The Impact of Childcare and Parent–Child Interactions on School Readiness and Social Skills Development for Low-Income African American Children

doi:10.1016/S0022-4405(02)00090-0

Journal of School Psychology

Volume 40, Issue 2, March–April 2002, Pages 177-193

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(02)00090-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

Low-income and African American children are at increased risk for school readiness deficits in terms of both cognitive and social development. This study examined the roles of childcare involvement and parent–child interaction quality on the development of school readiness and social skills among a low-income, minority sample of kindergarten children. Findings provide mixed evidence on the role of childcare exposure, with early entry into childcare predicting higher levels of social skills ratings and increased time per week in such settings predicting lower levels of social skills development. Childcare exposure had positive, although trend-level, relationships with other readiness-related outcomes after accounting for demographic characteristics of children and their families. Parent–child interactions characterized as structured and responsive to the child's needs and emotions were positively related to school readiness, social skills, and receptive communication skills development after accounting for demographic characteristics and childcare exposure. Implications for preventive intervention program development and the role of school psychologists in the areas of consultation and intervention are discussed.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 47 kindergarten children participating in the federal free- and reduced-lunch program, an available proxy for socioeconomic risk, in an urban/suburban school district located in a medium-sized city in the southeastern United States. Participants were selected from five participating schools with high proportions of students enrolled in the free-lunch program (between 95% and 99% of students enrolled). A total of 68 parents and caregivers completed phone screening for the

DATA ANALYSIS

Missing data was replaced using the SPSS (2000) 10.1 implementation of the EM algorithm (expectation maximization). EM is a statistical technique for imputing missing data that employs an iterative estimation procedure to converge at a maximum-likelihood estimate that averages over the distribution of missing values Dempster et al., 1977, Little & Rubin, 1987, Schafer, 1997. EM assumes that data is missing as the result of a random process or that the mechanism resulting in missing data is

RESULTS

Means, Standard deviations, and correlations for predictor and criterion variables are presented in Table 1. Gender was not significantly correlated with childcare exposure, although it was correlated with parent–child interaction quality, social skills ratings, and receptive communication performance. In each instance the correlation favored girls. Maternal education level was positively correlated with a number of readiness outcomes including teacher ratings of readiness and performance on

DISCUSSION

This study was conducted to better understand the unique contributions of childcare involvement and parental behavior on academic readiness for low-income African American children, using multiple indicators of readiness-related outcomes including teacher-ratings of readiness and social skills development as well as independent assessment of cognitive and communications skills performance. As hypothesized, children enrolled in out-of-home childcare for more years prior to kindergarten

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on research conducted toward completion of the first author's dissertation in the Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina. The authors gratefully acknowledge comments on a draft of this manuscript from Emilie P. Smith, Laurie A. Ford, and Kevin J. Swick, and to colleagues of the Yale Division of Prevention and Community Research for helpful comments during revisions.

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The Impact of Childcare and Parent–Child Interactions on School Readiness and Social Skills Development for Low-Income African American Children

Abstract

Section snippets

Participants

DATA ANALYSIS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Acknowledgements

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Predicting early school success with developmental and social skills screeners

Psychology in the Schools

Stress resistant families and stress resistant children

An exploratory study of socialization effects on Black children: some Black–White comparisons

Child Development

Transition to school: developmental trajectories and school experiences. Special issue: school readiness: scientific perspectives

Early Education and Development

Brigance K&1 Screen for kindergarten and first grade

Maternal resources, parenting practices, and child competence in rural, single-parent African American families

Child Development

School readiness: the need for a paradigm shift

School Psychology Review

Maximum likelihood estimation from incomplete data via the EM algorithm (with discussion)

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B

Entry into school: the beginning school transition and educational stratification in the United States

Annual Review of Sociology

Affective quality of the mother–child relationship: longitudinal consequences for children's school-relevant cognitive functioning

Developmental Psychology

Quality infant day-care and grade school behavior and performance

Child Development

Evaluating interventions with differential attrition: the importance of nonresponse mechanisms and use of follow-up data

Journal of Applied Psychology

Early childhood education–assessment and intervention: what the future holds

Psychology in the Schools

The effects of social class, class size and prekindergarten experience on early school adjustment. American Educational Research Conference (1992, San Francisco, California)

Early Child Development and Care

The mechanisms mediating the effects of poverty on children's intellectual development

Demography

Beyond metaphor: the efficacy of early childhood education

American Psychologist

Relations between early child care and schooling

Developmental Psychology

Can the age of entry and the quality of infant child care predict behaviors in kindergarten?

Developmental Psychology

Assessing young children: reconciling conflicting needs and strategies

ASHA Reports Series

The contribution of parental discipline, parental monitoring, and school risk to early-onset conduct problems in African American boys and girls

Developmental Psychology

School Readiness Conference: recommendations

Early Education and Development