Parental Cultural Socialization of Mexican‐American Adolescents’ Family Obligation Values and Behaviors

The current study examined how parents’ cultural socialization efforts contribute to adolescents’ family obligation values and behaviors and how these processes may depend upon the relational climate at home. Utilizing survey and daily diary methodologies, 428 Mexican‐American adolescents (50% males; M_age = 15 years) and their parents (83% mothers; M_age = 42 years) participated in the study. Adolescents reported on their family obligation values and engagement in family assistance tasks across 14 days. Parents reported on their cultural socialization practices. Results indicated that parental cultural socialization was associated with adolescents’ family obligation values and behaviors when parent–child relationships were low in conflict and high in support. Findings suggest that the transmission of cultural values and practices is best facilitated through positive parent–child relationships.     

Sequential Associations Between Caregiver Talk and Child Play in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development

This study examined sequential associations between child play and caregiver talk in 98 caregiver–child dyads (M_{mental age} = 14 months). Fifty dyads included a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Analyses revealed sequential associations between child play and caregiver follow‐in (FI) utterances (utterances related to the child's attentional focus) were stronger in the ASD as compared to the typically developing (TD) group. FI utterances were more likely to elicit functional play than caregiver‐focused utterances, and more so in the ASD group. Across groups, FI directives were more likely to elicit functional play than FI comments. These findings have important implications for research involving caregiver–child play as an early intervention context for children with ASD.     

Supporting Child Welfare and Parent Involvement in Preschool Programs

This article discusses the findings from a mixed-method study examining the relationship between social resources and levels of parent involvement in state-funded preschool programs in Illinois. Using survey data from the Illinois Birth to Five Evaluation (n = 843) and interviews with ten preschool administrators who completed the survey, the study found the number of social resources provided by a program was positively associated with levels of parent involvement. The correlation analysis (r = −0.22, p = .0001) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) F(2,708) = 23.19, p = .0001 findings both demonstrated positive relationships wherein high numbers of social resources were associated with higher levels of parent involvement in programs. Administrator interviews confirmed survey findings and suggested additional influences on parent involvement levels and use of social resources in programs. Implications for supporting child welfare and policy recommendations for early childhood programs are provided.     

Effects of Mexican Immigrant Parents’ Daily Workplace Discrimination on Child Behavior and Family Functioning

This study investigated Mexican immigrant parents’ reports of perceived workplace discrimination and their children's behavior, parents’ moods, and parent–child interactions. Parents of one hundred and thirty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked to complete one survey daily for 2 weeks (N = 1,592 days). On days when fathers perceived discrimination, fathers and mothers reported more externalizing child behaviors, and mothers reported fewer positive child behaviors. When mothers perceived discrimination, they reported more externalizing child behaviors; fathers reported more internalizing child behaviors. Parents reported worse mood on days with perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination was not strongly related to parent–child interactions. For fathers, but less so for mothers, those whose psychological acculturation indicated separation had more negative relations between daily perceived workplace discrimination and child and family outcomes.     

For Better or for Worse? Positive and Negative Parental Influences on Young Children's Executive Function

Despite rapidly growing research on parental influences on children's executive function (EF), the uniqueness and specificity of parental predictors and links between adult EF and parenting remain unexamined. This 13-month longitudinal study of 117 parent–child dyads (60 boys; M_age at Time 1 = 3.94 years, SD = 0.53) included detailed observational coding of parent–child interactions and assessed adult and child EF and child verbal ability (VA). Supporting a differentiated view of parental influence, negative parent–child interactions and parental scaffolding showed unique and specific associations with child EF, whereas the home learning environment and parental language measures showed global associations with children's EF and VA.     

Family Conflict,Mood, and Adolescents' Daily School Problems: Moderating Roles of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Using daily diary data, this study examined cross‐day associations between family conflict and school problems and tested mediating effects of daily negative mood and moderating effects of psychological symptoms. For 2 weeks, parents and adolescents (N = 106; M_age = 15.4) reported daily conflict; adolescents reported daily negative mood and school problems. Results indicated bidirectional, multiday spillover between parent–adolescent conflict and school problems with daily negative mood statistically accounting for spillover both within and across days. Externalizing symptoms strengthened links between father–adolescent conflict and school problems, whereas depressive and anxious symptoms strengthened links between parent–adolescent conflict and daily negative mood. By demonstrating cross‐domain transmission of daily problems, these findings highlight the salience of everyday events as possible intervention targets.     

Maternal Language and Child Vocabulary Mediate Relations Between Socioeconomic Status and Executive Function During Early Childhood

This article examined longitudinal relations among socioeconomic risk, maternal language input, child vocabulary, and child executive function (EF) in a large sample (N = 1,009) recruited for a prospective longitudinal study. Two measures of maternal language input derived from a parent–child picture book task, vocabulary diversity (VOCD), and language complexity, showed variation by socioeconomic risk at child ages 15, 24, and 36 months. Maternal VOCD at child age 24 months and maternal language complexity at child age 36 months mediated the relation between socioeconomic risk and 48-month child EF, independent of parenting sensitivity. Moreover, 36-month child vocabulary mediated the relation between maternal language input and child EF. These findings provide novel evidence about mechanisms linking socioeconomic risk and child executive function.     

Cultural Socialization and Ethnic Pride Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescents During the Transition to Middle School

The relation between cultural socialization and ethnic pride during the transition to middle school was examined for 674 fifth‐grade students (50% boys; M_age = 10.4 years) of Mexican origin. The theoretical model guiding the study proposes that parent–child relationship quality is a resource in the transmission of cultural values from parent to child and that parental warmth promotes the child's positive response to cultural socialization. Results showed that mother and father cultural socialization predicted youth ethnic pride and that this relation was stronger when parents were high in warmth. The findings highlight the positive role parent cultural socialization may play in the development of adolescent ethnic pride. Furthermore, findings reveal the role of parent–child relationship quality in this process.     

Do Parents Foster Self‐Esteem? Testing the Prospective Impact of Parent Closeness on Adolescent Self‐Esteem

Close parent–child relationships are viewed as important for the development of global self‐esteem. Cross‐sectional research supports this hypothesis, but longitudinal studies provide inconsistent prospective effects. The current study uses data from Germany (N = 982) and the United States (N = 451) to test longitudinal relations between parent–child closeness and adolescent self‐esteem. The authors used self‐, parent‐, and observer‐reported parent–child closeness and self‐reported self‐esteem from ages 12 to 16. Results replicated concurrent correlations found in the literature, but six longitudinal models failed to show prospective relations. Thus, the longitudinal effect of parent–child closeness and self‐esteem is difficult to detect with adolescent samples. These findings suggest the need for additional theorizing about influences on adolescent self‐esteem development and longitudinal research with younger samples.     

Daily fluctuations in young children’s persistence

Children's behavior changes from day to day, but the factors that contribute to its variability are understudied. We developed a novel repeated measures paradigm to study children's persistence by capitalizing on a task that children complete every day: toothbrushing (N = 81; 48% female; 36–47 months; 80% white, 14% Multiracial, 10% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 1% Black; 1195 observations collected between January 2019 and March 2020). Children brushed longer on days when their parents used more praise (d = .23) and less instruction (d = −.22). Sensitivity to mood, sleep, and parent stress varied across children, suggesting that identifying the factors that shape an individual child's persistence could lead to personalized interventions.     

Children’s screen and problematic media use in the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

This mixed methods study examined parent-reported child screen media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining 2019–2020 changes in parent perceptions of media, screen media use (SMU), and problematic media use (PMU) in children aged 2–13 years (N = 129; 64 boys, 64 girls, 1 nonbinary; 90.7% White, 4.6% Hispanic/Latino, 0.8% Black, 8.5% multiethnic; primarily middle-to-high income). Quantitative analyses showed a significant SMU and PMU increase (medium effect size). There was a steeper increase in PMU among school-age (older) children. Together, the qualitative and quantitative results suggest that the PMU and SMU increase were influenced by distal, proximal, and maintaining factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning, child behaviors, other children, parental mediation, and positive media reinforcement.     

A strengths-based,culturally responsive family intervention improves Latino kindergarteners’ vocabulary and approaches to learning

Food routines are an ecocultural asset of Latino families. This cluster-randomized trial with 248 children (M_age = 67 months; 50% girls; 13 schools) investigated the impact of a 4-week family program designed to capitalize on food routines in improving Latino kindergarteners’ outcomes in the United States. There were moderate-to-large impacts on child vocabulary (especially food-related) at end-of-treatment and the 5-month follow-up, and suggestive evidence of moderate impacts on approaches to learning (ATL; including ATL math) and executive function at the 5-month follow-up (d = .38–.95). There were no statistically significant impacts on children's math or literacy skills. A strengths-based, culturally responsive family intervention that is integrated into Latino family life can improve the skills needed to succeed in school.     

Promoting Compliance in Children Referred to Child Protective Services: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Early experiences of maltreatment have long-term negative effects on children's compliance. This randomized clinical trial examined whether a brief preventative intervention (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up; ABC) was effective in enhancing compliance in children who had been referred to Child Protective Services. Participants included 101 parent–child dyads who received either ABC or a control intervention when children were infants (M = 9.4 months old, SD = 6.1). When children were approximately 36 months old (M = 38.5, SD = 3.0), ABC children demonstrated significantly better compliance than control children. Further, parent sensitivity, measured 1 month post intervention when children were, on average, 18.4 months old (SD = 6.9) partially mediated the effect of ABC on child compliance at 36 months old.     

Coparenting Among Lesbian,Gay, and Heterosexual Couples: Associations With Adopted Children's Outcomes

Coparenting is associated with child behavior in families with heterosexual parents, but less is known about coparenting among lesbian‐ and gay‐parent families. Associations were studied among self‐reported divisions of labor, coparenting observations, and child adjustment (M_age = 3 years) among 104 adoptive families headed by lesbian, gay, or heterosexual couples. Lesbian and gay couples reported sharing child care, whereas heterosexual couples reported specialization (i.e., mothers did more child care than fathers). Observations confirmed this pattern—lesbian and gay parents participated more equally than heterosexual parents during family interaction. Lesbian couples showed the most supportive and least undermining behavior, whereas gay couples showed the least supportive behavior, and heterosexual couples the most undermining behavior. Overall, supportive coparenting was associated with better child adjustment.     

Technoference: Parent Distraction With Technology and Associations With Child Behavior Problems

Heavy parent digital technology use has been associated with suboptimal parent–child interactions, but no studies examine associations with child behavior. This study investigates whether parental problematic technology use is associated with technology‐based interruptions in parent–child interactions, termed “technoference,” and whether technoference is associated with child behavior problems. Parent reports from 170 U.S. families (child M_age = 3.04 years) and actor–partner interdependence modeling showed that maternal and paternal problematic digital technology use predicted greater technoference in mother–child and father–child interactions; then, maternal technoference predicted both mothers’ and fathers’ reports of child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results suggest that technological interruptions are associated with child problem behaviors, but directionality and transactional processes should be examined in future longitudinal studies.     

Continuity and Change in the Home Literacy Environment as Predictors of Growth in Vocabulary and Reading

One hundred and ten English‐speaking children schooled in French were followed from kindergarten to Grade 2 (M_age: T1 = 5;6, T2 = 6;4, T3 = 6;11, T4 = 7;11). The findings provided strong support for the Home Literacy Model (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002 ) because in this sample the home language was independent of the language of instruction. The informal literacy environment at home predicted growth in English receptive vocabulary from kindergarten to Grade 1, whereas parent reports of the formal literacy environment in kindergarten predicted growth in children's English early literacy between kindergarten and Grade 1 and growth in English word reading during Grade 1. Furthermore, 76% of parents adjusted their formal literacy practices according to the reading performance of their child, in support of the presence of a responsive home literacy curriculum among middle‐class parents.     

Does Parent–Child Discussion of Peer Provocations Reduce Young Children's Hostile Attributional Bias?

Two studies investigated whether parent–child discussion of peer provocations reduces young children's hostile attributional bias. Study 1 (N = 109, age 4–7)—an observational study—showed that parent–child discussion of nonhostile attributions (when reading a picture book) predicted reductions in children's hostile attributional bias from pre‐ to postdiscussion. Study 2 (N = 160, age 4–6)—an experimental study—showed that stimulating parents to discuss either nonhostile attributions or normative beliefs (vs. a control condition) reduced children's hostile attributional bias in response to hypothetical vignettes, but not in response to a staged peer provocation. These findings suggest that by framing social situations, parents may help their children perceive less hostility in their social worlds.     

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver mental health and the child caregiving environment in a low-resource,rural context

Early child development has been influenced directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these effects are exacerbated in contexts of poverty. This study estimates effects of the pandemic and subsequent population lockdowns on mental health, caregiving practices, and freedom of movement among female caregivers of children 6–27 months (50% female), in rural Bangladesh. A cohort (N = 517) was assessed before and during the pandemic (May–June, 2019 and July–September, 2020). Caregivers who experienced more food insecurity and financial loss during the pandemic reported larger increases in depressive symptoms (0.26 SD, 95% CI 0.08–0.44; 0.21 SD, 0.04–0.40) compared to less affected caregivers. Stimulating caregiving and freedom of movement results were inconsistent. Increases in depressive symptoms during the pandemic may have consequences for child development.     

Trajectories of perinatal depressive symptoms in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study sought to advance understanding of the potential long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for child development by characterizing trajectories of maternal perinatal depression, a common and significant risk factor for adverse child outcomes. Data came from 393 women (86% White, 8% Latina; mean age = 33.51 years) recruited during pregnancy (n = 247; mean gestational age = 22.94 weeks) or during the first year postpartum (n = 146; mean child age = 4.50 months; 55% female). Rates of depression appear elevated, relative to published reports and to a pre-pandemic comparison group (N = 155). This study also provides evidence for subgroups of individuals who differ in their depressive symptom trajectories over the perinatal period. Subgroup membership was related to differences in maternal social support, but not to child birth outcomes.     

Differences in Established Joint Attention in Hearing-Hearing and Hearing-Deaf Mother-Child Dyads: Associations With Social Competence,Settings, and Tasks

The authors examined relations among observed joint attention, maternal report of child’s social competence, setting (home vs. laboratory), task (unstructured vs. semi-structured), and dyad type [hearing mother–hearing child (n = 55, M_age = 25.8 months) vs. hearing mother–deaf child (n = 27, M_age = 26.9 months)]. Hearing child dyads scored higher on joint attention during unstructured tasks, especially in their home environment. Hearing child dyads displayed similar joint attention to deaf toddler dyads when they engaged in a semi-structured task, but higher on these measures during unstructured free play. Unlike hearing children, joint attention was differentially related to social competence in deaf children, with relatively higher versus lower social competence depending on relatively high versus low observed joint attention, respectively.