New Series, Vol. 2, No. 10
Considerable research has investigated workers using technologies such as email, Facebook, and the greater Internet while on the job, usually referred to as work-life negotiations. But parents and guardians are also increasingly using at-work childcare apps, such as HiMama, Brightwheel, ClassDoJo, and Procare, as they are increasingly adopted by daycare companies and schools. This research showed various types of personal paradoxes that arise from using childcare apps that are distinct from “autonomy” and “connectivity” paradoxes that have been identified in past, related research on workers’ use of technologies such as email or Facebook. (The autonomy paradox among knowledge workers found that reliance on email both increased and decreased professionals’ autonomy, while the connectivity paradox described how workers’ communication technologies both reduced perceived distance among workers while increasing expectations of constant connections.)
Social norms, which are reinforced through communication, help to shape work-life negotiations. Then society’s motherhood norm typically positions mothers or other female guardians as the primary, unpaid caregivers for their child(ren). This results in the paradox of females feeling compelled to simultaneously be dedicated mothers and successful employees in the workplace, causing significant life-work conflict. This article’s authors, noting earlier research on paradoxes as situations that require strategies for resolving conflicting demands or contradictions, adopt a newer theoretical approach of paradoxes as communicative performances involving tensions being continuously renegotiated via interaction and discourse.
Previous research established that mothers use childcare apps more than fathers do, and that the apps have resulted in “unprecedented parenting responsibilities” (Lim, 2020). Previous research also has shown that using email, smartphones or social media for work (including work-related social media use during non-work hours) have both benefits and costs for workers, ranging from increased feelings of autonomy on one hand to emotional exhaustion on the other. These researchers decided that asking open-ended questions with required responses could capture this situation’s complexity, and their study included 212 participants, 98% women (mean age 34.8; with children from 0 to 7 years old [mean 3.2 years], almost evenly split between boys and girls).
Open-ended questions included “Can you please share the most memorable positive/negative message you’ve received? What was the message about?”; “How do you feel when you receive a notification?”; and “What influence, if any, do you feel like notifications from [sic] have on your work engagement?” Participants were asked to write at least two sentences per question, resulting in 29,000 words (about 230 single-spaced pages of text) for the authors to analyze via a phronetic iterative approach (cyclically comparing emergent themes in the text to relevant communication theory).
Emergent themes included, first, a paradox of excited-disappointed (“feeling excited and upset”); second, paradox of connected-overwhelmed; third, paradox of reassured-anxious (“feeling secure and anxious”); and fourth, the paradox of proud-guilty. The most common single emotion was excited (n = 142), such as, “I get an adrenaline rush! It’s either going to be a cute picture/video or a message that my kid hurt himself” and “When I get a notification from the Band, I feel excited to see a peek into my child’s [sic] school day. I look forward to seeing photos and hearing news from the preschool.” The analysis also found evidence of other emotions including Disappointed (n = 128), Connected (n = 118), Overwhelmed (n = 54), Anxious (n = 44), Reassured (n = 36), Guilty (n = 43), and Proud (n = 19). Note that in two pairs, positive emotions outnumbered the negative, while in two other pairs, it is reversed. The authors found these paradoxes so powerful that they characterized parents as “contradicting” themselves.
They also gauged notifications’ effects on work engagement, finding more paradoxes: work focus-physical interruption; work motivation-mental disengagement; and worry-free work-emotional tether. Physical interruption of work was noted most often (n = 55), followed by worry-free work (n = 38), mental disengagement (n = 33), work focus (n = 23), work motivation (n = 20), and tether (n = 7). Work focus means parents who said the childcare apps allowed them to focus on work, while work motivation referred to parents whose children reminded them of why they were working so hard. Tether means parents who felt compelled to check their childcare app.
Communication Currents Discussion Questions
- The authors say future research could investigate the personal paradox phenomenon in contexts such as eldercare, health or safety situations, and even news updates. What personal paradoxes might emerge in those situations?
- This study’s participants were highly homogenous: overwhelmingly white, married U.S. women with managerial jobs. How might results differ in a study with only fathers/male participants? Women in blue-collar positions? Independently wealthy parents who don’t work but engage in other activities? Families with only one child versus families with 8 or 10 children?
- How might the results of this study differ in a culture in which parents do not worry about or closely monitor/supervise their children as is generally true in the current United States (and which, decades ago, was also true of the U.S.)?
For additional suggestions about how to use this and other Communication Currents in the classroom, see: https://www.natcom.org/publications/communication-currents/integrating-communication-currents-classroom
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Stephanie L. Dailey and Kristen L. Farris are Associate Professors, and Tricia J. Burke is Professor, of Communication Studies at Texas State University. Krista J. Howard is Professor of Psychology at Texas State University.
This essay, by Dane S. Claussen, translates the scholarly journal article, S. L. Dailey, K. L. Farris, K. J. Howard, & T. J. Burke (2025). “It’s a roller coaster of emotions!”: Investigating the paradoxes of childcare app use and work engagement. Journal of Applied Communication Research, advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2025.2477032
The full copyright and private policy link is available at natcom.org/privacy-policy/
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