Parenting Practices and Cognitive Development of Preschool-Aged Children: Evidence from Rural China.

The overall goal of this study was to examine the relationship between parenting practices and cognitive development among preschool-aged children in poor rural China. We drew on data from a large-scale panel dataset of 1,802 children and their caregivers in rural China. The cognitive development of children was measured at 22–30 months and then again at 49–65 months by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-First Edition (BSID-I) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV), respectively. The results showed that the prevalence of cognitive delay was 38% when children were older. Our findings also revealed that only a small proportion of caregivers engaged in different types of positive stimulating activities (7–24%), while the prevalence of different types of negative parenting practices ranged from 19% to 32%, when the children were 49–65 months old. We found that positive parenting practices were significantly positively associated with the Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient and Primary Indexes, whereas negative parenting practices were significantly negatively associated with these indicators (p < 0.01). When examining child characteristics, the data showed that gender and whether the child attended preschool were significantly associated with positive parenting practices. There is an urgent need to develop initiatives that can improve the children's cognitive developments from rural China. It is necessary to address the economic and knowledge constraints that prevent rural caregivers from engaging in positive parenting practices by providing financial support to caregivers and developing a public platform that provides parenting information. Highlights: In total, 7% to 24% of caregivers engaged in positive stimulating activities. In contrast, 19% to 32% of caregivers engaged in negative parenting practices. Positive parenting practices were positively associated with children's cognition. Negative parenting practices were negatively associated with children's cognition. Subsample analysis on whether the child was cognitively delayed before preschool age showed consistent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]