Family Meals and Child Academic and Behavioral Outcomes

This study investigates the link between the frequency of family breakfasts and dinners and child academic and behavioral outcomes in a panel sample of 21,400 children aged 5–15. It complements previous work by examining younger and older children separately and by using information on a large number of controls and rigorous analytic methods to discern whether there is causal relation between family meal frequency (FMF) and child outcomes. In child fixed‐effects models, which controlled for unchanging aspects of children and their families, there were no significant (p < .05) relations between FMF and either academic or behavioral outcomes, a novel finding. These results were robust to various specifications of the FMF variables and did not differ by child age.     

Associations Between Family Structure Change and Child Behavior Problems: The Moderating Effect of Family Income

This study investigated conditions under which family structure matters most for child well‐being. Using data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n = 3,936), a national sample of U.S. families, it was estimated how changes in family structure related to changes in children's behavior between age 3 and 12 separately by household income level to determine whether associations depended on families' resources. Early changes in family structure, particularly from a two‐biological‐parent to single‐parent family, predicted increases in behavior problems more than later changes, and movements into single and stepparent families mattered more for children of higher versus lower income parents. Results suggest that for children of higher income parents, moving into a stepfamily may improve, not undermine, behavior.     

Consistency and Change in Maternal Child-Rearing Practices and Values: A Longitudinal Study

Although developmental psychologists frequently assume that parents change their child-rearing practices as their children develop, there is little research on this topic and virtually none involving parents of adolescents and a longitudinal, repeated-measures design. We examined changes in mothers' reported practices over time in regard to independence and control, expression of positive and negative affect, and disciplinary practices using items from the Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR). The CRPR was administered to the same mothers 5 times over an 8-year time period (from when their children were aged 7 or 8 years until they were 15-16 years old). A substantial degree of stability in behaviors and values was noted, even over the 8-year period. In addition, some practices increased or decreased with age, with most of the changes being consistent with prior theorizing and research, as well as commonsense notions related to child rearing.     

Teacher–Child Interactions in Chile and Their Associations With Prekindergarten Outcomes

Quality of teacher–child interactions is central to prekindergarten children's learning. In the United States, the quality of teacher–child interactions is commonly assessed using the teaching through interactions conceptual framework and an associ/ated observational tool, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). This study examined: (a) whether there was evidence supporting three distinctive domains of teacher–child interactions in Chile (construct validity) and (b) whether these domains predicted end‐of‐prekindergarten language, academic, and executive function skills in Chile (predictive validity). The sample consisted of 91 Chilean prekindergarten classrooms (1,868 four‐year‐old children). The findings support both construct and predictive validity of the teaching through interactions conceptual framework as assessed by the CLASS in Chile. Implications for cross‐country comparison of quality of teacher–child interactions in prekindergarten classrooms are discussed.     

Predicting Mothers' Beliefs about Preschool-Aged Children's Social Behavior: Evidence for Maternal Attitudes Moderating Child Effects

Maternal beliefs about children's social behavior may be important contributors to socialization and development, but little is known about how such beliefs form. Transactional models suggest that children's characteristics may influence parents. At 2 years of age, the shy and aggressive behaviors of 65 toddlers (28 females) were observed during interactions with an unfamiliar peer; as well, mothers described the extent to which they advocated protective and authoritarian childrearing attitudes. These variables were used to predict mothers emotions, attributions, parenting goals, and socialization strategies in response to vignettes depicting aggressive and withdrawn child behaviors 2 years later. Most child effects were moderated by maternal attitudes or gender effects. Authoritarian mothers of aggressive toddlers were most likely to report high control and anger, to blame their children for aggression, and to focus on obtaining compliance rather than teaching skills to their children. Protective mothers reported that they would use warmth and involvement to comfort withdrawn children, especially their daughters.     

Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess perceived environmental education (EE) curriculum needs in the United States (K-16). The Environmental Education Curriculum Needs Assessment Questionnaire (EECNAQ) was developed, validated, and direct-mailed to 169 randomly selected professional environmental educators (58.6% return rate). The EECNAQ elicited perceptions about the desired status and the current state of EE curricula, the need for curriculum development, the anticipated use of curricula teachers, and the need for inservice teacher education. These five major questions were posed relative to fifteen goals which reflected the Tbilisi objectives and four levels of environmental literacy. The findings reveal a consensus among the professional participants that the EE goals are important ones, that they are not being met to a large extent in existing curricula, that extensive needs exist for both goal-oriented curricula and teacher education, and that the goaloriented curricula would be used by teachers.     

孕产妇基于互联网获取母婴保健知识的需求现状调查

目的:了解孕产妇通过互联网获取母婴保健知识的需求现状,从而有利于医院及孕产妇机构利用互联网对孕产妇进行母婴保健知识的传播。方法:采用随机抽样的方法,对在内蒙古呼和浩特两所三级甲等综合医院门诊就诊的200名孕产妇进行问卷调查,问卷当场回收。问卷内容包括一般资料、健康素养及母婴知识的获取途径等。结果:孕产妇对网络的利用率较低,不同文化程度、不同家庭收入的孕产妇存在差异。     

Children's Narrative Representations of Mothers: Their Development and Associations with Child and Mother Adaptation

We investigated associations between children's representations of mothers in their play narratives and measures of children's and mother socioemotional adaptation, and explored the development of these representations between the ages of 4 and 5 years. Fifty-one children were interviewed using the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery to obtain their narrative representations of mothers. Positive, Negative, and Disciplinary representation composites were generated. Children who had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations had fewer behavior problems and their mothers reported less psychological distress. In addition, 5-year-olds had more Positive and Disciplinary representations and fewer Negative representations did 4-year-olds, and there was moderate stability in individual differences in children's representations of mothers across the 2 ages. The results add an important dimension to research on parent-child relationships—that of children's perspectives on these relationships.     

Relationship-Focused Child Care Practices: Quality of Care and Child Outcomes for Children in Poverty

Research Findings: Child care delivery practices promoting continuous, primary caregiver-child relationships (relationship-focused child care) were evaluated for 223 preschool-age children (45% African American, 55% Latino) attending child care centers serving low-income children. Both relationship-focused and non-relationship-focused centers were accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Children in relationship-focused programs received more sensitive, involved, and affectionate caregiving and were more engaged with their caregivers than children in comparison centers, but some differences were greater for African American children. Outcomes associated with relationship-focused care included greater parent-reported child compliance and closer parent-caregiver relations, but no consistent benefits for cognitive school readiness, receptive language, or child behavior problems were found. Follow-up assessments were completed 1 year later for 119 children who remained in their programs. Social and cognitive outcomes improved over time, but some changes were moderated by child race/ethnicity and center type. Over time, parents reported greater child compliance and caregivers reported better parent-caregiver relationships in relationship-focused programs. Practice or Policy: Some social benefits of continuous, primary caregivers were found, but children's cognitive competencies improved with sustained attendance at these accredited programs regardless of the relationship-focused practices.     

Children's Classroom Peer Relationships and Early School Attitudes: Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations

The purpose of this study was to further explore the linkage between children's early school attitudes and interpersonal features of the classroom, including children's relationships with classmates and their perceptions of these relationships. Participants included 102 kindergarten children (M age = 5.8 years) who were interviewed at the beginning and end of kindergarten to obtain measures of their school attitudes (i.e., school liking), classroom peer relationships (i.e., peer acceptance, mutual friendships), and peer relationship perceptions (i.e., perceived loneliness, peer support). Results showed that initial school liking was associated with all four measures of children's peer relationships; however, only the number of mutual friendships that children possessed in their classrooms predicted changes in school attitudes (gains) over time. Early school attitudes were linked to changes in children's peer perceptions; children who disliked school early in kindergarten were more likely to view classmates as unsupportive as the school year progressed. Results are discussed in terms of the potential impact that classroom peer relations may have on early school attitudes, and vice versa. Implications for educational policy are also considered.     

Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations of Sibling Conflict with Family Relationship Assessments and Family Discussions about Sibling Problems

The first purpose of this study was to examine contemporaneous and longitudinal associations of maternal and paternal measures of family functioning with observational and self-report assessments of sibling conflict. The second purpose was to determine whether the ways in which families attempt to solve siblings' problems are associated with contemporaneous and longitudinal assessment of sibling conflict. The results indicate that paternal equality of treatment and family harmony during family discussions about sibling problems, as well as parents' perceptions of family cohesiveness, are associated with lower sibling conflict levels.     

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.     

Associations Between Family Relationships and Psychiatric Symptomatology in Undergraduate Students:

The present study investigated whether or not gender differences moderate the association between family relationships and psychiatric symptomatology in undergraduate students. One hundred ninety-eight undergraduate students (115 females and 83 males) completed self-report instruments assessing primary psychiatric symptomatology, personality disorder symptomatology, and family relationship closeness/distance. The results of this research indicated that family relationship closeness/distance was consistently associated with both of the psychiatric sumptom measures in the female subsample. Family love, understanding, companionship, and advice were negatively associated with psychiatric symptoms, while family problems, the desire for privacy and freedom from the family, ideological differences, and tensions involving friends were positively associated with psychiatric symptoms. In contrast, family relationships were infrequently correlated with psychiatric symptoms in the male subsample. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of previous research on the association between family relationships and psychological well-being in female and male late adolescents.     

The Evidence Base for Improving School Outcomes by Addressing the Whole Child and by Addressing Skills and Attitudes, Not Just Content

If we want the best academic outcomes, the most efficient and cost-effective route to achieve that is, counterintuitively, not to narrowly focus on academics, but to also address children's social, emotional, and physical development. Similarly, the best and most efficient route to physical health is through also addressing emotional, social, and cognitive wellness. Emotional wellness, similarly, depends critically on social, cognitive, and physical wellness.     

Children''s Expectations of the Outcomes of Social Strategies: Relations with Sociometric Status and Maternal Disciplinary Styles

To explore relations between maternal disciplinary styles, children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies, and children's peer status, 144 mothers and their first- (N = 59) and fourth- (N = 85) grade children (ages = 70-86 months and 116-129 months, respectively) participated in home interviews prior to the beginning of the school year. Measures of children's sociometric status were obtained in classrooms after the school year began. Results indicated that children of mothers who were more power assertive in their disciplinary styles tended to be less accepted by peers and tended to expect successful outcomes for unfriendly-assertive methods for resolving peer conflict (e.g., threatening to hit another child). In addition, children who expected unfriendly-assertive strategies to lead to self-oriented gains were less accepted by peers. Moreover, maternal disciplinary styles and outcome expectations for unfriendly-assertive strategies were found to make separate and independent contribution to peer status.