there’s no one around
sometimes i just drop by my neighbours because they
have kids there too.”
girl aged 15 years
“If I need help, I go call my (…) friend. But if things get
out of hand, I would call my parents and they would
come home and if they think things need to be taken
care of medically, they will call the psych.”
girl aged 14 years
“I usually try to talk to a friend or kids help phone if I’m
not safe.”
girl aged 15 years
11 12-­‐04-­‐27 Alternative resources
“I usually just ask a friend for their help, or go online and
google it, or figure it out myself.”
girl aged 12 years
“I just cook something in the microwave or toaster.”
girl aged 14 years
“If I needed a ride somewhere, I'd call my dad or maybe
my grandma (…) If it was something with friends I might
be able to get their parents to drive us. If it's in walking
distance then I'd walk. If I can't walk or get a ride then I
plan it for later.”
girl aged 15 years
Maladaptive coping
“I can't really handle my feelings so I just bottle them up.”
boy aged 16 year
“Sometimes
i lock myself in the main bathroom with a knife
and wait for the person who i think is there to walk in ...
but usually all that leads to is crying hysterically and
cutting myself.”
girl aged 17 years
Maladaptive coping (Cont.)
“i take drugs. it's funny, i know. the thing that’s killing me
helps me cope with it.”
girl aged 17 years
“ sometimes i pass out from drinking too much and wake
up hours later still alone. it sucks, i feel really dizzy and
hungry after but i'm too weak to get up and make food.”
girl aged 17 years
12 12-­‐04-­‐27 Lessons for care-giving & service
delivery
¡ Assess each case within cultural context
¡ Provide age & culturally-appropriate support
¡ Strengthen family networks & community resources
¡ Avoid (or special provisions) leaving children with
mental suffering home alone
¡ Confidential child phone and internet counselling
services may provide valuable support
Lessons for research
¡  Assess prevalence & consequences of self-care across
socio-demographic groups
¡  Include caretakers’ & children’s views and changes
overtime
¡  Clarify decision-making process & influence of working
and community conditions
¡  Attention to ethical & methodological implications
¡  Child participation & protection
¡  Tool capabilities & limitations
¡  Sampling hard-to-reach population
Contact: [email protected]
Gratitude to: Respondents
Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
13