Search

This study reported the development and initial validation of the Survey of Parent/Provider Expectations and Knowledge (SPEAK), a self-administered questionnaire assessing expectations and knowledge about early childhood cognitive and language development. Development of the SPEAK was guided by the theory emphasizing the role of language input quality in young children's language development. Items were refined through cognitive interviews (N = 29), expert consultations, and the first field test (N = 131). Rasch analysis following the second field test (N = 346) resulted in a 17-item SPEAK (a = 0.84); expert review confirmed its content validity. A third field test with low-income caregivers (N = 103) showed that higher SPEAK scores were correlated with higher education, receptive language ability, stronger endorsement of incremental mindset, and more language stimulation available to the child at home, supporting its concurrent validity. Findings provided preliminary evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the SPEAK to assess expectations and knowledge of early childhood cognitive and language development.

Maternal warmth, the quality of the affectional bond between mothers and their children, has been found to be consistently associated with children's positive developmental outcomes in Western cultures. However, researchers debate the potential differences in the cultural meanings of maternal warmth, particularly between Chinese and European American families. To address the lack of empirical research on this issue, the present study examined culturally derived perceptions and practices of maternal warmth through open-ended interviews with 70 Chinese immigrant and 70 European American mothers of preschoolers. Specifically, we compared mothers' perceived importance and degree of expression of warmth toward their children, and why and how they express warmth toward their children in the 2 cultural groups. Results showed that, although mothers perceived expressing warmth to be similarly important, European American mothers perceived expressing more warmth toward their children. Moreover, both cultural similarities and differences were found in why these 2 groups of mothers believed it was important to express warmth and the specific practices they used. Chinese immigrant mothers' responses were interpreted as reflecting a cultural emphasis on nurturance and instrumental support, whereas European American mothers' responses reflected the Western cultural focus on more direct and outward demonstrations of warmth.

The present study examined the mediating role of perceived parental warmth and support in predicting Chinese Malaysian adolescents' filial behaviors from their age, perceived parental investments, and positive filial emotions toward their parents. The effects of these predictors were examined separately for mothers and fathers. Participants included 122 Chinese adolescents (M = 13.14 years; SD = 2.22) in Malaysia. Adolescents' perceived parental investments, filial emotions, and warmth and support from each parent were positively, and age was negatively associated with their filial behaviors. No gender differences were found. Perceived maternal warmth and support significantly mediated the effect of age, perceived investments from, and filial emotions toward mothers on adolescents' filial behaviors, but perceived paternal warmth and support did not have a mediating role. The present study sheds light on the unique maternal versus paternal filial role, and important familial processes in Chinese-Malaysian children and adolescents from a cultural perspective. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

A total of 427 women (aged 18-45 years) who delivered a singleton neonate without serious medical complications were randomized to watch either an educational intervention (n = 225) or the sudden infant death syndrome (n = 202) video. Linear mixed models showed that the intervention women significantly gained knowledge over time. Knowledge gain was largest among high-socioeconomic status (high-SES) and middle-SES English-speaking, smaller among low-SES Spanish-speaking, and nonsignificant among low-SES English-speaking women. Analysis of deviance revealed that the intervention women of all SES learned strategies fostering secure attachment and language acquisition. Participants considered watching an educational video alongside the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) conveniently timed. The intervention women were more likely than the control women to recognize the importance of timely UNHS follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the increase of English language learning students, whose native language is not English, in the U.S., and the rise of research designed to determine the best educational practices for that population. Over 40% of teachers have students whose English proficiency is considered limited, and almost 20% of students come from homes where a language other than English is spoken. Of these other languages, Spanish is by far the most common, but over 400 different languages are spoken by students in U.S. public schools. Emphasis is placed on the importance of distinguishing between the typical problems associated with learning a second language, and actual learning disabilities or language disorders. An general overview of research on these topics is provided.

Objective: This randomized controlled trial examined the long-term impact of the 3Ts-HV intervention on preschool-aged children's language skills through promoting parental knowledge and parent-child conversational turns during toddlerhood among families from low-socioeconomic status backgrounds, controlling for parental education level, parental language skills, and child's age., Methods: Ninety two parent-toddler dyads of low socioeconomic status were randomized to receive either the 3Ts-HV intervention (n = 46) or Healthy Lifestyle control (n = 46) curriculum from 14 to 20 months. Parental language skills were assessed at 14 months; parental knowledge was assessed at 14 and 26 months; parent-child conversational turn count was assessed at 14 and 38 months; children's language skills were assessed at 50 months., Results: A significant serial mediation effect (β = 0.05, 95% CI [0.002; 0.13]) revealed that the 3Ts-HV intervention increased parental knowledge at 26 months, contributed to more frequent parent-child conversational turns at 38 months, and in turn promoted children's language skills at 50 months., Conclusions: The present study provides empirical evidence illustrating the underlying longitudinal processes from increasing parental knowledge and enriching parent-child linguistic interactions during toddlerhood, to promoting children's language development at preschool age. These findings point to a significant path to supporting families who face socioeconomic challenges early in life to promote equity in children's early language experiences and narrow disparities in children's developmental outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the mediating role of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents' knowledge of early cognitive and language development at the first postpartum visit in the relation between education and caregiving behaviors at 9 months., Study Design: Parental knowledge was assessed at the 1-week newborn visit (n = 468); anticipatory guidance received and desired at 1-month (n = 212) and 6-month (n = 191) visits were reported; and caregiving behaviors toward infants during a teaching task were observed at 9-month visit (n = 173)., Results: We found substantial variation in knowledge and caregiving behaviors. Parents who had more knowledge of infant development at 1 week were more likely to respond to cues (r = 0.18; P < .05) and foster social-emotional (r = 0.17; P < .05) and cognitive growth (r = 0.20; P < .05) at 9 months. Importantly, the indirect effect of education on cognitive growth fostering at 9 months through knowledge at 1 week was significant, controlling for primary language and number of other children in the home (infancy: β = 0.06; B = 0.07; SE = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.007-0.165; early childhood: β = 0.04; B = 0.06; SE = 0.03; 95% CI, 0.008-0.152). Open-ended responses indicated that anticipatory guidance in the first 6 months focused on infant physical growth; however, parents did not request additional anticipatory guidance from their pediatricians., Conclusions: This study sheds light on the importance of promoting parental knowledge about cognitive and language development to foster parental cognitive stimulations and language inputs during the first year of life. This study highlights the important role of anticipatory guidance on cognitive and language development during the earliest well-child visits and the need to better understand parental baseline knowledge to tailor anticipatory guidance to the family strengths and needs., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Identifying maternal characteristics in relation to child feeding is important for addressing the current childhood obesity epidemic. The present study examines whether maternal representations of their children are associated with feeding beliefs and practices. Maternal representations refer to mothers' affective and cognitive perspectives regarding their children and their subjective experiences of their relationships with their children. This key maternal characteristic has not been examined in association with maternal feeding. Thus the purpose of the current study was to examine whether maternal representations of their children, reflected by Working Model of the Child Interview typologies (Balanced, Disengaged, or Distorted), were associated with maternal feeding beliefs (Authority, Confidence, and Investment) and practices (Pressure to Eat, Restriction, and Monitoring) among low-income mothers of young children, with maternal education examined as a covariate. Results showed that Balanced mothers were most likely to demonstrate high authority, Distorted mothers were least likely to demonstrate confidence, and Disengaged mothers were least likely to demonstrate investment in child feeding. Moreover, Balanced mothers were least likely to pressure their children to eat. Findings are discussed with regard to implications for the study of childhood obesity and for applied preventions., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite increased attention to the role of temperament in children's obesogenic eating behaviors, there is a paucity of research examining whether different dimensions of temperament may be differentially associated with specific eating behaviors among preschool-age children. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether three temperament dimensions (surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control) were uniquely associated with six obesogenic eating behaviors (caregiver-reported food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, emotional overeating, satiety responsiveness, and tantrums over food; and observed eating in the absence of hunger) among low-income preschool-age children, covarying home environment quality. Results showed that temperament dimensions were differentially associated with different eating behaviors. Specifically, preschoolers with higher surgency were more likely to overeat in response to external cues, have frequent desire to eat, derive pleasure from food, and eat in the absence of hunger. In contrast, preschoolers with higher negative affectivity were more likely to have tantrums over being denied food and less likely to eat in the absence of hunger. Effortful control was not uniquely associated with obesogenic eating behavior. Findings remained significant even when home chaos was accounted for, suggesting that child surgency and negative affectivity are important to consider, independent of home environment. Results are discussed with regard to theoretical implications for the study of childhood obesity and for applied prevention implications., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)