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There is a need to better understand the influence of daytime parenting behaviors on children's sleep. We investigated relations between maternal harsh parenting and young children's sleep and consistent with health disparities and cumulative risk perspectives, socioeconomic status was considered as a moderator of these associations. Participants were 172 mothers of children between the ages of 2 and 5 years (mean age of children was 3.30 years) from diverse ethnic (47% of children were White/European American, 24% were Hispanic/Latino, 29% reported other ethnicities) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Mothers reported on children's sleep/wake problems (insufficient sleep duration, night wakings, daytime sleepiness) and their own harsh parenting behaviors. After controlling for several covariates, more maternal harsh parenting was related to greater daytime sleepiness among children. Associations between maternal harsh parenting and insufficient sleep duration and night wakings were significant for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Results add to the growing literature that has considered children's sleep in the family context and highlight the importance of contemporaneous considerations of the parenting and socioeconomic contexts. Highlights: Relations between maternal harsh parenting and young children's sleep were examined among families from diverse SES homes. Mothers of 2- to 5-year-old children reported on their own harsh parenting and children's sleep. Harsher maternal parenting and children's sleep problems were related, especially for those from lower SES backgrounds. Attempts to improve children's sleep, especially in low SES contexts, may benefit from considering harsh parenting. Results illustrate the importance of considering children's sleep within the family and broader social context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the levels of Latino mothers’ and fathers’ involvement in their school-age children’s care and the relationships between parents’ socio-economic status (SES) variables, sense of community, community provisions, and marital satisfaction with their involvement in children’s routine and demand care. Mothers and fathers from 159 intact Latino families participated in the study. Multivariate analyses revealed that mothers spent significantly more time in providing child care than fathers did. The gender of the child did not make a difference in the amount of time mothers and fathers invested in children’s care. Whereas community provisions and marital satisfaction predicted mothers’ involvement in routine care, sense of community and community provisions predicted mothers’ involvement in demand care. None of the predictors were related to fathers’ involvement in routine or demand care. Findings are discussed in light of gender role differences in parental involvement with children within Latino families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]