Parents' Emotion‐Related Beliefs,Behaviours, and Skills Predict Children's Recognition of Emotion

Children who are able to recognize others' emotions are successful in a variety of socioemotional domains, yet we know little about how school‐aged children's abilities develop, particularly in the family context. We hypothesized that children develop emotion recognition skill as a function of parents' own emotion‐related beliefs, behaviours, and skills. We examined parents' beliefs about the value of emotion and guidance of children's emotion, parents' emotion labelling and teaching behaviours, and parents' skill in recognizing children's emotions in relation to their school‐aged children's emotion recognition skills. Sixty‐nine parent–child dyads completed questionnaires, participated in dyadic laboratory tasks, and identified their own emotions and emotions felt by the other participant from videotaped segments. Regression analyses indicate that parents' beliefs, behaviours, and skills together account for 37% of the variance in child emotion recognition ability, even after controlling for parent and child expressive clarity. The findings suggest the importance of the family milieu in the development of children's emotion recognition skill in middle childhood and add to accumulating evidence suggesting important age‐related shifts in the relation between parental emotion socialization and child emotional development. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parents' emotion‐related beliefs and behaviours in relation to children's coping with the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks

To assess relationships between parental socialization of emotion and children's coping following an intensely emotional event, parents' beliefs and behaviours regarding emotion and children's coping strategies were investigated after a set of terrorist attacks. Parents (n=51) filled out the Parents' Beliefs about Negative Emotions questionnaire and were interviewed within two weeks of the attacks. Their elementary and middle school‐aged children were interviewed eight weeks later. First, parents' beliefs were related to two kinds of parental behaviours. Parents' beliefs about both the value of and the danger of children's emotions were positively related to their discussion with their children. Parents' belief about children's emotions as dangerous was also negatively related to parents' expressiveness with their children. Second, parents' beliefs were related to five kinds of coping strategies reported by their children. Parents' belief about children's emotions as valuable predicted children's problem‐solving, emotion‐oriented, and support‐seeking coping following the terrorist attacks. Parents' belief about children's emotions as dangerous predicted children's avoidance and distraction coping following the attacks. Parents' beliefs about the importance of children's emotions may foster a family atmosphere that facilitates children's coping with intensely emotional events. Results support differentiated, multi‐faceted analysis of the broader construct of parental beliefs. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spanish-Speaking Parent–Child Emotional Narratives and Children's Social Skills

We examined whether parents' content and style when discussing past positive and negative emotional experiences with their children were concurrently and predictively linked to prekindergarteners' social skills. Sixty-five low-income Spanish-speaking parent–child dyads discussed a past positive and negative emotional experience at the beginning of prekindergarten. Narratives were coded for parents' elaborative style and emotion resolution, cause, and attribution. Children's emotional and cognitive-processing words were also coded. Children's social problem-solving skills and prosocial behaviors were assessed at the beginning and at the end of prekindergarten. Concurrently, children's social problem-solving skills were related to parents' elaborative style when discussing positive emotional experiences and children's use of cognitive-processing words when discussing negative emotional experiences. Predictively, children whose parents offered resolutions when discussing negative emotional experiences at the beginning of prekindergarten had better social problem-solving skills at the end of prekindergarten. Parents who talked about causes or attributed emotions when discussing past emotional experiences did not necessarily have children with better social skills. Findings suggest that parents' scaffolding when discussing past positive and negative emotional experiences offers opportunities for prekindergarteners to develop social abilities crucial for school readiness.     

Low-Income Parents’ Socialization of Their Preschoolers’ Early Reading and Math Skills

Children from low-income and Black and Latino families are often at risk for reading and math difficulties. We examined whether there were differences in Black and Latino Head Start parents' beliefs about reading and math socialization, frequency of children's engagement in reading and math, and children's reading and math skills. There were differences in parents' socialization beliefs, children's reading and math activities, and associations with children's reading and math outcomes. Although reading/math engagement was more limited than what is reported among middle-income families, findings show the importance of parental beliefs and practices for children's reading and math outcomes.     

Breaking Down Barriers: Museum as Broker of Home/School Collaboration

ABSTRACT

Parents have a major influence on children's learning, yet parent involvement remains weak in many communities. This article addresses the role of a museum in bringing home and school together, describing results from 2 complementary studies of a museum-designed and -implemented parent involvement program. The first study was an exploratory, mixed-methods investigation designed to understand the program's impact on parents' engagement in their children's learning. The second study used a grounded theory approach to develop theoretical hypotheses about the programmatic mechanisms that facilitated parents' engagement. In terms of impact, the program gave parents a platform through which to create new and more meaningful spaces for connecting to their children's learning, including conceptual spaces, social spaces, and physical spaces. In terms of mechanisms, the program first helped parents to build relevant capital and then to author new and relevant ways of engaging with their children's schooling. Taken together, study results broaden current thinking about the spaces in which parent engagement occurs and emphasize the important community-based role that museums can play to bring parents and schools together in support of children's development.     

Intergenerational associations in numerical approximation and mathematical abilities

Although growing evidence suggests a link between children's math skills and their ability to estimate numerical quantities using the approximate number system (ANS), little is known about the sources underlying individual differences in ANS acuity and their relation with specific mathematical skills. To examine the role of intergenerational transmission of these abilities from parents to children, the current study assessed the ANS acuities and math abilities of 54 children (5–8 years old) and their parents, as well as parents' expectations about children's math skills. Children's ANS acuity positively correlated with their parents' ANS acuity, and children's math abilities were predicted by unique combinations of parents' ANS acuity and math ability depending on the specific math skill in question. These findings provide the first evidence of intergenerational transmission of an unlearned, non‐verbal numerical competence and are an important step toward understanding the multifaceted parental influences on children's math abilities.     

BEGINNING READERS' MOTIVATION FOR READING IN RELATION TO PARENTAL BELIEFS AND HOME READING EXPERIENCES

Sixty-five 6-year-olds (first graders) from different sociocultural backgrounds and their mothers participated in a study examining children's motivation for reading in relation to parental beliefs and home literacy experiences. Each child completed an individually administered Motivations for Reading Scale that assessed several theoretical dimensions of reading motivation, including enjoyment/interest in reading, perceived competence as a reader, and sense of the value of reading. Parents were interviewed regarding their beliefs about reasons for reading, their beliefs about their child's interest in learning to read, and their ratings of the frequency of their child's experiences with printed materials. Results revealed that the beginning readers had generally positive views about reading and that no differences in motivation were associated with income level, ethnicity, or gender. Empirical support was provided for the distinctness of the dimensions of value, enjoyment, and perceived competence. Parental identification of pleasure as a reason for reading predicted children's motivation for reading, as did parents' reports that their child took an active interest in learning to read. Children's motivation for reading was not associated with frequency of storybook reading or library visits, but frequent use of basic skills books (ABC books) was negatively associated with motivation. The study demonstrated the importance of looking beyond quantitative indices of home literacy experiences in accounting for the development of motivation for reading; parents who believe that reading is pleasurable convey a perspective that is appropriated by their children, either directly through their words or indirectly through the nature of the literacy experiences they provide.     

Parent involvement in beginning primary school: Correlates and changes in involvement across the first two years of school in a New Zealand sample

This study described the relations of parents' and teachers' beliefs and attitudes to forms of parents' involvement in children's first two years of primary school. Parents of children in their first year of primary school (age 5) were recruited from 12 classrooms within four schools in New Zealand; 196 families participated in their child's first year, and 124 families continued to participate in their child's second school year. Parents completed the Family-Involvement Questionnaire, New Zealand, and we archivally collected parent-documented children's oral reading homework. Teachers' rated helpfulness of parents' involvement at school (level 2) and parents' rated teacher invitations to be involved and their perceived time and energy (level 1) contributed to school-based involvement in Year 1 in multilevel models, with parents' rated teacher invitations for involvement also found to predict Year 1 home-school communication in regression analyses. Contributors to Year 1 child-parent reading in multilevel models included level 1 predictors of two or more adults in the home and parents' perceived time and energy. Longitudinal analyses suggested both consistency and change in each form of involvement from Year 1 to Year 2, with increases in each form of involvement found to be associated with increases in parents' and/or teachers' views about involvement in Year 2 in cross-sectional time-series analyses. Implications for schools wanting to engage families are that parents' involvement in children's schooling may be influenced by parents' perceptions of their capacity, teachers' engagement efforts, and the school's climate for involvement. This is a special issue paper “Family Engagement in Education and Intervention”.     

Enhancing the language development of toddlers in foster care by promoting foster parents’ sensitivity: Results from a randomized controlled trial

Young children in foster care are at increased risk for problematic language development, making early intervention a critical tool in enhancing these children's foundational language abilities. This study examined the efficacy of an early preventative intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up for Toddlers (ABC‐T), in improving the receptive vocabulary abilities of toddlers placed in foster care. All the children had been removed from their biological parents’ care and placed into foster care. When children were between 24 and 36 months old, foster parents were contacted by research staff and consented to participate. Parents were randomly assigned using a random number generator to receive either ABC‐T (n = 45), which aimed to promote sensitive parenting for children who have experienced early adversity, or a control intervention (n = 43). Foster children's receptive vocabulary skills were assessed post‐intervention using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition, when children were between 36 and 60 months old. Children whose foster parents received ABC‐T demonstrated more advanced receptive vocabulary abilities than children whose foster parents received the control intervention. The positive effect of ABC‐T on foster children's receptive vocabulary was mediated by increases in foster parents’ sensitivity during parent–child interactions. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01261806.     

A Seven‐Year Follow‐Up Study on Parents' Expectations of Their Children's Further Education

This study examined the role of parents' perceptions of their children's competencies and their educational optimism in forming expectations of their children's further education. A group of parents (N = 352) were asked to estimate the probability of their children's entering gymnasium or vocational school and to assess the child's competencies in the course of primary school years. Parents had crystallized anticipations of their children's further education as early as preschool, and the differences bound to parents' education and child's gender were well established in their expectations. By the end of the 7^th school year, the relationships between the expectations and the competence assessments strengthened and became more uniform among parents, although there were also group‐specific profiles.     

Three Years Later: A Follow‐Up Study of Parents' Assessments of Their Children's Competencies1

The present study is a follow‐up of one that was designed to examine the changes that have occurred in parents' views of a child's competencies during the child's first 3 years of school. Parents with a university education (N=180) and a vocational education (N=249) were asked to assess their children's competencies in domains representing school subjects and abilities in preschool and at the end of the 1st and 3rd school years. The findings indicated that parents' initial optimistic views had prevailed. Furthermore, our findings on the gender‐ and education‐dependent differences suggested that the underlying social psychological organization of parental assessments already has taken shape by the time the child enters school.     

Self‐regulated learning of basic arithmetic skills: A longitudinal study

Background. Several studies have examined young primary school children's use of strategies when solving simple addition and subtraction problems. Most of these studies have investigated students’ strategy use as if they were isolated processes. To date, we have little knowledge about how math strategies in young students are related to other important aspects in self‐regulated learning. Aim. The main purpose of this study was to examine relations between young primary school children's basic mathematical skills and their use of math strategies, their metacognitive competence and motivational beliefs, and to investigate how students with basic mathematics skills at various levels differ in respect to the different self‐regulation components. Sample. The participants were comprised of 27 Year 2 students, all from the same class. Method. The data were collected in three stages (autumn Year 2, spring Year 2, and autumn Year 3). The children's arithmetic skills were measured by age relevant tests, while strategy use, metacognitive competence, and motivational beliefs were assessed through individual interviews. The participants were divided into three performance groups; very good students, good students, and not‐so‐good students. Results. Analyses revealed that young primary school children at different levels of basic mathematics skill may differ in several important aspects of self‐regulated learning. Analyses revealed that a good performance in addition and subtraction was related not only to the children's use of advanced mathematics strategies, but also to domain‐specific metacognitive competence, ability attribution for success, effort attribution for failure, and high perceived self‐efficacy when using specific strategies. Conclusions. The results indicate that instructional efforts to facilitate self‐regulated learning of basic arithmetic skills should address cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational aspects of self‐regulation. This is particularly important for low‐performing students.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Internal State Language with Their Young Children: An Examination of Gender Differences During an Emotions Task

The current study examined gender differences in mothers' and fathers' internal state language (ISL), children's use of ISL, and whether ISL was related to parents' ratings of the children's social skills. Fifty‐seven (28 boys, 29 girls) toddler/preschool children (M age = 32.5 months, SD = 5.38 months) were observed separately with their mothers and fathers in their homes while they discussed pictures of children's facial expressions of emotions. Parents completed a questionnaire concerning their child's social–emotional behaviours (i.e. BASC‐2). Parents used more ISL with sons compared with daughters, and sons used more ISL with mothers than with fathers. No overall differences were found between mothers' and fathers' ISL. Children's social skills as rated by mothers were predicted by mothers' ISL comments, whereas children's social skills as rated by fathers were predicted by children's age and fathers' ISL clarifications. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Swedish parents' self‐reported use of discipline in response to continued misconduct by their pre‐school children

This study examined the effects that re‐occurring episodes of child transgression have on Swedish parents' use of discipline strategies. Mothers and fathers from 84 two‐parent families were interviewed about their responses to first‐ and second‐time episodes of hypothetical transgressions committed by their 3‐6‐year‐olds. The results showed that when their children did not respond to initial discipline, parents exchanged their use of verbal control for the strategies of coercion and behaviour modification and thereby increased the pressure on their children to comply. However, this finding was valid only for serious transgressions. For mild transgressions, parents' behaviour was consistent across first‐ and second‐time episodes. The conclusion that is drawn is that parents appear to be willing to follow up initial disciplining attempts. The Swedish corporal punishment ban, which has been in force since 1979, therefore appears not to have influenced parents to become permissive in their attitudes toward their children's misconduct. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elementary schoolchildren's perceived competence and physical activity involvement: the influence of parents' role modelling behaviours and perceptions of their child's competence

ObjectivesTo study the influence of fathers' and mothers' physical activity involvement and perceptions of their children's physical competence upon children's perceptions of competence and children's time spent in physical activity. Two forms of parental socialization influence were assessed: the direct influence of parents' actual physical activity (PA) behaviour (role modelling) on children's physical activity and the indirect influence of parents' beliefs systems about their children's PA competence on children's physical activity through children's self perceptions.MethodsLongitudinal, with data from 152 French children (M=9.5 yrs, SD=0.8 yrs) and their parents collected at two times over a 12-month period and examined through structural equation modelling (SEM).ResultsSEM indicated that mothers' role modelling behaviour had a direct effect on children's time spent in PA and that mothers' beliefs about their child's competence had an indirect effect on children's PA by influencing children's perceived competence which, in turn, contributed to children's level of physical activity involvement. Fathers' beliefs directly influenced their child's PA as did the children's own self-perceptions of competence.ConclusionsParents can affect their children's PA involvement in direct and indirect manners through their role modelling of physical activity and through their beliefs about their child's competence. Furthermore, the influence of fathers and mothers may be manifested in different ways. Father and mother could influence their child's PA by different processes.     

The intergenerational transmission of ethnic essentialism: how parents talk counts the most

The present study analyzed the role of parents as potential sources of children's essentialist beliefs about ethnicity. We tested 76 parent–child (5‐year‐olds) dyads of Jewish Israeli parents from three social groups, defined by the kindergartens children attended: national religious, secular, or Jewish‐Arab integrated. We assessed parents' and children's beliefs, and parents' usage of ethnic attitudinal and categorization markers in a book‐reading activity. Overall, national religious parents manifested the strongest ethnic essentialism and endorsement of anti‐negotiations with Palestinians, and were the most likely to express negative attitudes and mark ethnic categories in their conversations with their children. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that ethnic categorization in parents' speech was the most reliable predictor of children's ethnic essentialism. Ethnic essentialism is transmitted to children not via explicit communication of intergroup beliefs or attitudes, but rather via the sheer marking of categories in ways that resonate with children's own intuitive ways of conceptualizing the social world.     

Theory‐of‐Mind development and early sibling relationships after the birth of a sibling: Parental discipline matters

This study investigated relations among children's Theory‐of‐Mind (ToM) development, early sibling interactions, and parental discipline strategies during the transition to siblinghood. Using a sample of firstborn children and their parents (N = 208), we assessed children's ToM before the birth of a sibling and 12 months after the birth, and sibling interactions (i.e., positive engagement and antagonism) and parental discipline strategies (i.e., child‐centred and parent‐centred discipline) at 4 and 8 months in the first year of siblinghood. Structural equation modelling analyses revealed that children's ToM before the birth of the sibling predicted children's positive engagement with the infant sibling, whereas children's antagonistic behaviours towards the infant sibling negatively predicted children's ToM at 12 months, but only when mothers used low levels of child‐centred discipline. These findings emphasize the role of parents in the development of young children's social‐cognitive understanding in the context of early sibling interactions.

Highlights

• This study investigated relations among firstborns' Theory‐of‐Mind (ToM), early sibling relationships, and parental discipline during the first year of siblinghood.
• Multigroup analyses showed that ToM predicted higher sibling positive engagement, and early sibling antagonism predicted poorer ToM when mothers used low child‐centred discipline.
• Parental discipline plays an important role in the development of young children's social understanding and sibling relationships as early as the first year of siblinghood.

     

Intergenerational transmission of literacy skills among Filipino families

We examined the joint role of parental word reading skills and conventional home literacy environment measures among 320 Filipino low‐ to middle‐income families in Cebu City, Philippines with children aged 5–8 years old. A ranking of parent‐reported ratings of their frequency of engaging in home literacy activities and adult literacy practices revealed that book‐related behaviors were less frequently practiced relative to other behaviors, and mean ratings on the home literacy resources scale suggested a relatively print‐poor environment. Nevertheless, scale items about book reading and direct literacy instruction at home correlated with child's language and literacy skills. Structural equation modeling showed that parent's education and frequency of engaging in home literacy activities uniquely accounted for variance in child's oral language and print knowledge skills. In a second model, parent's word reading skills were significantly related to child's skills, but did not eliminate or attenuate influences from parent's education and home literacy activities. Results are important in relation to theories on the intergenerational transmission of literacy skills and the generalizability of findings from developed countries to developing country contexts.     

Parents' child‐rearing values and beliefs in the United States and Russia: the impact of culture and social class

Parents' values for their children and their beliefs about appropriate child‐rearing practices contribute to the ways in which they try to shape their children's development. This paper examines the values and beliefs of 71 parents (37 mothers and 34 fathers) from two cities in the United States and Russia. Half of the families were middle class (determined by education and occupation criteria) and half were working class. The results revealed no cross‐societal differences in value for self‐direction in the children; perhaps reflecting the recent economic and ideological changes in Russia. In contrast, significant social class differences, for both mothers and fathers, were found in child‐rearing values and beliefs. Middle class parents in both societies were more likely to value self‐direction and believe that children should have freedom in and around the home, whereas working class parents were more likely to believe that children should be expected to conform to rules. The results of this study underscore the role of within‐society heterogeneity, as a function of social class, in parents' values and beliefs about child‐rearing.     

The interplay between parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress impacts children's attachment security

This study investigated how parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress relate to children's feelings of security in the parent–child relationship. Models predicting direct effects of parental beliefs and parental stress, and moderating effects of parental stress on the relationship between parental beliefs and children's feelings of security were tested. Participants were 85 African American, European American, and Lumbee American Indian 4th and 5th grade children and one of their parents. Children reported their feelings of security in the parent–child relationship; parents independently reported on their beliefs and their stress. Parental stress moderated relationships between three of the four parental beliefs about the value of children's emotions and children's attachment security. When parent stress was low, parental beliefs accepting and valuing children's emotions were not related to children's feelings of security; when parent stress was high, however, parental beliefs accepting and valuing children's emotions were related to children's feelings of security. These findings highlight the importance of examining parental beliefs and stress together for children's attachment security. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.