Early childhood language gains, kindergarten readiness, and Grade 3 reading achievement.

In this preregistered study, we used latent change score models to address two research aims: (1) whether preschool-aged children's language gains, over a year of early childhood education, were associated with later performance on state-mandated, literacy-focused kindergarten readiness and Grade 3 reading achievement assessments, and (2) whether gains in language, a more complex skill, predicted these outcomes after controlling for more basic emergent literacy skills. There were 724 participating children (mean = 57 months; 51% male; 76% White, 12% Black, 6% multiple races, and 5% Hispanic or Latino). We found that language gains significantly predicted kindergarten readiness when estimated in isolation (effect = 0.24 SDs, p < .001), but not when gains in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were also included.

Kindergarteneres' Peer Relationships and Early School Absenteeism.

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the extent to which kindergartners': (a) peer relationships are associated with their school absenteeism; and (b) development of positive peer relationships vary as a function of their time spent in school. To address these aims, data were drawn from 801 kindergartners across 64 classrooms and 15 schools in a Midwest city in the United States. Results from covariate-adjusted regression models revealed that kindergartners' relational bonds were not predictive of their time away from school, and that their relationships with classmates were generally unaffected by absenteeism. There was, however, some indication that children's relationships with their classmates were more strongly predicted by their absenteeism for children from less educated households relative to children from more educated households.

Family Disruption and Parenting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Using unique data from an economically and racially diverse sample of 448 caregivers with young children (ages 4-9 years) in Ohio, we assess multiple sources of family social and economic disruptions and their associations with parenting activities during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. Caregivers reported extensive social and economic challenges during this time, while also increasing (on average) their time spent in play/learning activities. Time spent in discipline was less likely to increase during this period. We found significant associations among disadvantaged social conditions/experiences and parenting, and that some effects were moderated by 2019 household income status. Unexpectedly, changes in economic conditions, particularly caregiver job loss, were associated with higher odds of increases in reading/telling stories time across household income groups. Overall, findings indicate that social conditions associated with the stay-at-home period of COVID-19 might have been more disruptive to parenting for caregivers with young children than the short-term economic changes.

Parent Time Investments in their Children's Learning during a Policy-Mandated Shutdown: Parent, Child, and Household Influences.

State-level policies in Ohio during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. involved physical school closures and work-from-home requirements when possible. Presumably, these policies and resulting impacts on homes with children would alter parent time investments in their children with respect to home-learning activities. In this study, we assessed parent time investments specific to home-learning activities with their children, and key predictors of these investments. Using data from a comprehensive survey completed by 559 caregivers of children (aged birth to 9 years) during a state-mandated stay-at-home order and widespread school closure, we assessed whether parent time investments in children's learning were associated with: (1) parents' mental health and social connectedness, (2) children's level of emotional distress, and (3) household characteristics including chaos, social needs, and structure. Results indicate significant negative associations between each of parent loneliness, children's emotional distress, and household chaos with parent time investments in children's learning, controlling for parents' socio-demographic and economic status. This suggests that parent time investments during the early stages of the pandemic were limited by a number of factors outside of socioeconomic resources. Further research is needed to understand the long-term effects of home environments, including parent time investments in children's learning, on child development during this unprecedented time in world history.

Understanding family life during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Objective: Our study investigates how changes in family contexts were associated with child behaviors during Ohio's COVID-19 shutdown of early 2020. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused major economic and social changes for families. Rapid research was conducted to assess these changes and their potential impacts on child behaviors. Method: Using a diverse sample of families with children aged birth to 9 years (N = 559), we describe key economic changes and parent-reported stressors experienced during Ohio's shutdown period. Then, we use regression models to examine how these family conditions were associated with child emotional distress and changes in sleep routines. Results: When parents experienced more total COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors, they also reported that their children exhibited more anxious and withdrawn, fearful, acting out, and COVID-19 pandemic-related behaviors (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Families and children living at home in Ohio experienced significant stress during the shutdown. These findings can be used to inform future studies of the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for parents and children. Implications: Families and children have experienced multiple stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers and practitioners should continue to monitor and support families and children to mitigate potential lasting consequences.

Family functioning screening, referral, and behavioral health utilization in a family medicine setting.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to determine the preliminary feasibility and acceptability of screening for family functioning in a family medicine setting, and secondarily to explore differences in parent-child dyad interest in behavioral health service utilization by demographics, pediatric behavioral symptoms, and pediatric QOL. METHOD: The McMaster Family Assessment Device General Functioning subscale was used to assess family functioning among 58 parent-child (ages 11-26) dyads in family medicine. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed through study interest and participation and interest and attendance in behavioral health services. Associations with interest in services, Child Behavior Checklist, Pediatric QOL Inventory, and select demographics were conducted using independent samples t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: Fifty-eight parent-child dyads participated in the study. Close to half of dyads who expressed interest in the survey completed the assessment (46%). Dyads who completed the assessment had a family functioning impairment rate of 45%, and 54% of dyads with impairment expressed interest in services. Interest in services was significantly associated with several domains of childrens' behavioral health symptoms and pediatric QOL, but no demographics. DISCUSSION: Dyads experienced high rates of clinically significant family functioning impairment, without interest in receiving colocated behavioral health services. Future research should continue to explore how family functioning assessment can be utilized to identify child behavioral health symptoms broadly and engage families in colocated behavioral health services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Work and School Pathways Into the Transition to Adulthood: Adolescent Family, Individual, and Industry Precursors.

Many young adults in countries with advanced economies make linear career transitions from school to work. However, there is a great variability in youth's postsecondary education and early work experiences and more work is needed to identify the career trajectories of modern youth. Using longitudinal data on 1747 young adults from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997, the current study identifies work and school pathways commonly seen in the transition to adulthood and investigates multiple levels of adolescent precursors. Using latent class analysis, we identified four work and school pathways centered on educational attainment. Whereas parental education and future educational expectations in adolescence significantly shaped the career pathways, local labor market conditions played a limited role in predicting these pathways.

Child behavior problems during COVID-19: Associations with parent distress and child social-emotional skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated government-mandated shutdowns disrupted schooling, socialization, and family life for school-aged children during spring 2020. These disruptions may have contributed to increased child behavior problems. Thus, we examined behavior problems in 247 children aged 7 to 9 years during Ohio's shutdown period. We investigated whether differences in parent-reported child behavior problems were associated with concurrent parent distress during spring 2020 and/or children's social-emotional skills measured via teacher-reports from the previous year (spring 2019). Parent distress significantly predicted behavior problems, such that more distressed parents also reported more child behavior problems. Child pre-pandemic peer social skills also significantly predicted behavior problems, such that more skilled children exhibited fewer behavior problems. There were no interaction effects between parent distress and children's social-emotional skills on child behavior problems. Further research is needed to understand how children's social-emotional skills impact their ability to cope during times of epidemiological crisis.

Family Functioning Assessment and Child Psychosocial Symptoms in Family Medicine.

PURPOSE: Children and young adults underutilize behavioral health services, in part due to the challenges with identifying and providing services for child behavioral health in primary care. The objective of this study was to determine if a brief assessment of family functioning captures specific child psychosocial symptoms in a Family Medicine practice. DESIGN AND METHODS: Eighty-three parent child dyads, in which the parent or child was a patient at the Family Medicine practice, participated in a cross-sectional study, including assessments of demographics, family functioning, child behavioral health symptoms, and health related pediatric quality of life (HRQOL). Bivariate correlations, independent samples t-test, and linear and logistic regression tested associations of parent and child reported family functioning with child behavioral health symptoms and HRQOL. RESULTS: Parent and child reports of family functioning were significantly associated. Child, but not parent reports of family functioning were significantly associated with parent and child reports of behavioral health symptoms. Parent's reports of increased family functioning impairment were only significantly associated with parent's reports of decreased HRQOL. Family functioning impairment was associated with parent and child reports of increased behavioral health symptoms and decreased HRQOL. CONCLUSION: Future work should determine if screening for family functioning impairment, may serve as a means of identifying and treating child behavioral health symptoms in Family Medicine. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Identifying impaired family functioning may serve to engage children and their parents in services, who may otherwise not be identified as having symptoms.

Media Use Among Kindergarteners From Low-Income Households During the COVID-19 Shutdown.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the media use of children from low-income homes during school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Caregivers of 151 kindergarteners from low-income homes completed questionnaires as part of a larger study. Caregivers reported how much time children spent watching television/videos and using apps on the most recent weekday and weekend days. Caregivers also reported how their child's current use of media for several different purposes compared with how much the child usually uses media for that purpose. RESULTS: Weekly average media use was 46.3 hours or 6.6 hours per day. Counter to previous research, weekday media use was higher than weekend media use, suggesting that media was likely used as a replacement for time usually spent in school. Caregivers reported increased child media use for positive purposes, such as education and maintaining relationships with family and friends outside of the home, and potentially useful but less socially valued purposes, such as occupying the child's time while caregivers were completing other tasks. Having more children in the household was related to higher media use, and girls used media for maintaining remote relationships more than boys. CONCLUSION: These findings provide reason for both concern and optimism for the impacts of pandemic closures on low-income children. High levels of media use seem to be prevalent in this population. However, the diverse purposes for media use suggest that caregivers relied on media to supplement children's academic and social growth at a time when school and socializing were not safe in their typical forms.

The Role of Preschool Peers in Children's Language Development.

Almost 5 million children attend preschool in the United States each year. Recent attention has been paid to the ways in which preschool classrooms shape children's early language development. In this article, we discuss the importance of peers and classroom composition through the lens of age and socioeconomic status and the implications for children's early learning and development. We also discuss the direct and indirect mechanisms through which classroom peers may shape each other's language development. As part of this discussion, we focus on exposure to peer language and engagement with peers, along with teachers' classroom practices. We conclude by discussing the ways in which teachers can ensure that children in classrooms of different compositions reap the maximum benefit, along with implications for research, policy, and practice.

Influences of Teacher-Child Relationships and Classroom Social Management on Child-Perceived Peer Social Experiences During Early School Years.

Interactions with teachers and peers are critical for children's social, behavioral, and academic development in the classroom context. However, these two types of interpersonal interactions in the classroom are usually pursued via separate lines of inquiries. The current study bridges these two areas of research to examine the way in which teachers influence child-perceived peer social support and peer victimization for 2,678 children within 183 classrooms in preschool through grade three. Two levels of teacher influence are considered, namely teacher-child closeness and conflict relationships at the child-level, and teacher management of interpersonal interactions at the classroom-level. Results of multilevel regression models showed that teacher-child closeness was associated with the growth of child-perceived peer social support from fall to spring, whereas teacher-child conflict and teachers' behavior management practices were associated with the change in child-perceived peer victimization across the academic year. These associations were unique and above and beyond the influence of children's actual peer social interactions, including reciprocal friendships and the collective classroom reputation of peer victimization. Collectively, findings highlight the multi-faceted teacher roles in shaping children's perceptions of their peer social experiences during the earliest years of schooling.

Characteristics of Children's Media Use and Gains in Language and Literacy Skills.

Media use could be detrimental to children's language and literacy skills because it may displace other language-enhancing activities like shared reading and caregiver-child interactions. Furthermore, the extent to which children use media with adults (joint media engagement), the extent to which they use interactive media (apps/games), and the time of the day and week during which media use occurs may attenuate any negative effects. The current study examines the relation between characteristics of children's media use and gains in first graders' language and literacy skills. Children (N = 488) completed direct assessments of language and literacy skills in the spring of kindergarten and the spring of first grade. Parents reported how many hours children used both interactive and non-interactive media during different times of the day on the most recent weekday and weekend day and responded to items about the extent to which they engage with their children during media use. A quadratic relationship between media use and language gains showed that a moderate amount of media use was related to larger language gains, whereas high use was related to smaller gains. For literacy, an interaction between media use and joint media engagement showed a small negative effect of media use at low levels of joint media engagement and little to no relation between media use and literacy gains at higher levels of joint media engagement. Children's language and literacy skills were not predicted by either the proportion of media time that was spent with apps/games or morning and weekday media use. These results show that moderate amounts of media use may not be a negative influence on children's developing language skills, whereas high levels may displace other language-enhancing activities. Additionally, joint media engagement may play an important buffering role in the relation between media use and early literacy skills, aligned with current recommendations encouraging co-viewing.

Associations Between Children's Media Use and Language and Literacy Skills.

Media use is a pervasive aspect of children's home experiences but is often not considered in studies of the home learning environment. Media use could be detrimental to children's language and literacy skills because it may displace other literacy-enhancing activities like shared reading and decrease the quantity and quality of caregiver-child interaction. Thus, the current study asked whether media use is associated with gains in children's language and literacy skills both at a single time point and across a school year and whether age moderates any association. Children (N = 1583) were from preschool through third grade classrooms and language and literacy skills were measured in the fall and spring of the school year. Parents reported how much time their child spends using media on a typical school day. Regression analyses showed that using 4 h or more of media was related to lower literacy gains, but not to language gains. Multilevel models conducted as a robustness check showed that this effect did not hold when accounting for classroom. In neither set of models was there an interaction between age and media use. Single-time-point models did show some associations that did not manifest in more stringent models, highlighting the limitations of correlational designs that do not have measures of children's skills over time. Given the concern and popular press coverage around children's media use, it is important to acknowledge non-significant effects in this domain. These non-significant associations suggest that societal fears around children's media use may be exaggerated. Notably, however, characteristics of children's media use, like educational content or adult co-use, may moderate any effects. The relation between media use and language and literacy growth did not differ across the age range investigated suggesting that, within this range, younger children are not more vulnerable to detrimental effects.

Triple Alignment: Congruency of Perceived Preschool Classroom Social Networks Among Teachers, Children, and Researchers.

Classroom social networks are influential to young children's cognitive, social-emotional, and language development, but assessment and analyses of social networks are complex. Findings have been mixed regarding whether different informants (teachers, children, researchers) are congruent in perceiving classroom social networks. There is also a lack of discussion about the roles of network transformation (converting value networks into binary networks), a required data step for widely used statistical network analyses. This study addressed these issues based on network data of 16 preschool children containing 240 potential dyadic interactions collected from teacher ratings, child nominations, and researcher observations across 44 observation cycles over four school days. Results showed that the three informants were congruent in perceiving the classroom social network, whereas the level of congruency between the teacher-report and the researcher-report networks was the highest. Binary transformation of social networks tended to decrease the level of congruency across informants, although the level of congruency tended to be higher when more stringent binary transformation thresholds were selected.

Parents' Growth Mindsets and Home-Learning Activities: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Danish and US Parents.

Mindset is a term commonly used to represent an individual's beliefs about the role of ability and effort in learning. In this study, we assessed parental mindset-ability mindset and effort mindset-for 497 parents in two countries (United States and Denmark), all of whom had at least one child between 3 and 5 years of age. Of primary interest was assessing the relations between parental mindset and home-learning activities of four types: family learning activities, learning extensions, parental time investment, and parental school involvement. Findings showed that parents in the United States and Denmark held similar ability and effort mindsets, but differed significantly in home-learning activities, with US parents providing significantly more family learning activities, learning extensions, and parental time investment than Danish parents, although the latter had significantly higher levels of school investment. Furthermore, findings showed that parents' effort mindset was a significant predictor of family learning activities and parental time investment and that country moderated the relations between effort mindset and parental time investment. For US parents, higher levels of effort mindset were associated with higher levels of parental time investment, but this was not the case for Danish parents. We call for experimental work to determine the causal relations between parental mindset and home-learning activities, and rigorous cross-cultural research to explore the universality of parental mindset in distinctive cultural settings.

Exposure to Environmental Toxicants and Early Language Development for Children Reared in Low-Income Households.

Considerable evidence has highlighted the heightened susceptibility of developmental delay in children from low-income homes; consequently, this study explored whether environmental toxicant exposure may be a contributing factor to disruption in language and cognitive development for children reared in poverty. Using a sample of 190 low-income mothers and their young children, mothers completed questionnaires on toxicant exposure in the home environment. Exposure to toxicants, especially pesticides, was reported by about 20% of mothers at or around pregnancy, and 30% when their children were between 1 and 2 years of age. Toxicant exposure was significantly associated with lags in language and cognition even when controlling for socioeconomic factors. Study findings highlight the importance of the American Academy of Pediatrics' policy statements arguing for pediatricians to take a strong anticipatory guidance role in counseling parents to limit chemical exposure in the home and engage in safe storage practices.

Food Insecurity and Depression among Economically Disadvantaged Mothers: Does Maternal Efficacy Matter?

BACKGROUND: Nearly 13 million American children experience food insecurity. Research suggests that maternal depression is associated with food insecurity, such that mothers who experience depression are more likely to be food insecure. Maternal self-efficacy may be an important protective factor against depression during the postpartum year, interrupting the link between depression and food insecurity. We extend prior research by examining food insecurity in households with infants and investigating the potential for maternal efficacy to moderate the relation between depression and food insecurity. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Kids in Columbus Study, a longitudinal study of diverse, economically disadvantaged mothers and their young children in Columbus, Ohio (N = 219). Data for this study were drawn from data collected between July 2014 and June 2016. RESULTS: Over one-third of families experienced food insecurity. Further, depression was positively and significantly related to household food insecurity; this relationship, however, was dependent on maternal efficacy. When maternal efficacy was high, the relationship between depression and food insecurity was nonsignificant; when maternal efficacy was low, there was a significant, positive association between depression and food insecurity. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing maternal self-efficacy during the postpartum period may reduce food insecurity in low-income mothers who are experiencing depression.

Relations of Maternal Depression and Parenting Self-Efficacy to the Self-Regulation of Infants in Low-Income Homes.

There is increasing recognition that young children's self-regulation provides a foundation for overall wellness later in life. Yet, infants reared in poverty may exhibit less-developed self-regulation compared to their more advantaged peers. Factors associated with poverty that may influence early self-regulation include maternal depression and parenting self-efficacy. However, few researchers have examined how both parenting self-efficacy and maternal depression may affect young children's self-regulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations among maternal depression, parenting self-efficacy, and infant self-regulation for a racially diverse sample of 142 mother-infant dyads living in low-income households in the United States. Maternal depressive symptomatology was determined with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depressive Scale. Parenting self-efficacy was determined with a self-report measure, reflecting caregivers' mindset or feelings reflecting competency as a parent of an infant. Infant self-regulation was measured by parental report of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Short Form Effortful Control subscale. While maternal depressive symptomatology and self-efficacy were directly and significantly correlated with infant self-regulation, results of a mediation model suggested that parenting self-efficacy mediated the relationship between maternal depressive symptomatology and infant self-regulation. Lower maternal depressive symptomatology predicted better parenting self-efficacy, in turn predicting better infant self-regulation. This study increases our understanding of how early factors shape the self-regulation of infants reared in low-income homes - highlighting the potential role of targeting parenting self-efficacy for parenting interventions for mothers experiencing depressive symptoms.

Influence of Teachers' Grouping Strategies on Children's Peer Social Experiences in Early Elementary Classrooms.

Most children experience some form of grouping in the classroom every day. Understanding how teachers make grouping decisions and their impacts on children's social development can shed light on effective teacher practices for promoting positive social dynamics in the classroom. This study examined the influence of teachers' grouping strategies on changes in young children's social experiences with peers across an academic year. A total of 1,463 children (51% girls, M age = 6.79, SDage = 1.22) and 79 teachers from kindergarten to third-grade classrooms participated in this study. Teachers rated children's behavioral problems as the most important consideration when creating seating charts or assigning children to small groups. Promoting existing or new friendships was rated as the least important consideration. Heterogeneous ability grouping, rated as somewhat important by the teachers, was associated with a decrease in children's friendships and yet also a decrease in girls' experience with peer conflicts. Our findings begin to fill in the gaps in the literature on the social impacts of ability grouping for young children.