Maternal Education and Child Self-Regulation: Do Maternal Self-Regulation and Responsiveness Mediate the Association?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the mediating role of observed maternal responsiveness and maternal self-regulation on the association between maternal education and children's self-regulation. METHODS: English-speaking mother-child dyads (n = 189) were recruited from a previous study and were eligible if the child was kindergarten eligible at the start of the 2020 to 2021 or 2021 to 2022 school year. Key measures included: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form for maternal emotional self-regulation, Culturally Affirming and Responsive Experiences for maternal responsiveness, and the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders for child self-regulation. The association between years of maternal education and child self-regulation was examined with linear regression, and the mediation analyses utilized 4 subsequent steps examining their relations. These steps were checked through a series of linear regressions, and beta weights were used to describe associations. Each potential mediator was examined separately. RESULTS: Children of mothers with higher education had significantly higher self-regulation, slope of 1.3 (95% confidence interval 0.3, 2.4, P = 0.015, beta = 0.18). Further, mothers with higher education had significantly higher observed responsiveness. The beta-weight of 0.34 (P < 0.001) supported maternal responsiveness as a mediator. Finally, in the test for direct and indirect effects, observed maternal responsiveness explained 29% (95% confidence interval 3.3%, 115%) of the association between maternal education and child self-regulation. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights a key mechanism related to children's self-regulation skills and the significant role of observed maternal responsiveness in explaining the association between maternal education and child self-regulation.

The importance of community resources for breastfeeding.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding has long-lasting effects on children's cognition, behavioral, mental and physical health. Previous research shows parental characteristics (e.g., education, race/ethnicity, income level) are associated with breastfeeding initiation and duration. Further, research shows significant variation in access to community resources by race/ethnicity. It is unclear how community resources may impact breastfeeding practices and how this might intersect with maternal race/ethnicity. METHODS: This study combined nationally-representative data from the Study of Attitudes and Factors Effecting Infant Care (SAFE), which surveyed US mothers immediately after the infant's birth and at two to six months of infant age, with the Child Opportunity Index (COI) 2.0, a census tract measure of community resources associated with child development, to explore the association between community resources and breastfeeding initiation and whether this varies based on maternal race/ethnicity and country of birth. The SAFE Study used a stratified, two-stage, clustered design to obtain a nationally representative sample of mothers of infants, while oversampling Hispanic and non-Hispanic (NH) Black mothers. The SAFE study enrolled mothers who spoke English or Spanish across 32 US birth hospitals between January 2011 and March 2014. RESULTS: After accounting for individual characteristics, mothers residing in the highest-resourced communities (compared to the lowest) had significantly greater likelihood of breastfeeding. Representation in higher-resourced communities differed by race/ethnicity. Race/ethnicity did not significantly moderate the association between community resources and breastfeeding. In examining within race/ethnic groups, however, community resources were not associated with non-US born Black and Hispanic mothers' rates of breastfeeding, while they were with US born Black and Hispanic mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that even health behaviors like breastfeeding, which we often associate with individual choice, are connected to the community resources within which they are made. Study implications point to the importance of considering the impact of the contextual factors that shape health and as a potential contributor to understanding the observed race/ethnicity gap.

Maternal Informal Learning Experiences that Shape Parenting Practices.

Objective: Current understanding of the linkage between maternal education and parenting practices has largely been informed using a narrow definition of educational attainment-the highest level of education an individual has completed. However, the proximal processes that shape parenting, including informal learning experiences, are also important to understand. Less is known about the informal learning experiences that shape parenting decisions and practices. To this end, we conducted a qualitative inquiry about the informal learning experiences of mothers of children ages 3 to 4 years with the specific goal of understanding how maternal informal learning experiences shape parenting decisions and practices. Design: We conducted interviews with 53 mothers from across the United States who had previously participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention targeting infant care practices. We recruited a purposive sample of mothers chosen to maximize diversity across educational attainment and adherence to infant care practices targeted in the RCT. Using a grounded theory approach, data were analyzed using an iterative process for organizing codes and themes that mothers identified as informal learning experiences. Results: We identified seven themes representing distinct types of maternal informal learning experiences that impact parenting practices, including: (1) experiential learning during childhood; (2) experiential learning during adulthood; (3) interpersonal interactions including via social media; (4) experiences with non-interactive media sources; (5) informal trainings; (6) beliefs; and (7) current circumstances. Conclusions: Multiple informal learning experiences inform the parenting decisions and practices of mothers with varying levels of formal educational attainment.

Do Neighborhood Resources Mitigate Family Risk to Preschool Children's Executive Function Skills Growth?

Despite previous studies showing that children's development of executive function (EF) skills is associated with the differing contexts in which children live, evidence about the independent and synergistic effects of families and neighborhoods is limited. Using a sample from a two-cohort longitudinal study of preschoolers from low-income families, we examined whether residential neighborhood resources (measured with the Child Opportunity Index (COI)) moderated the relationship between family cumulative risk and the growth trajectory of children's EF skills. Results from conditional growth curve models indicate family cumulative risk was negatively related to baseline EF skills and the rate of EF skill growth. In contrast, the overall COI and the COI social and economic domain z-score were positively associated with the initial, but not linear, growth of EF skills. We found no evidence of moderator effects. Policies that aim to better target and support the most vulnerable children should consider the unique contribution of family risks and neighborhood resources to child development.

How does inhibitory control predict emotion regulation in preschool? The role of individual children's interactions with teachers and peers.

Emotion regulation is foundational to children's psychological wellbeing and future school adjustment. As young children are spending increasing amounts of time in preschool programs, investigating how early childhood classrooms can foster emotion regulation development is warranted. In this study, we tested individual children's interactions with teachers and peers as potential mechanisms through which inhibitory control supports emotion regulation in the preschool classroom. Participants included 767 preschool children (49% female; M = 4.39 years old, SD = .08) from low-income households (income-to-needs ratio M = 1.45, SD = 1.06). Fifty percent of children were Black, 22% White, 13% Latino, and 15% Other race/ethnicity. Children completed direct assessments of inhibitory control in the fall, teachers reported on children's emotion regulation in the fall and spring of the preschool year, and trained observers rated the quality of individual children's interactions with teachers and peers in the fall, winter, and spring. Accounting for earlier emotion regulation, mediation analyses indicated that children's inhibitory control operates through individual children's (a) positive interactions with peers and (b) negative interactions with teachers and peers to support their subsequent emotion regulation. These findings underscore the role of the preschool classroom as an emotion socialization context for children from low-income households, along with providing additional evidence about the importance of social interactions to understand children's emotional development in context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep Patterns and School Readiness of Pre-Kindergarteners from Racially and Ethnically Diverse, Low-Income Backgrounds.

OBJECTIVE: To explore patterns in parent-reported child sleep health and to investigate connections between such patterns and school readiness for newly enrolled prekindergarten (PreK) attendees from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds. STUDY DESIGN: In a secondary analysis from a larger multiple-cohort longitudinal observational study of prekindergartners in low-income families, parental reports of sleep health for 351 children (mean age, 52.8 ± 3.5 months) during the first month of PreK were analyzed. Children also had completed direct assessments measuring language, literacy, mathematics, and executive functioning, and teachers rated children's social-emotional-behavioral competencies and approaches to learning at PreK entry. We performed latent class analyses to identify patterns in sleep health and used regression models to examine concurrent associations between child sleep health patterns and school readiness competencies across 6 domains: language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, social-emotional-behavioral, and approaches to learning. RESULTS: Two classes emerged reflecting more and less desirable patterns of sleep health. Children classified in the earlier, longer, consistent sleep health class (87% of children) experienced earlier bedtimes, longer night-time sleep durations, more consistent sleep routines, less caffeine consumption ≤3 hours before bedtime, and scored higher on a direct assessment of expressive vocabulary and on teacher-reported measures of social-emotional-behavioral competencies and learning approaches than their peers in the later, shorter, inconsistent sleep health class (13% of children). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent sleep routines and more optimal sleep health may serve as a protective mechanism for the language development, social-emotional-behavioral regulation, and approaches to learning of PreK from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds. Clinician-parent discussions regarding optimal sleep health may provide key opportunities for targeted education that promotes school readiness skill development.

Investigating Mechanisms for Maternal Education Disparities in Enacting Health-Promoting Infant Care Practices.

BACKGROUND: Although higher education and healthier practices are positively associated, the explanatory mechanisms for this association remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to better understand mechanisms underlying this association by examining maternal adherence to 2 health-promoting infant care practices: supine placement and breastfeeding. METHODS: We analyzed nationally representative data from the Study of Attitudes and Factors Effecting Infant Care, which surveyed US mothers after infant birth and 2 months thereafter. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework, we used structural equation models to elucidate mediational pathways from maternal education to supine infant placement or any breastfeeding. RESULTS: Data from 3297 mothers demonstrated 77.0% of infants usually were placed supine, and 57.8% received any breastfeeding. The overall direct effect of maternal educational level on supine placement and any breastfeeding was odds ratio (OR) 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.54) and OR 2.82 (95% CI 2.35-3.37), respectively. In pathway analyses, the strongest associations with both supine position and breastfeeding were seen with positive attitudes (supine: aOR 18.96, 95% CI 9.00-39.92; breastfeeding: aOR 3.86, 95% CI 2.19-6.82) and positive social norms (supine: aOR 6.69, 95% CI 4.52-9.89; breastfeeding: aOR 5.17, 95% CI 4.28-6.23). Mothers with more education had higher odds of both positive attitudes and positive norms for the 2 practices. CONCLUSIONS: The associations linking educational attainment with health practices are intricate, with multiple mediating pathways. Attitudes and social norms are powerful forces that mediate the association between maternal educational attainment and both infant supine positioning and breastfeeding, and may be important mediators for other health behaviors.

An Exploration of Electronic Media Use Profiles for Preschoolers of Low-Income Families.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the electronic media (e-media) use of preschoolers from low-income families comprehensively, in terms of platform interaction potential and content. METHODS: Parents of 380 preschoolers (mean age, 52.5 ± 3.7 months) from diverse, low-income backgrounds reported on their child's age of exposure to various e-media types, frequency of use, amount of background television, and listed all child shows/cartoons and adult shows/general audience shows the child watches, as well as all electronic games/apps the child plays. We calculated descriptive statistics and conducted latent profile analyses to characterize e-media use. RESULTS: Most children in the sample began watching TV before age 1 year and nearly half watch child shows/cartoons several times a day or more. Most children began playing games/apps before age 3 years and more than one quarter play games several times a day or more. More than 20% of children are exposed to >3 hours of background TV on a typical weekday and 30% are exposed to this amount on a typical weekend day. A Modest E-Media Use profile characterized most children in the sample (70%). Fewer children were characterized by a High Educational Games profile (14%) or a High Adult TV/Elevated Entertainment Games Use and Background TV profile (16%). CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, the 3 profiles reflect heterogeneous use patterns with regard to platform interaction potential and educational quality during the course of a typical week. Additional research is warranted to assess linkages between e-media use profiles and indicators of school readiness in cognitive, academic, and social and behavioral domains in diverse, low-income samples.

How Lifestyle Factors Affect Cognitive and Executive Function and the Ability to Learn in Children.

In today's research environment, children's diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors are commonly studied in the context of health, independent of their effect on cognition and learning. Moreover, there is little overlap between the two literatures, although it is reasonable to expect that the lifestyle factors explored in the health-focused research are intertwined with cognition and learning processes. This thematic review provides an overview of knowledge connecting the selected lifestyle factors of diet, physical activity, and sleep hygiene to children's cognition and learning. Research from studies of diet and nutrition, physical activity and fitness, sleep, and broader influences of cultural and socioeconomic factors related to health and learning, were summarized to offer examples of research that integrate lifestyle factors and cognition with learning. The literature review demonstrates that the associations and causal relationships between these factors are vastly understudied. As a result, current knowledge on predictors of optimal cognition and learning is incomplete, and likely lacks understanding of many critical facts and relationships, their interactions, and the nature of their relationships, such as there being mediating or confounding factors that could provide important knowledge to increase the efficacy of learning-focused interventions. This review provides information focused on studies in children. Although basic research in cells or animal studies are available and indicate a number of possible physiological pathways, inclusion of those data would distract from the fact that there is a significant gap in knowledge on lifestyle factors and optimal learning in children. In a climate where childcare and school feeding policies are continuously discussed, this thematic review aims to provide an impulse for discussion and a call for more holistic approaches to support child development.

The impact of teacher responsivity education on preschoolers' language and literacy skills.

PURPOSE: This study examined the extent to which teacher responsivity education affected preschoolers' language and literacy development over an academic year. Additional aims were to determine whether children's initial language abilities and teachers' use of responsivity strategies were associated with language outcomes, in particular. METHOD: In this randomized controlled trial, preschool centers were assigned to a responsivity education intervention (n = 19 centers, 25 teachers, and 174 children) or a "business-as-usual" control condition (n = 19 centers, 24 teachers, and 156 children). Teachers within the intervention centers received training focused on a set of strategies designed to promote children's engagement and participation in extended conversational interactions across the school day. RESULTS: Hierarchical linear models showed no main effects on children's language skills, although moderating effects were observed such that the intervention appeared to have positive effects for children with relatively high initial language abilities. In addition, teacher use of responsivity strategies was positively associated with vocabulary development. With regard to children's literacy skills, there was a significant main effect of the intervention on print-concept knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Although teacher responsivity education is viewed as benefitting children's language and literacy development, the impacts of this type of intervention on children's skills warrant further investigation.

Theoretical explanations for preschoolers' lowercase alphabet knowledge.

PURPOSE: Letter knowledge is a key aspect of children's language development, yet relatively little research has aimed to understand the nature of lowercase letter knowledge. We considered 4 hypotheses about children's lowercase letter knowledge simultaneously--uppercase familiarity, uppercase-lowercase similarity, own-name advantage, and frequency in printed English--as well as 3 interactions. METHOD: Participants were 461 children ranging in age from 3 to 5 years, all of whom attended public preschool programs serving primarily children from low-income homes, who completed a letter naming task. RESULTS: Uppercase familiarity was the strongest predictor of children's lowercase alphabet knowledge; children were more than 16 times more likely to know a lowercase letter if they knew the corresponding uppercase letter. Uppercase-lowercase similarity and frequency in printed English also predicted children's lowercase letter knowledge, as did the interaction between uppercase familiarity and own-name advantage and the interaction between uppercase familiarity and uppercase-lowercase similarity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that transference from uppercase letter knowledge may be a primary mechanism for lowercase letter knowledge and that young children's knowledge of the lowercase alphabet letters is multiply determined.

School readiness among children with varying histories of language difficulties.

This study tested the hypotheses that (a) persistent language difficulties during childhood would predict lower school readiness and (b) language difficulties present just prior to school entry would predict lower school readiness beyond any effects of persistence. The study involved examining indicators of school readiness collected at kindergarten for children exhibiting various histories of language ability based on language measures collected at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Early Child Care Research Network. Children (N = 1,064) were classified according to whether they exhibited expressive or receptive language difficulties at each time point measured. The relation between persistence and timing of these difficulties to each kindergarten outcome was studied through a common factor approach for categorical outcomes. Persistence of language difficulties was not generally related to kindergarten outcomes. However, a robust effect was found for timing of language difficulties: Children who exhibited language difficulties at 54 months exhibited significantly depressed performance on measures of school readiness. Findings are discussed in terms of current policy and research concerning kindergarten readiness for children exhibiting risk.