Family processes as pathways from income to young children's development.

Abstract

A variety of family processes have been hypothesized to mediate associations between income and young children's development. Maternal emotional distress, parental authoritative and authoritarian behavior (videotaped mother-child interactions), and provision of cognitively stimulating activities (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] scales) were examined as possible mediators in a sample of 493 White and African American low-birth-weight premature infants who were followed from birth through age 5. Cognitive ability was assessed by standardized test, and child behavior problems by maternal report, when the children were 3 and 5 years of age. As expected, family income was associated with child outcomes. The provision of stimulating experiences in the home mediated the relation between family income and both children's outcomes; maternal emotional distress and parenting practices mediated the relation between income and children's behavior problems.

Interrelations between maternal smoking during pregnancy, birth weight and sociodemographic factors in the prediction of early cognitive abilities

“…In line with previous studies (e.g. Linver et al, 2002;Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2004), responsiveness (PPVT: z = 3.9, p<0.001; VCR: z = 2.4, p = 0.016), involvement (PPVT: z = 3.4, p<0.001), and family dysfunction (PPVT: z = 2.9, p = 0.004; VCR: z = 2.0, p = 0.048) were all significant mediators of maternal education. Responsiveness (PPVT: z = 3.9, p<0.001; VCR: z = 2.5, p = 0.012), involvement (PPVT: z = 3.3, p<0.001; VCR: z = 2.3, p = 0.023) and family dysfunction (PPVT: z = 2.9, p = 0.004; VCR: z = 2.0, p = 0.042) were also significant mediators of family income.…”

Can children break the cycle of disadvantage? Structure and agency in the transmission of education across generations

“…However, results of multivariate analyses show that, although children from more highly educated families outperformed their counterparts from less educated families, the impact of parental education on children's school performance was far from exhaustive and substantively comparatively small (for similar findings see Barone 2006). 1 Yet, the impact of parental education on children's educational performance increased with the number of educational and cultural resources available in a household, a finding in line with the theory that parental education influences children's educational achievement indirectly through home learning environments (Linver et al 2002).…”

Cumulative Social Risk, Parenting, and Infant Development in Rural Low-Income Communities

“…Risk exposure was a modest to strong predictor of selected aspects of parenting, but the magnitude of these associations varied somewhat as a function of factors that partly defined these rural low-income areas: region, ethnicity, and geographic isolation. As reported in previous studies, families with more risk factors tended to provide fewer learning and literacy activities (Fuligni et al, 2004;Morrison & Cooney, 2002), be less warm and engaged and harsher when interacting with the infant (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 2000;Krishnakumar & Black, 2002;Linver et al, 2002), and use a less diverse vocabulary when talking with the infant (Hart & Risley, 1995). Furthermore, cumulative risk exposure was a slightly stronger negative predictor of engaged parenting and learning and literacy activities in the NC Black South than in the PA Appalachian region.…”