ࡗ Factors Related to Successful Outcomes AmongPreschool Children Born to Low-Income Adolescent MothersThe purpose of this study was to describe how the experiences and circumstances of the most successful children born to low-income adolescent mothers differed from the experiences and circumstances of the least successful children over the first 54 months of their lives. Success was defined as scoring in the top quartile for this sample on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) when the children were 54 months old and about to make the transition to kindergarten. The experiences of the 22 children with the highest scores on the PPVT-R were contrasted with the experiences of the 22 children who had the lowest scores on the PPVT-R for this sample. The two groups differed markedly on measures of caregiving and home environment assessed when the children were 12, 24, 36, and 54 months old. In addition, mothers of the most successful children achieved more years of education, were more likely to be employed, had fewer children on average, tended to live in more desirable neighborhoods, and were more likely to be living with

Qualitative analyses were conducted to examine family factors related to individual differences in the early school success of children born to low-income adolescent mothers from the perspective of paraprofessional family advocates. These families were participants in a 5-year family support program. Achievement test scores and teacher ratings were used to identify the most successful and least successful students in first grade. Interviews with the advocates about the life experiences of children in each of these groups revealed differences between them in the areas of caregiving practices, maternal characteristics, child characteristics, and contextual sources of stress and support. Given that family service providers are rarely used as informants in this way, the possible strengths and limitations of this approach are discussed.

This study examined factors related to social competence in first grade among children of low-income, adolescent mothers. The sample included 83 mother-child dyads who had participated in a family support program for adolescent mothers. Characteristics of the child, mother, and the child's living context were examined for their relationship to children's social skills and problem behaviors. Several factors had significant bivariate relationships with social competence. Children with higher social skills and lower levels of problem behaviors were more likely to have received higher quality parenting, to have higher academic skills, and to live in neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. Children with higher social skills were less likely to have changed schools. In a path analysis, only academic skills were significantly related to either measure of social competence when other factors were controlled. Quality of parenting was indirectly related to social competence, and the effect was mediated by academic skills. School transience was also related to academic skills in the path analysis.

No abstract

No abstract