Parenting predictors of cognitive skills and emotion knowledge in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers

Abstract

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations of parental responsiveness and inferential language input with cognitive skills and emotion knowledge among socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. Parents and 2- to 4-year-old children (mean age = 3.21 years; N=284) participated in a parent-child free play session, and children completed cognitive (language, early literacy, early mathematics) and emotion knowledge assessments. One year later, children completed the same assessment battery. Parental responsiveness was coded from the videotaped parent-child free play sessions, and parental inferential language input was coded from transcripts of a subset of 127 of these sessions. All analyses controlled for child age, gender, and parental education, and longitudinal analyses controlled for initial skill level. Parental responsiveness significantly predicted all concurrent cognitive skills as well as literacy, math, and emotion knowledge one year later. Parental inferential language input was significantly positively associated with children's concurrent emotion knowledge. In longitudinal analyses, an interaction was found such that for children with stronger initial language skills, higher levels of parental inferential language input facilitated greater vocabulary development, whereas for children with weaker initial language skills, there was no association between parental inferential language input and change in children's vocabulary skills. These findings further our understanding of the roles of parental responsiveness and inferential language input in promoting children's school readiness skills.

Maternal Inferential Input and Children's Language Skills

“…Similarly, in a sample of 127 preschoolers, Merz et al. () found that parents’ inferential language during parent–child play did not predict children's language skills one year later, controlling for the children's initial language skills. However, in a study examining teachers’ extratextual literal versus inferential utterances, Hindman et al.…”

“…Collapsing preschool teachers' text-related questions of all types during classroom readings into literal versus inferential questions, the researchers found that neither predicted preschoolers' spring PPVT-4 scores, controlling for their fall PPVT-4 scores. Similarly, in a sample of 127 preschoolers, Merz et al (2015) found that parents' inferential language during parent-child play did not predict children's language skills one year later, controlling for the children's initial language skills. However, in a study examining teachers' extratextual literal versus inferential utterances, Hindman et al (2012) found that both types of utterances predicted preschoolers' spring PPVT-4 scores, controlling for their fall scores.…”

“…This can include talk relating the story to the child's experiences, predicting what will happen next in the story, making connections to what happened previously in the story, making inferences, hypothesizing, and providing definitions. Several researchers have shown that mothers' and teachers' inferential language is a positive and significant predictor of children's vocabulary growth (e.g., Dickinson & Porche, 2011;Hindman, Connor, Jewkes, & Morrison, 2008;Leseman & de Jong, 1998;Merz et al, 2015).…”

Utilizing the desired results developmental profile as a measure of school readiness: evaluating factor structure and predictors of school readiness

“…Research on poverty and academic outcomes in the developmental psychology field consistently provides evidence that differences in parenting can partially account for the association between a family's low-income status and deficits in school readiness (e.g. Bono, Sy, & Kopp, 2015;Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005;Merz et al, 2015). In this study, we examined two often-used measures of parenting as they relate to school readiness; nurturance and use of discipline.…”

Home literacy activities: Accounting for differences in early grade literacy outcomes in low-income families in Zambia

“…Family socioeconomic status (SES) marked by parental education (Rindermann & Baumeister 2015) facilitates literacy practices experienced by family members. The level of education attained by parents enhances both content and knowledge about how reading is developed (Arnold & Doctoroff 2003;Crosnoe et al 2010;Howard et al 2014;Merz et al 2015;Olson et al 2014). Despite the generalised view that children Inequalities on child cognitive outcomes exist as children enter the first grade.…”