Socioeconomic status and receptive vocabulary development: Replication of the parental investment model with Chilean preschoolers and their families

Drawing on the first wave of data from the Chilean Longitudinal Study for Early Childhood the current study examined the relation between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's receptive Spanish vocabulary, and whether these relations were mediated by physical features of the home environment, parent–child interactions, and participation in center-based child care. The results of path analyses (n = 1589) estimating direct and indirect effects of SES on children's receptive vocabulary test scores provided evidence of partial mediation through indices of standard of living and parents’ level of cognitive and linguistic stimulation in the home. This study is among the first to replicate with a non-U.S. sample, a well-established linkage among SES, family-level conditions and processes, and young children's language outcomes.     

Modeling maternal emotion-related socialization behaviors in a low-income sample: Relations with toddlers’ self-regulation

This study tested the validity of an emotion-related parenting construct, indicated by six key emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs) occurring in daily, developmentally salient parenting in a low-income sample of mothers (N = 123) of toddlers, and examined the relationship between the ERSB construct and toddlers’ self-regulation. Structural equation modeling confirmed a latent emotion-related parenting construct, indicated by observed maternal warmth and supportiveness, observed emotional responsivity in the home, maternal report of mealtime socialization practices, observed maternal use of mental state language and emotion talk, and maternal report of positive self-expressivity in the family. Emotion-related parenting significantly related to toddlers’ effective coping and delay of gratification (medium effect sizes). Maternal demographic risk was negatively related to emotion-related parenting (large effect size) but positively related to toddlers’ effective coping (medium effect size); toddler age and gender were not significantly related to ERSBs. Results suggest that maternal ERSBs are cohesive in a low-income population, reflecting emotion-related parenting, and play a role in economically at-risk toddlers’ self-regulation. Implications for parenting and family support programs as well as implications for future research are discussed.     

Family and social risk,and parental investments during the early childhood years as predictors of low-income children's school readiness outcomes

Using data from the National Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project (N = 1851), the current study examined relations among cumulative family and social risk, assessed during infancy and the preschool years, and children's prekindergarten achievement, self-regulatory skills, and problematic social behavior, testing if these associations were mediated through two sets of family processes–responsive parenting practices and the provision of language stimulation and literacy practices. Structural equation modeling results highlight the significance of the timing of children's experience of risk in predicting school readiness competencies. Risk exposure during infancy was observed to be most detrimental for children's school readiness skills and was partially mediated by risk exposure during the preschool years and family processes, assessed during toddlerhood and the preschool years. Moderation analyses revealed no difference in the strength of relationships among the study variables by EHS assignment or by race/ethnicity.     

Family stress, parenting styles, and behavioral adjustment in preschool-age adopted Chinese girls

This study seeks to extend previous research on family stress, parenting, and child adjustment to families with adopted Chinese children. In doing so, we also seek to strengthen inferences regarding the experiential underpinnings of previously obtained relationships among these variables by determining if they also occur in families where parents and children are not biologically related. Participants were families of 133 preschool-age adopted Chinese girls (M_age = 5.2 years, SD = 0.7; M_{age at adoption} = 12.8 months, SD = 4.1). Data on family stress, parenting styles, and children's behavioral adjustment were collected from the adoptive mothers with the Social Problem Questionnaire (SPQ), Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) respectively. Results showed that adoptive mothers reported relatively mild family stress, frequent authoritative parenting, and few behavior problems in their children. Nonetheless, family stress, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles positively correlated with children's behavioral problems. Finally, authoritarian parenting mediated the effect of non-child-related family stress (NCR-stress) on the adopted Chinese girls’ CBCL internalizing and overall problems, even after controlling for corresponding CBCL scores from 2 years earlier. Our results showed that the overall pattern of relationships found in non-adoptive families is also seen in families with adopted Chinese children.     

Young girls’ arithmetic and spatial skills: The distal and proximal roles of family socioeconomics and home learning experiences

The present study addressed girls’ (N = 127) early numerical and spatial reasoning skills, within the context of a critical environment in which these cognitive skills develop, namely their homes. Specifically, proximal links between distal family socioeconomic conditions and first-grade girls’ arithmetic and spatial skills were examined (mean age = 6.72 years; SD = .34). The proximal roles of two factors were considered: the general learning characteristics of girls’ homes, and the kinds of math and spatial learning activities in which girls participated. General quality of the home learning environment and specific math activities mediated the relation between family socioeconomics and girls’ arithmetic skills. In contrast, socioeconomics and home learning experiences were related to girls’ spatial skills indirectly only through their verbal skills; spatial activities were not proximal predictors of spatial skills. For both arithmetic and spatial skills, mothers’ spatial skills were a strong predictor. Future research and intervention implications of these findings are discussed.     

Impact of HIPPY on home learning environments of Latino families

This study investigated effects of Home Instruction of Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), a paraprofessional home visiting program, on parents and children. The program site served low-income, Spanish-speaking families. On average, mothers were 31 years old (SD = 4.78) and children were 3 or 4 years old (M = 3.92, SD = .92). Participants (n = 54) had more parenting self-efficacy and more enriched home environments than families on a waiting list (n = 54). In a regression on home environment, participation in the intervention was a stronger predictor than maternal education, depression, and stress. A third-grade follow-up of children in the program showed significantly higher math achievement when compared to low-income Latino third graders in the same school district. These findings appear to validate the HIPPY model, which suggests that parents gain confidence as their children's teachers through their experiences in the program. HIPPY successfully addresses the need for culturally sensitive programming aimed at improving educational achievement among minority children.     

The role of positive peer interactions and English exposure in Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills

We examined the extent to which positive interactions with peers and the amount of English exposure received from them during social interactions in the fall of preschool contributed to low-income Spanish-speaking children's (N = 107; M_age = 53 months; SD = 4.30 months; 56% boys) English vocabulary and letter-word skills in the spring (controlling for parents’ language use, family income, number of English books at home, and children's nonverbal cognitive abilities). We also examined the mediating roles of children's learning behaviors (e.g., attentiveness, independence, initiative, persistence, and participation) and English oral proficiency in the classroom. The association between positive peer interactions and English vocabulary skills was mediated by children's English oral proficiency, whereas the association between positive peer interactions and English letter-word skills was mediated by children's learning behaviors and English oral proficiency. The associations among peer English exposure and children's English vocabulary and letter-word skills were mediated by children's English oral proficiency. There was also evidence of a transactional association between positive peer interactions and children's learning behaviors and between peers’ and children's English oral proficiency. The findings highlight the importance of peer experiences in fostering Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills.     

Young girls’ spatial and arithmetic performance: The mediating role of maternal supportive interactions during joint spatial problem solving

The present study addresses girls’ (6–7-year-olds; N = 162) early spatial and arithmetic skills within the context of learning environments provided by their mothers. The study was designed to determine the relationship between maternal supportive interactions on a joint origami spatial problem-solving task and their first grade daughters’ spatial and arithmetic skills. During home visits the mothers and daughters were videotaped jointly solving origami tasks with maternal supportive interactions assessed through ratings of maternal stimulation of cognitive development and maternal quality of assistance; the girls were separately assessed in school on spatial and arithmetic skills. Using structural equation modeling, the main findings were (1) maternal supportive interactions on a mother–child origami task mediated the relation between mothers’ spatial skills/educational level and their daughters’ spatial skills and (2) their daughters’ spatial skills in turn mediated the relation between quality of maternal supportive spatial interactions and the daughters’ arithmetic achievement. The present findings indicate the importance of early maternal supportive interactions relating to spatial problem solving for girls’ spatial and arithmetic achievement. Furthermore, all pathways linking girls’ home environments and arithmetic skills were mediated through the girls’ spatial skills, suggesting that for young girls, development of early spatial skills may be important for effective arithmetic learning.     

Family risks and protective factors: Pathways to Early Head Start toddlers’ social-emotional functioning

Early Head Start children may be more likely to exhibit difficulties with social-emotional functioning due to the high-risk environments in which they live. However, positive parenting may serve as a protective factor against the influence of risk on children's outcomes. The current study examines the effects of contextual and proximal risks on children's social-emotional outcomes and whether these effects are mediated by maternal sensitivity. One-hundred and fourteen low-income, high-risk mother-toddler dyads participated in this longitudinal study designed to examine the relationships between family risk, mothers’ sensitivity, and children's social-emotional functioning in Early Head Start families. Researchers conducted two 2.5-h home visits, approximately six months apart, during which they assessed mothers’ levels of family risk, maternal sensitivity, and their children's social-emotional functioning. A theoretically derived structural equation model was tested to examine the direct paths from family risk variables to children's social-emotional functioning and the indirect paths by way of the mediator variable, maternal sensitivity. Support was found for a model that identified maternal sensitivity as a mediator of the relationship between parenting stress and children's social-emotional functioning. Results have implications for providing services through Early Head Start programs that are aimed at alleviating parenting stress and enhancing maternal sensitivity.     

Low-income minority mothers’ and fathers’ reading and children's interest: Longitudinal contributions to children's receptive vocabulary skills

Using data from a diverse sample of low-income African American and Latino mothers, fathers, and their young children who participated in Early Head Start (n = 61), the current study explored the association between parents’ reading quality (i.e. metalingual talk) while reading with their 2-year-old children and their children's receptive vocabulary skills at pre-kindergarten. It further examined whether children's interest in reading mediated this association. There were three main findings. First, most mothers and fathers in our sample read relatively often to their children (a few times a week) and used some metalingual talk; fathers used more than mothers. Second, controlling for parental education, mothers’ and fathers’ early reading quality significantly predicted children's receptive vocabulary skills at pre-kindergarten. Third, children's interest in reading mediated the association between mothers’ and fathers’ reading quality and children's receptive vocabulary scores. These findings have important implications for programs aimed at fostering low-income children's vocabularies and suggest that both mothers and fathers need to be included in programs.     

Early Head Start and African American families: Impacts and mechanisms of child outcomes

Persistent disparities exist between African American children and their European American counterparts across developmental domains. Early childhood intervention may serve to promote more positive outcomes among African American children. The current study examined whether and how the Early Head Start (EHS) program benefited African American children at the end of the program, when they were 36 months of age, as well as the parenting these children experienced and how this affected their developmental outcomes. The data show a wide and strong pattern of impacts of EHS for African American children and families. Path analysis yielded findings that suggested a direct effect of EHS on specific child outcomes and parenting processes within this group of African American families. Parental supportiveness and cognitive stimulation emerged as important direct influences on African American children's outcomes and as pathways through which Early Head Start benefits these children. These findings are discussed in the context of early childhood intervention practice.     

Effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language,communication, and literacy outcomes

This study examined the joint effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language, communication, and early literacy development, while also considering prior developmental level. Participants were 95 children (46 boys), assessed as toddlers (mean age = 26.33 months; Time 1) and preschoolers (mean age = 68.71 months; Time 2) and their families. At both times, children attended center-based child care classrooms in the metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal. Results from hierarchical linear models indicated that home environment and preschool quality, but not center-based toddler child care quality, were associated with children's language and literacy outcomes at Time 2. Moreover, the quality of preschool classrooms moderated the association between home environment quality and children's language and early literacy skills – but not communication skills – at Time 2, suggesting the positive cumulative effects of home environment and preschool quality. Findings further support the existence of a detrimental effect of low preschool quality on children's language and early literacy outcomes: positive associations among home environment quality and children's developmental outcomes were found to reduce substantially when children attended low-quality preschool classrooms.     

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.     

Parental writing support and preschoolers’ early literacy,language, and fine motor skills

The current study examines the nature and variability of parents’ aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low-level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent–child dyads (n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers’ writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool.     

Early academic skills and childhood experiences across the urban–rural continuum

The urban–rural continuum provides unique contexts for development. Differences in access to resources and childrearing norms and practices in urban, suburban, and rural areas may be linked to disparities in early achievement. Yet, few studies examine associations between urbanicity and children's early academic skills. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6050) this study examined differences in academic skills at kindergarten entry across large urban, small urban, suburban and rural areas. Additionally, it considered whether home environments and child care experiences explained disparities in early achievement. Results showed that children in large urban and rural areas entered kindergarten with less advanced academic skills than children in small urban areas and suburbs. Lower achievement for rural children was partly explained by less advantageous home environments and increased use of home-based, rather than center-based, preschool. Parents living in large urban areas had less knowledge of child development, which helped explain their children's lower achievement.     

The contributions of parental management language to executive function in preschool children

This study investigated relations between preschoolers’ emergent executive function skills and their interactions with parents, with particular focus on the verbal utterances parents use to guide children's behavior (i.e., management language). Parent–child dyads (n = 127) were videotaped during a structured play task and the frequency of two types of management language, Direction (high control) and Suggestion (low control), was observed. Children's executive function was assessed using the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders (HTKS) task. Latent growth modeling was used to investigate relations between management language and the development of children's executive function. Direction language (i.e., commands) was negatively associated with children's age three executive function but not significantly related to the rate of executive function development over time. Conversely, Suggestion language (i.e., questions and statements that offer children some degree of choice) was positively related to executive function at age three but negatively related to growth. The potential importance of management language as a parenting behavior that contributes to various aspects of children's self-regulation during preschool and kindergarten is discussed.     

Family sources of educational gender inequality in rural China: A critical assessment

In this paper, we investigate the gender gap in education in rural northwest China. We first discuss parental perceptions of abilities and appropriate roles for girls and boys; parental concerns about old-age support; and parental perceptions of different labor market outcomes for girls’ and boys’ education. We then investigate gender disparities in investments in children, children's performance at school, and children's subsequent attainment. We analyze a survey of 9–12-year-old children and their families conducted in rural Gansu Province in the year 2000, along with follow-up information about subsequent educational attainment collected 7 years later. We complement our main analysis with two illustrative case studies of rural families drawn from 11 months of fieldwork conducted in rural Gansu between 2003 and 2005 by the second author.     

Chinese parents’ goals and practices in early childhood

We review the literature on Chinese parents’ views and practices through the lens of Confucianism. Confucianism advances seven developmental goals for children – knowledge, social norms, modesty, shame, self-restraint, filial piety, and harmonious relationships – and unique beliefs about parents’ role in children's development (Guan). We examine how these goals and beliefs are reflected in parents’ socialization of their young children, and how they play out in associations between parenting and children's development. We close with a contextualized, dynamic approach to the study of parenting goals and practices by describing historical shifts in China's economy, policies, and the global context that have led to marked changes in Chinese parenting.     

Two approaches to teaching young children science concepts,vocabulary, and scientific problem-solving skills

The present study examined the efficacy of two different approaches to teaching designed to facilitate children's learning about science concepts and vocabulary related to objects’ floating and sinking and scientific problem-solving skills: responsive teaching (RT) and the combination of responsive teaching and explicit instruction (RT + EI). Participants included 104 children (51 boys) aged four to five years. Small groups of children were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention groups (RT, RT + EI) or to a control group. Responsive teaching (RT) reflects a common approach to teaching young children, and the combination approach (RT + EI) includes explicit instruction as well as responsive teaching. The two planned interventions were implemented with preschool children and provided evidence that (1) young children learned science concepts and vocabulary better when either responsive teaching or the combination of responsive teaching and explicit instruction was used; (2) children in the combined intervention group learned more science concepts and vocabulary and more content-specific scientific problem-solving skills than children in either the responsive teaching or control groups. Limitations, future directions, and implications for practice are also discussed.     

Classroom dimensions predict early peer interaction when children are diverse in ethnicity, race, and home language

The purpose of this study was to test a model for predicting preschool-age children's behaviors with peers from dimensions of the classroom and teacher-child relationship quality when the children were from diverse race, ethnic, and home language backgrounds. Eight hundred children, (M = age 63 months, SD = 8.1 months), part of the National Evaluation of Early Head Start, participated in this study just prior to entering kindergarten. We observed children with peers in their classrooms and rated classroom peer group size, affective climate for peer interaction, teacher management of the classroom, and materials for dramatic play. Teachers reported on teacher-child relationship quality. Children from Spanish-speaking homes played similarly in classrooms where Spanish was and was not spoken. After control variables and receptive vocabulary scores were entered into the model, classroom dimensions and teacher-child relationship quality significantly predicted pretend play, anxious-withdrawn, aggressive, and victim of peer aggression behaviors with peers. Children engaged in more pretend play and received lower ratings of being the victim of peer aggression when classroom groups were smaller. When teachers perceived teacher-child relationships as lower in conflict and higher in closeness, children's anxious-withdrawn, aggressive, and victim of aggression ratings were lower. Children's ratings of being the victim of peer aggression were higher when ratings of classroom positive peer climate were lower. Child-teacher ethnic or racial match did not moderate these predictions.