Ethnic Differences in Profiles of Mother–Child Interactions and Relations to Emerging School Readiness in African American and Latin American Children

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Objective This article examines ethnic similarities and differences in profiles of mother–child interaction qualities for low-income African American and Latin American mothers and associations with preschoolers’ emerging school readiness. Design Videotaped mother–child interactions were collected at age 2.5 years from a sample of African American (n = 192) and Latin American (n = 210) families. Profiles of maternal behavior were identified in person-centered within-group analyses of five ratings of maternal behavior from the videotaped interactions. Mothering profile groups were examined for relations to child receptive language, behavior problems, and pre-academic school readiness measured at age 3.5 years. Results Latent class analyses yielded three similar profiles in the two ethnicities identified as Child-Oriented, Directive, and Harsh-Intrusive mothering, and a fourth profile of Withdrawn mothering only among the African American mothers. For African American children, Child-Oriented and Directive mothering were each associated with higher pre-academic school readiness and language scores than Harsh-Intrusive or Withdrawn mothering. For Latin American children, Child-Oriented mothering was associated with fewer child behavior problems than Harsh-Intrusive mothering, and higher school readiness scores than Directive mothering. Conclusions Both similarities and differences were found between African American and Latin American families in observation- based mothering profiles and their linkages with preschoolers’ school readiness.

Child physical punishment, parenting, and school readiness

“…Results indicated that more consistent parenting approaches and greater use of teaching/explaining (i.e., describing alternative ways of behaving to the child) uniquely predicted better school readiness. These findings are consistent with extensive research underscoring that pedagogy-oriented, child-oriented parenting and discipline are conducive to positive outcomes for children's overall adjustment (Newland, 2015), including school readiness (Dyer et al, 2014;Estrada, Arsenio, Hess, & Holloway, 1987). Given that early learning and literacy activities are commonly cited as direct predictors of children's school readiness (Aldoney et al, 2015;Chazan-Cohen et al, 2009), it was also unsurprising that the current study found greater engagement in these activities at 2-3 years to be predictive of stronger number competence and receptive vocabulary skills at 4-5 years.…”

“…In the current study, psychological aggression by caregivers (i.e., raising their voice, scolding, or yelling at the child for misbehaving) predicted weaker number competence in preschoolers. This finding aligns with robust research showing the negative impact of harsh parenting on child development overall (e.g., Alink et al, 2009;Mendez et al, 2016) and on early cognitive and preacademic skill development specifically (Berlin et al, 2009;Dyer et al, 2014;MacKenzie et al, 2012;Pettit et al, 1997). Greater use of nonphysical punishment (e.g., taking away privileges or putting the child in his or her room) also predicted weaker performance in preschoolers' number competence.…”

“…This moderating effect is important because PP tends to occur more frequently within such a disciplinary context, namely, a harsher and more punitive parenting context (Gámez-Guadix et al, 2010; Thompson et al, 1999;Wissow, 2001). Therefore, this study adds to an accumulating body of research demonstrating the potentially detrimental impact of physical discipline on young children's cognitive abilities (Berlin et al, 2009;Dyer et al, 2014;Gershoff, 2016;MacKenzie et al, 2012;Pettit et al, 1997). From a theoretical perspective, findings are also valuable in beginning to contextualize previous research linking PP with negative child cognitive and preacademic outcomes.…”

Associations between Maternal Behaviors at 1 Year and Child Language at 2 Years in a Cohort of Women Experiencing Adversity

“…Children living in households experiencing adversity have parents who are frequently less responsive and more intrusive (Dyer, Owen, & Caughty, ; Fuller, Bein, Kim, & Rabe‐Hesketh, ; Hart & Risley, ). Teenage mothers, for example, are often less verbally responsive and more intrusive than older mothers (Keown et al., ; Rafferty, Griffin, & Lodise, ).…”

Associations between early maternal behaviours and child language at 36 months in a cohort experiencing adversity

“…In particular, younger infants may benefit from successful redirection in order to acquire early wordobject associations (Matatyaho and Gogate 2008). For example, a positive association has been found between directive parenting and child language in cohorts of African-American children (Shimpi et al 2012, Dyer et al 2014, whilst a negative association has been established between directives and language in cohorts that are predominantly European-American (e.g., Masur et al 2005) or Australian . Feasibly the direction or strength of associations between directives and child language outcomes may differ by cultural group.…”