Correspondence between maternal and paternal parenting styles in early childhood

The goal of the present study was to investigate perceived similarities and differences in parenting styles between mothers and fathers in the same family. The 56 parents of 28 preschool children independently completed the parenting styles and dimensions questionnaire (PSDQ) [Robinson, C. C., Mandleco, B., Frost Olsen, S., & Hart, C. H. (2001). The parenting styles and dimensions questionnaire (PSDQ). In B. F. Perlmutter, J. Touliatos, & G. W. Holden (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques. Vol. 2: Instruments and index (p. 190). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage]. Results reveal only modest similarity in parenting styles used by two parents within the same home. Permissive (and to a lesser extent, authoritarian) parenting was somewhat positively associated across parents but no cross-informant association was found for authoritative parenting. Fathers perceive their spouses to be more authoritative, more permissive, and less authoritarian than themselves, whereas mothers only perceive themselves to be more authoritative than fathers. Parents who share similar parenting styles are more accurate at reporting on their spouses’ parenting styles than are parents with differing styles. Correspondence in parenting style across both parents in the home is important as are parental perceptions of similarity and differences in styles. Independent assessment of both mother's and father's parenting styles, and each parent's perception of their spouse's parenting appears needed in research and practical settings.     

Chaos,poverty, and parenting: Predictors of early language development

Studies have shown that distal family risk factors like poverty and maternal education are strongly related to children's early language development. Yet, few studies have examined these risk factors in combination with more proximal day-to-day experiences of children that might be critical to understanding variation in early language. Young children's exposure to a chronically chaotic household may be one critical experience that is related to poorer language, beyond the contribution of SES and other demographic variables. In addition, it is not clear whether parenting might mediate the relationship between chaos and language. The purpose of this study was to understand how multiple indicators of chaos over children's first three years of life, in a representative sample of children living in low wealth rural communities, were related to child expressive and receptive language at 36 months. Factor analysis of 10 chaos indicators over five time periods suggested two factors that were named household disorganization and instability. Results suggested that after accounting for thirteen covariates like maternal education and poverty, one of two chaos composites (household disorganization) accounted for significant variance in receptive and expressive language. Parenting partially mediated this relationship although household disorganization continued to account for unique variance in predicting early language.     

Early life stress and behavior problems in early childhood: Investigating the contributions of child temperament and executive functions to resilience

This preregistered study examined whether child temperament and executive functions moderated the longitudinal association between early life stress (ELS) and behavior problems. In a Dutch population-based cohort (n = 2803), parents reported on multiple stressors (age 0–6 years), child temperament (age 5), and executive functions (age 4), and teachers rated child internalizing and externalizing problems (age 7). Results showed that greater ELS was related to higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems, with betas reflecting small effects. Lower surgency buffered the positive association of ELS with externalizing problems, while better shifting capacities weakened the positive association between ELS and internalizing problems. Other child characteristics did not act as moderators. Findings underscore the importance of examining multiple protective factors simultaneously.     

Intervention for executive functions development in early elementary school children: effects on learning and behaviour,and follow-up maintenance

Executive functions (EF) can be promoted by classroom interventions. Our study investigated whether (a) an intervention conducted by teachers improves EF in children; (b) there are effects on behaviour and academic achievement; and (c) there are stable benefits in a one-year follow-up. Fifty-eight first-graders, divided into experimental (EG = 28) and control (CG = 30) groups, were assessed in EF, reading and arithmetic tests. Parents and teachers answered EF and behaviour functional scales. The intervention was conducted by teachers in the classroom context. EG children showed greater gains in EF and outperformed controls on reading and arithmetic measures. The EG maintained better performance in the one-year follow-up and showed transfer effect for behaviour measures. The EF intervention may be a useful tool for promoting improved adjustment and academic achievement.     

Theoretical and methodological implications of associations between executive function and mathematics in early childhood

Despite agreement about the importance of executive function (EF) for children’s early math achievement, its treatment in correlational studies reflects a lack of agreement about the theoretical connection between the two. It remains unclear whether the association between EF and math operates through a latent EF construct or specific EF components. Specifying the correct measurement model has important theoretical implications for the predicted effects of EF interventions on children’s math achievement. In the current study, we tested whether associations between EF and math operate via a latent EF factor, or via specific EF components using data from a large, nationally representative sample. We then replicated these same analyses with a meta-analytic database drawn from ten studies that collected measures of children’s EF and math achievement. Our results lend support to explanations that a single EF factor accounts for most of the EF component-specific associations with math achievement. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications of these findings for future work.     

Longitudinal associations among interest,persistence, supportive parenting,and achievement in early childhood

This study investigates two facets of children's school readiness: interest in new cognitive tasks (interest) and persistence in task completion (persistence). Little attention has been paid to the early development of these learning behaviors, although they might prove susceptible to intervention even before school entry. Using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a sample of low-income children (N = 1771) was followed to model bidirectional associations among interest and persistence and maternal supportive parenting between ages 1 and 3, and estimate associations between children's interest and persistence at age 3 and their academic skills at age 5. Results indicate that maternal supportive parenting influences children's interest and persistence more strongly and consistently than interest or persistence influences parenting, and that interest but not persistence transacts with parenting over time. Interest and persistence were equally predictive of children's early academic skills. Findings affirm that both interest and persistence during toddlerhood predict children's academic standing at school entry.     

Adverse experiences in early childhood and their longitudinal impact on later behavioral problems of children living in poverty

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are an identified risk factor for the social and emotional development of children. What is less known is the long-term effects of ACEs when poverty and ACEs coincide.ObjectiveUsing longitudinal cohort-panel data, we examined whether exposure to ACEs by the age of three among poor children would longitudinally result in behavioral problems at ages three, five, nine, and 15, after controlling for mothers’ socioeconomic status and their children’s characteristics.Participants and settingWe used a subsample of 2750 children and their parents living in urban poverty from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study.MethodsLogistic regression modeling was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios of ACE categories predicting behavioral problems after accounting for family socioeconomic position.ResultsOur findings indicate that experiencing ACEs in early childhood was significantly associated with later behavioral outcomes from childhood to adolescence. Exposure to multiple ACEs before the age of three was significantly associated with the top-risk behavior group at age five; the odd ratios were 2.0 (CI = 1.3–3.1) and 2.9 (CI = 1.8–4.6) for two ACEs and three or more ACEs, respectively. At both ages nine and 15, children experiencing two or more ACEs had 1.9 to 3.2 times higher odds to demonstrate more the top 10th percentile of behavioral problems. Among covariates, mothers’ race and education, and children’s gender and temperament were identified as significant factors to determine behavior problems.ConclusionsThe findings support policies and programs for families with children who have experienced economic disadvantages and early childhood adversity.     

Infant temperament moderates relations between maternal parenting in early childhood and children's adjustment in first grade

A differential susceptibility hypothesis proposes that children may differ in the degree to which parenting qualities affect aspects of child development. Infants with difficult temperaments may be more susceptible to the effects of parenting than infants with less difficult temperaments. Using latent change curve analyses to analyze data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care, the current study found that temperament moderated associations between maternal parenting styles during early childhood and children's first-grade academic competence, social skills, and relationships with teachers and peers. Relations between parenting and first-grade outcomes were stronger for difficult than for less difficult infants. Infants with difficult temperaments had better adjustment than less difficult infants when parenting quality was high and poorer adjustment when parenting quality was lower.     

Psychological effects of classroom noise on early childhood teachers

The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between exposure to classroom noise and the psychological well-being of full-time teaching staff in 14 preschool settings located across Western Sydney. The participants comprised 25 teachers, each of whom was administered a range of instruments. The results indicated that 40% of teachers were subjected to daily or peak noise exposures beyond the maximum permissible levels according to the Australian Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) standard. Further, the unique contribution of daily noise dose received by the staff to the prediction of their vocational strain, interpersonal strain, and defensive functioning was evident through multiple regression analyses. It was concluded that vocational strain amongst preschool teachers may be related, in part, to a combination of elevated daily doses of noise, and years of teaching experience.     

Social-emotional effects of early childhood education programs in Tulsa

This article assesses the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma's early childhood education programs on social-emotional outcomes, examining teacher ratings of children's behavior from the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention and a measure of attentiveness using fixed effects regressions with propensity score matching. The sample includes 2,832 kindergarten students in 2006, of whom 1,318 participated in the Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) pre-K program and 363 participated in the CAP of Tulsa County Head Start program the previous year. Program participation was associated with lower timidity and higher attentiveness for TPS pre-K alumni and a marginally significant reduction in timidity for Head Start alumni. Results were similar for the free lunch-eligible subsample. We conclude that high-quality, school-based preschool programs can enhance social-emotional development.     

Neoliberalism,global poverty policy and early childhood education and care: a critique of local uptake in England

The global rise of a neoliberal ‘new politics of parenting’ discursively constructs parents in poverty as the reason for, and remedy to, child poverty. This allows for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) to become a key policy lever by using human technologies to intervene in and regulate the lives of parents and children in poverty. The article explores the uptake of this policy locally through interviews with 30 ECEC practitioners in three locations across England. The interviews suggested that the neoliberal discursive formation of child poverty as a problem of the poor themselves had symbolic power and was a view shared by most of the interviewees. This appeared to restrict their thinking and action, shaping a limited engagement with parents in poverty. Delivering curricular requirements was seen to further delimit practitioners’ practices with children in poverty by reducing their poverty sensitivity. Although this is a small study, its findings may be of value in questioning neoliberal logics, and their implications are considered critically.     

Group-based intervention on attention and executive functions in the school context

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of a group-based behavioural, cognitive and skills training intervention (Maltti) provided in schools for elementary school pupils with attention and executive function (EF) deficits. The treatment effects were identified by comparing an intervention group (n = 46) with a waitlist control group (n = 26). Specific effects of the intervention on behavioural deficits in attention and EF in a classroom setting as well as on academic skills were examined. Our analysis indicated that significant intervention effects could be found in the behavioural manifestation of attentional and executive skills in the classroom setting among children (n = 30) who were evaluated as having moderate symptoms in the pre-intervention assessment. Positive effects of the intervention were also observed in arithmetic and reading skills. The severity level of pre-intervention attention and EF deficits did not moderate the results observed in the academic skills tests. The results of this study suggest that a combination of behavioural, cognitive and skills training methods applied in a school context can be effective in reducing attention and EF problems and enhancing the academic performance of children with attention and EF deficits.     

Physical activity intervention improves executive function and language development during early childhood: The active early learning cluster randomized controlled trial

This study aimed to determine the effects of the Active Early Learning (AEL) childcare center-based physical activity intervention on early childhood executive function and expressive vocabulary via a randomized controlled trial. Three-hundred-and-fourteen preschool children (134 girls) aged 3–5 years from 15 childcare centers were randomly assigned to the intervention (8 centers; n = 170 children) or control group (7 centers, n = 144 children) in May 2019. Participants were mostly Australian (85%) and from slightly higher areas of socio-economic status than the Australian average. There was an AEL intervention effect on inhibition (β = 0.5, p = .033, d = 0.29) and expressive vocabulary (β = 1.97, p = .001, d = 0.24). Integration of the AEL physical activity intervention into the daily childcare routine was effective in enhancing children's executive function and expressive language development.     

Early parenting and the reduction of educational inequality in childhood and adolescence

Socioeconomic status (SES) differences in parenting are often implicated in widening the SES-achievement gap. Using nationally representative data (N = 12,887), the author tested for variation across SES in the types and intensity of parenting behaviors utilized and then examined SES differences in the relationship between parenting and student achievement growth from kindergarten to Grade 8. Exploratory factor analysis identifies three dimensions of early parenting: Educational engagement, stimulating parent–child interaction, and discursive discipline. Regression results indicate that all three are used most heavily by high-SES families. However, only educational engagement consistently predicts achievement growth. Surprisingly, it is positively associated with achievement for lower-, but not higher-SES students in Grades 1–8. Further, educational engagement is beneficial for low-SES children because it is particularly beneficial for low-achieving students, consistent with a compensatory hypothesis.     

Cultural influences on the relation between executive functions and academic achievement

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to examine which of the components of executive functions (EF)—inhibition, shifting, and working memory—predict reading and...     

Ruminating on love and care in early childhood teaching

This study was conducted in the English Language Teaching Department of a state university in Turkey. The aim of the study was to examine the differences in attitudes of teacher candidates before and after their short-term teaching experience with very young learners (VYL) of English. The study was performed during the first term of the educational year. Within the scope of this study, preservice English teacher candidates were provided the opportunity to practice teaching English to VYL under the supervision of their instructor. This study reports the results of their experiences and their attitudinal changes towards teaching English to VYL. The findings suggest that the attitudes of teacher candidates changed substantially after their practice teaching experiences. Other findings suggest that a colorful atmosphere in the classroom and a variety of activities attract students' interest and help create a more successful learning environment.     

The social ecology and early parenting of Caucasian adolescent mothers

Social characteristics, maternal behaviors, and the home environments of Caucasian adolescent and nonadolescent mothers were investigated in a sample of 50 primiparous low- and middle-class women and their 4-month-old infants. The mothers were interviewed about their child-care network and about stressful life events that may have occurred since the infant's birth. The HOME inventory was completed and videotapes of 2 hours of home observations were coded to assess maternal proximity, verbalizations, activity, and physical contact with the infant. Interview data indicated that adolescent mothers relied more frequently on other teenagers and other network members for help in child care than nonadolescent mothers. In addition, they also received more frequent support from their mothers and less frequent help from their partner's and partner's mother and siblings than nonadolescent mothers. During the home visit, they were less verbal with their infants and scored significantly lower on the Responsiveness and Maternal Involvement subscales as well as on the total HOME inventory; these results were replicated on subgroups matched for socioeconomic status, emphasizing the unique social context and parenting practices of teenage mothers.