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In accord with social information processing theory, executive function and childrearing beliefs may play significant roles in preventing negative childrearing practices. Still, the interplay of these two components is not well understood. The current study tested the moderating role of authoritarian childrearing beliefs in the relation between caregiver executive function and negative childrearing practices. The sample included 50 predominantly low-income caregivers of children between 3 and 5 years of age. The results indicated that executive function was significantly and inversely related to inconsistent and hostile childrearing practices only among caregivers who reported high levels of authoritarian childrearing beliefs. Executive function and childrearing practices were unrelated among caregivers who reported low levels of authoritarian childrearing beliefs. The findings suggest that intervention programs for caregivers may need to target childrearing beliefs.

We tested a mediated-moderation model examining the association between Latina mothers' parenting stress and depression and children's academic skills approximately 4 years later, prior to kindergarten entry, whether mothers' positive parenting behaviors and children's self-regulation mediated those associations, and whether the mediated associations varied based on mothers' education. Participants were 714 low-income Latina mothers (M age at enrollment = 24 years; 78% Mexican; 59% foreign-born) and children (53% boys). Data were gathered across four time points: when the children were approximately 14, 24, and 36 months of age, and prior to kindergarten entry. Results revealed an inverse association between mothers' parenting stress and depression and children's academic skills mediated via parenting behaviors but only at certain maternal education levels. The findings highlight family processes by which Latina mothers who experience parenting stress and depression may adversely impact children's academic readiness for kindergarten, and how maternal education may buffer that association.

Objectives: While existing work points to the ways parenting behaviors and specific value socialization approaches influence children's internalization of moral values (Baumrind, Child Development 43, 261-267, 1972; Hoffman, Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice, 2001; Grusec & Davidov, Child Development, 81, 687-709, 2010), little work has considered the experiences of African American and lower-income families. The current study capitalized on the availability of 53 video-recorded mother-preadolescent conversations about their disagreements from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (Vogel et al., Early head start children in grade 5: Long-term follow-up of the early head start research and evaluation study sample. OPRE Report # 2011-8, 2010). Methods: Using inductive analysis, we assessed mothers' affective tone, communication styles, and message content during the discussion of problems involving honesty and lying. Results: Mothers tended to display warm yet firm affect, incorporate both autonomy-supportive and dominant-directive communication styles, assert that lying is never acceptable, and explain why lying is problematic. Conclusions: Mothers' affect, communication styles, and message content reflected a no-nonsense approach to transmitting values about honesty to their children. To our knowledge, the current study is the first qualitative observational investigation of low-income African American mothers' conversations regarding honesty with their children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

We tested a culturally integrative model examining the associations among economic hardship during infancy and Latino children's later sociobehavioral problems and academic skills prior to kindergarten entry, whether mothers' mental health problems and positive parenting behaviors mediated those associations, and whether they varied by mothers' acculturation levels. Participants were 714 low-income Latino mothers (M age at enrollment = 24 years; 82% Mexican American; 59% foreign-born) and children (M age at enrollment = 4 months; 53% boys) in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSREP). Data were gathered across five time points: when the families enrolled in the EHSREP, when the children were 14, 24, and 36 months of age, and just prior to their kindergarten entry. The results revealed an inverse relation between economic hardship during infancy and academic skills prior to kindergarten entry, with the association mediated through maternal mental health problems and positive parenting behaviors. The association between economic hardship and children's sociobehavioral problems via maternal mental health problems and positive parenting behaviors, however, was not statistically significant. Instead, the positive relation between mothers' mental health problems and children's sociobehavioral problems was mediated by maternal positive parenting behaviors. The findings highlight key family processes by which economic hardship in infancy may be associated with Latino preschoolers' academic skills prior to entering school. (PsycINFO Database Record

Early social interaction lays the foundation for developing language skills. Maternal depression may affect social interaction by disrupting the temporal structure of turn-taking. In this study, we examined the temporal properties of dialogue extracted from video recordings of semi-structured play between mothers and preschool children enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Program. The primary goal of the study is understanding how depression impacts bidirectional processes in mother-child interaction, and the quality of children’s early language experience. Our analyses examined how higher levels of maternal depression were related to the total interaction time, the response latencies, the number and duration of utterances, and the number of conversational turns for both the mother and the child. Significant differences were noted in families with maternal depression playing for shorter total durations and exchanging fewer back-and-forth utterances. Children of depressed mothers vocalize significantly less frequently than children of non-depressed mothers.

Objectives This study investigated what low-income, African American mothers say to their children about the value of education and how children respond to these messages. Method Qualitative methods were used to analyze 43 videotaped mother-child conversations about disagreements regarding school and education. The conversations had been videotaped for the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project when children were in fifth grade. Results The majority of discussions about school and education were initiated by mothers, not children. Mothers' reasons concerning the importance of education mostly reflected utility values. No mother criticized teachers or accepted children's attempts to blame external factors for poor performance. Children were open with their mothers and seemed to accept their standards. Conclusions The findings underscore the sincerity of most mothers' communications to children about the importance of education and their children's receptivity to these messages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Early social interaction lays the foundation for developing language skills. Maternal depression may affect social interaction by disrupting the temporal structure of turn-taking. In this study, we examine the temporal properties of dialogue extracted from video recordings of semi-structured play between mothers and preschool children enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Program (n = 110). Our preliminary analyses examine how higher levels of maternal depression (on the CES-D scale) are related to the number and duration of utterances, the number of conversational turns, and the latency and variability of responses for both the mother and the child. The primary goal of the study is understanding how depression impacts bidirectional processes in mother-child interaction, and the quality of children's early language experience.

We examined the indirect relations between maternal parenting stress when children were 15months of age and children’s vocabulary and academic skills when they were about to enter kindergarten, testing for potential mediation by mother-child closeness and children’s self-regulation skills. Participants had been involved in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project and included 1760 European American, African American, and Hispanic low-income mother-child dyads. Structural equation modeling revealed that mothers’ parenting stress when children were 15 months old was inversely related to children’s vocabulary and academic skills just prior to kindergarten, and that mother-child closeness at 25 months and children’s pre-kindergarten self-regulation skills consecutively mediated these associations in a three-path mediation model. The findings highlight the benefits of mother-child closeness in toddlerhood, and negative implications of maternal parenting stress. The discussion focuses on how maternal parenting stress is related to later maternal behavior, ultimately shaping child outcomes.

Research Findings: Adults’ attitudes about attachment relationships are central to how they perceive and respond to children. However, little is known about how attachment styles are related to teachers’ attitudes toward and interactions with infants and toddlers. From a survey of 207 students taking early childhood (EC) courses at 4 U.S. universities, we report relations among students’ attachment styles and their (a) career goals, (b) attitudes about caring for and educating infants and young children, and (c) interaction skills for responding in developmentally supportive ways. Overall, attachment security was positively associated with career goals focused on working with younger children, knowledge about infant/toddler development, attitudes that acknowledge the importance of adult support in children’s development, and developmentally supportive interaction skills. Students who scored high on attachment fearfulness minimized the importance of adults in children’s lives, minimized the importa...

This mixed method study examined 28 low-income African American mothers' physical interventions in their 14-month-old toddlers' play. Inductive methods were used to identify six physical intervention behaviors, the affect accompanying physical interventions, and apparent reasons for intervening. Nonparametric statistical analyses determined that toddlers experienced physical intervention largely in the context of positive maternal affect. Mothers of boys expressed highly positive affect while physically intervening more than mothers of girls. Most physically intervening acts seemed to be motivated by maternal intent to show or tell children how to play or to correct play deemed incorrect. Neutral affect was the most common toddler affect type following physical intervention, but boys were more likely than girls to be upset immediately after physical interventions. Physical interventions intended to protect health and safety seemed the least likely to elicit toddler upset.

The goals of this study were to examine (1) stability of maternal directiveness during interactions with their children from toddlerhood to late middle childhood, (2) direct and mediated relations between mothers’ directiveness when children were two years old, mothers’ respect for autonomy and children’s positivity and negativity toward their mothers when children were in late middle childhood, and (3) differences in these paths by ethnoracial group. Participants included 876 European-American, 789 African-American, and 411 Mexican-American mothers and their children from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Maternal respect for autonomy at Time 2 partially mediated an association between Time 1 directiveness and observed child positivity toward mothers at Time 2.There was also a direct inverse link between Time 1 maternal directiveness and children’s observed positivity toward mothers at Time 2. Relations were similar across ethnoracial groups and for boys and girls. The discussion focuses on heterotypic stability in directive parenting and its implications for children’s feelings toward their mothers.

The present study examined the early parenting and temperament determinants of children's antisocial and positive behaviors in a low-income, diverse ethno-racial sample. Participants were from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, which included 960 European American (initial M age = 15.00 months; 51.2% female) and 880 African American mothers and their children (initial M age = 15.10 months; 49.2% female) followed from 15 months of age to 5th grade. For European American children, findings showed direct and indirect effects (via self-regulation) of early negative emotionality on later behaviors. For African American children, discipline practices in infancy had direct long-term implications for behaviors in 5th grade. Discussion highlights the interplay of parenting, temperament, and culture from infancy to late childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record

Using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a cross-lag mediation model was tested to examine longitudinal relations among low-income mothers' sensitivity; toddlers' engagement of their mothers; and toddler's self-regulation at ages 1, 2, and 3 years (N = 2,958). Age 1 maternal sensitivity predicted self-regulation at ages 2 and 3 years, and age 2 engagement of mother mediated the relation between age 1 maternal sensitivity and age 3 self-regulation. Lagged relations from toddler self-regulation at ages 1 and 2 years to later maternal sensitivity were not significant, suggesting stronger influence from mother to toddler than vice versa. Model fit was similar regardless of child gender and depth of family poverty. (PsycINFO Database Record

In this study, we investigated trajectories of Black-White biracial children’s social development during middle childhood, their associations with parents’ racial identification of children, and the moderating effects of child gender and family socioeconomic status (SES). The study utilized data from parent and teacher reports on 293 US Black-White biracial children enrolled in the Early Childhood Longitudinal StudyKindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). Growth curve models suggested increasing trajectories of teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors between kindergarten and fifth grade. Parents’ racial identification of children predicted child externalizing behavior trajectories such that teachers rated biracially identified children’s externalizing behaviors lower relative to those of Black- and White-identified children. Additionally, for White-identified biracial children, the effect of family SES on internalizing behavior trajectories was especially pronounced.These findings suggest that in the USA, how parents racially identify their Black-White biracial children early on has important implications for children’s problem behaviors throughout the elementary school years.

Objective. Using the Early Head Start dataset, this study examined change over time in European American, African American, and Mexican American mothers' directiveness during play with their young children and associations between these patterns and their children's engagement with and negativity toward them. The influences of maternal positive and negative regard were also investigated. Design. Mother–child dyads (938 European American, 849 African American, and 465 Mexican American) participated in semistructured play sessions when children were 1, 2, 3, and 5 years old. Videotapes were coded for mothers' directiveness, positive regard, and negative regard and for children's engagement with and negativity toward their mothers. Results. All three groups declined in directiveness over time, but varied in initial levels and in rates and patterns of decline. European American mothers had the lowest directiveness ratings and African American mothers had the highest; Mexican American mothers showed the steepest declines after the first observation. Directiveness had generally negative implications for children's behavior toward their mothers, although Mexican American children were least affected. In all three groups, maternal positive regard weakened, while maternal negative regard strengthened, inverse relations between directiveness and child engagement. Conclusions. Although there are ethnic differences in levels of directiveness during play with 1- to 5-year-olds, there are also across-group commonalities in the negative implications of high directiveness, especially in the contexts of low positive and high negative maternal regard.

SYNOPSIS Objective . This article identifies patterns of mothering in low-income families from three ethnic groups and explores whether those patterns yield similar associations with child outcomes. Design . A person-centered within-group approach was used to examine observed patterns of mothering among European American (n = 740), African American (n = 604), and Mexican American (n = 322) low-income mothers and their 1-year-olds who were participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Cluster analytic techniques were employed using four dimensions of mothering coded from videotapes: supportiveness, directiveness/intrusiveness, negative regard, and detachment. Results . Three similar mothering patterns were seen within each ethnic group: Supportive (48%–52%), Directive (29%–30%), and Detached (14%–19%). Although the patterns of mothering were similar, mean scores on discrete mothering behaviors differed across ethnic groups. A fourth pattern—Harsh—was found among European American a...

Aim. This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore childrearing concerns through an analysis of online parenting message boards managed by popular parenting magazines. Background. Increasingly, mothers appear to be turning to the Web for childrearing advice and support. However, no previous studies have examined the childrearing concerns of mothers of infants and toddlers through the analysis of online message board postings. Design. Ethnographic content analysis methods were used to analyse the online postings. Methods. A total of 120 messages posted in 2007 by mothers of 0–2 year olds on the websites of two best-selling parenting magazines in the United States were submitted to ethnographic content analysis. Each message pertained to one or more of six childrearing domains: Feeding/Eating, Sleep, Development, Discipline, ToiletTraining and Mother–Child Relationships. Results. Questions and pleas for support were most prominently centred on feeding/ eating and sleep issues. Mothers expressed concerns about when and how their children should begin to sleep and eat independently. In addition to the themes specific to particular domains, across-domain themes were identified involving mothers’ parenting stress, questioning of advice from families/paediatricians and worries that children were not developing normally. Conclusion. Online forums have become a space where mothers can openly describe their own negative emotions towards parenting and ask questions or gain reassurance to resolve mixed messages about how one should rear infants and toddlers. Paediatric nurses should be aware that mothers are confused about conflicting messages, especially in the domains of sleeping and eating. Reviewing parenting message boards occasionally would give nurses continuing insight into common parenting concerns.

The present study was conducted in four phases and constructed a self-report parenting instrument for use with Mexican immigrant mothers of children aged 6 to 10. The 14-item measure was based on semistructured qualitative interviews with Mexican immigrant mothers ( N = 10), was refined by a focus group of Mexican immigrant mothers ( N = 5), and was then completed by a larger sample of Mexican immigrant mothers ( N = 168). Children’s socioemotional and behavioral competence was examined on a subset of children ( N = 30) from family drawings and teacher reports of behavior. Items of the parenting instrument pertained to one of three general parenting constructs: Warmth, Monitoring, and Discipline. Using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and respecification procedures, the three models were found to be a good fit with the data. Subscales consisted of moderate levels of internal consistency and predicted several children’s behaviors.

This study explores whether any relationships exist between math performance scores on the Missouri Assessment Plan (MAP), its subscales and time spent playing the child’s favorite videogame given the game’s spatial content and cognitive complexity. Relationships between gender and math scores were also examined. Findings indicate no main effect of time spent playing, spatial content, or level of complexity of games on math performance. However, several math scores interacted with time spent playing one’s favorite video game, such that higher levels of math performance occurred when participants played games high in spatial content at low amounts of time. A similar interaction occurred when examining complexity of the game and time spent playing. The study provides preliminary evidence that it may be important to consider the spatial or complexity content of videogames in addition to time spent playing when addressing the relationship between videogame play and adolescent math performance.

Questionnaire items tapping feelings about pregnancy were administered to 173 young low-income primiparous Black mothers who either were pregnant or had delivered within the past year. A factor analysis indicated that 11 items together measured mothers acceptance of the pregnancies that resulted in the births of their first children. Links to mothers later parenting stress warmth and their toddlers attachment security were explored. Pregnancy acceptance was a negative predictor of one aspect of maternal parenting stress (distress resulting from feelings that parenting is burdensome) and a positive predictor of toddler attachment security. It did not however predict another aspect of parenting stress (feelings that interactions with children are not enjoyable) or maternal warmth. (authors)

Using social information processing and cultural change models as explanatory frameworks, this article reviews the literature on Latino parental control and its implications for child development. It is argued that the use of parental control in Latino families may have motivational roots in cultural childrearing goals such as familismo (familism), respeto (respect), and educación (moral education). Consideration of these underpinnings, in conjunction with psychological and methodological issues, helps to explain variability in the use of Latino parental control and its effect on child development. Recommendations for future research include refinement of control and acculturation instruments, and attention to both contextual and individual variables.

This paper presents the results of two qualitative studies, conducted independently in two Early Head Start programs, exploring the reasons given by mothers and home visitors for family success or lack of success in achieving program goals and for engagement in the mother–home visitor relationship. Several patterns pertaining to family issues and program characteristics emerged. The family factors that seemed most important included the press of mild to serious stressors, social support from relatives and romantic partners, and individual parent characteristics such as personality, health, and motivation. On the program side, home visitor conscientiousness, home visitor/mother match in terms of personality and personal history, and efforts to build program loyalty seemed to have particularly strong influences.

The present study investigated the extent to which maternal intrusiveness and warmth during play, observed in 579 European American, 412 African American, and 110 more and 131 less acculturated Mexican American low-income families when children were approximately 15 months old, predicted 3 dimensions of the mother-toddler relationship 10 months later. Intrusiveness predicted increases in later child negativity in all 4 groups. Among African Americans only, this association was moderated by maternal warmth. Intrusiveness predicted negative change in child engagement with mothers only in European American families. Finally, near-significant trends suggested that intrusiveness predicted later decreased dyadic mutuality in European American and more acculturated Mexican American families, but not in African American or less acculturated Mexican American families.

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model that examined the extent to which cognitive readiness to parent, perceived difficult child temperament, observed parenting behaviors, and positive coping styles predicted parenting stress among young, low-income, first-time, African-American mothers. One hundred and twenty African-American, first-time mothers who applied to the Early Head Start program were selected to participate in this study. Results based on structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) observed positive parenting behaviors were negatively related to parenting stress; (2) difficult child temperament was positively related to parenting stress; (3) positive coping styles did not buffer the relationship between difficult child temperament and parenting stress; (4) difficult child temperament was not directly associated with observed parenting behaviors; (5) cognitive readiness to parent was only indirectly related to parenting stress; and (6) observed parenting behaviors mediat...

Qualitative interviews conducted over the course of 5 years with nine young low-income African American mothers were analyzed in order to gain understanding of their perspectives on corporal punishment. All used corporal punishment with their children. Results pertain to the vocabulary mothers used to describe corporal punishment (pop, tap, whup, spank, hit, and smack), the circumstances in which different levels of corporal punishment were used, the criteria mothers used when deciding whom to allow to administer corporal punishment to their children, and the reasons they supported the use of (non-abusive) corporal punishment.

Evaluations of a variety of home-based early childhood intervention programs show that home visit rates fall short of the number prescribed. In an attempt to add to knowledge about reasons for this phenomenon, the current study explored associations among mother and home visitor personality, relationship quality, and time spent in home visits. Maternal negative emotionality was positively related to both time spent in home visits and relationship quality. Maternal positive emotionality was inversely related to time spent in home visits. Home visitor negative emotionality was also positively related to mothers' assessments of relationship quality; however, it was inversely related to the amount of time spent in home visits. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 591–606, 2003.

Le principal but de cette presente etude etait de determiner si la susceptibilite maternelle au stress (reactivite au stress et alienation) modere la relation entre le temperament infantile difficile et la securite de l'attachement dans un echantillon de 82 jeunes meres noires americaines a revenus bas, vivant dans des quartiers pauvres et pour la plupart celibataires. Les meres ont repondu a des questionnaires sur la personnalite adulte et le temperament infantile lorsque leur bebes avaient a peu pres 10 mois. L'attachement fut mesure lorsque les bebes avaient a peu pres un an. Le temperament difficile du bebe et la reactivite maternelle au stress etaient inversement lies a la securite d'attachement du bebe. L'alienation maternelle n'etait pas liee a la securite d'attachement du bebe. La reactivite maternelle au stress et l'alienation ont modere le lien entre les peurs et l'attachement du bebe, mais pas le lien entre la souffrance du bebe, les restrictions et l'attachement. Contrairement a ce qu'on attendait, les relations negatives entre les peurs et l'attachement du bebe n'ont emerge que lorsque les meres avaient une faible reactivite au stress ou lorsqu'elles n'avaient qu'une alienation basse ou moyenne.

Salient goals and values of early childhood educators in six Moscow child care centers were compared to those of a decade ago (before the collapse of the USSR). Current goals and values were determined from interviews, observations, and recent Russian pedagogical books. Educators’ opinions about changes in children and parents were also ascertained. Good health, kindness, politeness, and appreciation of beauty continue to be important childrearing goals. Changes include more emphasis on goals with an individualistic flavor (happiness and self-confidence), more attention to fostering appreciation for Russian history and culture, and more focus on academic preparation for school. Early childhood educators view today’s children as more relaxed, more spontaneous, more noncompliant, less idealistic and innocent, and less skilled at the time of enrollment than their predecessors. They view today’s parents as more assertive and more knowledgeable about the potential of child care to contribute to children’s development, and yet as investing less time in their children than parents of a decade ago. These changes are related to change in the wider society.

This study tested the hypothesis that curriculum type (Montessori and constructivist) moderates the impact of temperament (specifically activity level and attention-span/persistence) on the classroom behavior of 3- to 5-year-old children. Mothers enrolled in Montessori and constructivist preschools filled out the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory. The children's teachers filled out the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire and the Preschool Adjustment Questionnaire. A near-significant trend suggested that temperamentally active boys were more likely to be perceived by their teachers as having behavior problems if they were enrolled in Montessori programs than if they were enrolled in constructivist programs. There was no such trend for girls. There was no evidence that temperamental attention-span persistence moderated the impact of curriculum type on either boys' or girls' behavior. The findings thus give modest support to the notion that parents should be advised to select constructivist early childho...

Although rural women participate in the labor force at nearly identical rates as their urban counterparts (Census of Population and Housing, 1990), we know relatively little about the child care arrangements, quality of care available, or training needs of child care providers living in rural communities. The purpose of this investigation was twofold: to learn more about the conditions of child care in a rural, low-income Midwestern sample and to evaluate the effective- ness of a training program focused on rural child care providers. One hundred and fourteen child care providers from 17 rural communities who participated in initial Project REACH activities were assessed prior to the training pro- gram; 66 providers completed the program and were assessed during and immediately after the year-long, individualized training program. Results reveal a profile of rural child care providers that differs from urban providers; although the initial quality of care was rated as inadequate, significant improvements ...

Russian and U.S. university students rated the importance of four child-rearing goals. Compared to U.S. students, Russian students placed lower value on rule conformity and higher value on peer orientation and neatness/cleanliness. Russian students rated inquisitiveness as most important, peer orientation as second, neatness/cleanliness as third, and rule conformity as least important. U.S. students also rated inquisitiveness as most important but rated rule conformity and peer orientation equally as second and neatness/cleanliness as least important.

Thirty-two White 4- and 5-year-olds from middle-income families responded to hypothetical scenarios in which their mothers and their preschool teachers issued opposing commands. Children were asked what they would do and how they would feel in this situation. All children were interviewed twice—once in their homes and once in their child care centers. All children had attended their current child care settings full day for at least 6 months, and all had teachers who were rated as sensitive and involved. Mothers completed the Attachment Behavior Q-sort, age and length of time in the current teacher's care were related to favoring of the teachers', rather than the mothers', commands in the center interviews. In the center interviews, security scores, age, and length of time in the current teacher's care were related to favoring of teachers' rather than mothers' commands. Conversely, in the home interviews, dependency scores were positively correlated with favoring of mothers' commands over teachers...

Teachers in early childhood programs in Jamaica, West Indies, and mothers with children in these programs completed questionnaires about their child rearing ideas and feelings. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations among scales tapping valuing of obedience in children, traditional child rearing ideas, and intrusiveness. Traditional child rearing ideas and intrusiveness were, in turn, negatively correlated with belief in the importance of fostering inquisitiveness. Teachers accorded more importance to inquisitiveness and less importance to rule-conformity than did mothers. Moreover, while teachers saw inquisitiveness as more important than rule-conformity, mothers rated these two goals as equally important. In addition, teachers were less likely to agree that they should be privy to children's private thoughts (intrusiveness) than were mothers. Significant associations between education level and child rearing ideas indicated that mothers and teachers who had completed only high sc...

Past research indicates that positive caregiver behavior is increased as well as enhanced by training and/or formal education. The majority of studies on relations between caregiver training and interaction with children examine caregiving of preschool‐aged children, the purpose of the present study was to examine associations among infant caregivers’ training and the quality of care they provide. The participants were 50 Caucasian female caregivers, ranging in age from 19 to 70 years. Results clearly showed that as training levels of infant caregivers increased, so did mean scores on some dimensions of quality. The fact that higher levels of infant caregiver training had a significant impact on infant personal care and learning activities lends credibility to the importance of training for infant caregivers. Our method for scoring caregiver training levels has promise for research on child care.

Child care center teachers working with toddlers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, mothers with children in these centers, and psychology students at Moscow State University completed questionnaires about their childrearing ideas and feelings. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations among scales tapping valuing of strict adult control over children, obedience in children, and concern with infant spoiling. Each of these variables in turn was positively correlated with superstitiousness and negatively correlated with belief in the importance of talking to infants. Maternal educational level was inversely related to valuing of peer orientation and rule conformity, and positively related to belief in the importance of talking to infants. Respondent age was unrelated to childrearing ideas. Teachers' and mothers' responses were similar on most of the measures; however, teachers indicated less belief in obedience training and greater valuing of inquisitiveness in children than did mothers. The greatest differences, however, were between students and both mothers and teachers. Students' responses suggested that they held more democratic and modern ideas about childrearing than did mothers and teachers.

To report a study conducted to explore childrearing concerns through an analysis of online parenting message boards managed by popular parenting magazines. Background. Increasingly, mothers appear to be turning to the Web for childrearing advice and support. However, no previous studies have examined the childrearing concerns of mothers of infants and toddlers through the analysis of online message board postings.Ethnographic content analysis methods were used to analyse the online postings.A total of 120 messages posted in 2007 by mothers of 0-2 year olds on the websites of two best-selling parenting magazines in the United States were submitted to ethnographic content analysis. Each message pertained to one or more of six childrearing domains: Feeding/Eating, Sleep, Development, Discipline, Toilet-Training and Mother-Child Relationships.Questions and pleas for support were most prominently centred on feeding/eating and sleep issues. Mothers expressed concerns about when and how their children should begin to sleep and eat independently. In addition to the themes specific to particular domains, across-domain themes were identified involving mothers' parenting stress, questioning of advice from families/paediatricians and worries that children were not developing normally.Online forums have become a space where mothers can openly describe their own negative emotions towards parenting and ask questions or gain reassurance to resolve mixed messages about how one should rear infants and toddlers. Paediatric nurses should be aware that mothers are confused about conflicting messages, especially in the domains of sleeping and eating. Reviewing parenting message boards occasionally would give nurses continuing insight into common parenting concerns.

Associations were explored between the present emotional and social development of low-and middle-income African American male and female college students and the substitute care arrangements (none, part time, orfull time) they experienced as infants. The students who had experienced full-time substitute care scored signiflcantly higher on several subscales (Friendship, Identity, and Self-Confidence) of the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) than students who had experienced part-time substitute care. The students who had received no substitute care scored higher on two subscales of the EPSI than students who had experienced part-time substitute care as infants. There were no significant differences between full-time and no-substitute-care recipients. The experience of substitute care arrangements during infancy did not appear to have effects that reach into early adulthood.

This study examined whether or not the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) measured the hierarchical model of development proposed by Erikson. Over 1000 college students responded to the inventory. Using the simplex pattern, the EPSI did not measure Erikson's stages for this sample of students. An examination of the EPSI for subgroups by race and gender did not yield positive results. Possible explanations of the findings are included.

This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race/ethnicity. Child fussiness at age 1 predicted spanking and verbal punishment at all three ages. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated that spanking (but not verbal punishment) at age 1 predicted child aggressive behavior problems at age 2 and lower Bayley mental development scores at age 3. Neither child aggressive behavior problems nor Bayley scores predicted later spanking or verbal punishment. In some instances, maternal race/ethnicity and/or emotional responsiveness moderated the effects of spanking and verbal punishment on child outcomes.

Indirect effects of the mother‐provider relationship on the provider‐child relationship were investigated in family child care homes. Twenty‐five mother‐provider pairs were observed twice during la...

The effects of day care on the development of 835 kindergarten children were analyzed. Associations with child care arrangements (no day care, part-time care, and full-time day care) from birth to age 5 and for only the first year of life are discussed. Overall differences in early child care arrangements were more predictive of differences in social development than of differences in intellectual and gross motor performance. Similarities in certain behavioral variables between children at home and in full-time care are noted. Socioeconomic status, sex, and race differences are also reported.