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CHAPTER VI
Relationship of Family and Parental Characteristics to Children’s Cognitive and Social Development in Head Start
Head Start maintains a strong interest in supporting parents as the primary educators of their children. Considering this parental role, the FACES Technical Report I (ACYF, 2002)22 highlighted the diversity of Head Start families as well as noting many of the challenges that they encountered, such as balancing work and child care responsibilities, and coping with maternal depression, exposure to violence, involvement with the criminal justice system, and substance use. It was also reported that many of these families possessed strengths and resilience in the face of such challenges, and that when it came to their children, they held many of the same fundamental hopes, goals, values, and beliefs that are commonly shared among families, particularly with regard to education.
This chapter will explore how parental and family characteristics are related to aspects of children’s school readiness. FACES Technical Report I (ACYF, 2002) noted that parents held optimistic expectations for their children’s early schooling and valued the long-term benefits of education. While the majority of parents’ short-term goals for their children were focused on general academic skills, such as completing age-appropriate tasks and success in school, most also held specific long-term educational attainment goals for their children, such as graduating from high school and attending college. One essential theme that emerged was that parents felt a strong desire to have the best for their children and to instill values focused on education.
Despite facing various barriers to participation, Head Start families had a strong desire to be involved in their children’s Head Start experience and valued their own involvement in the program. Although parents identified barriers to their participation in Head Start (primarily time constraints related to work or school), many still participated in Head Start activities. Parents felt it was important for them to participate because they felt their involvement helped their children, because their children seemed to enjoy it, or because it was meaningful to their children to have their parents participate in activities at their schools.
With this background information in mind, this chapter explores specific characteristics of families and parents that may be related to the development of school readiness in the current sample of Head Start children.
FINDINGS
The findings presented in this chapter are primarily based on partial correlations, tests of group differences (t-test, ANOVA), and multivariate logistic regression models used to estimate levels of risk while controlling for demographic variables. Unless noted in the text, all findings tested were significant (p < .05). Additional information on specific parent interview scales and child assessment measures is found in the Appendix. Means and standard deviations for scales from the parent interview and from the teachers’ reports of children’s behavior are also included in the Appendix.
A. Prevalence of Family and Parental Risk Factors and Their Relationship to Children’s Outcomes
Maternal Depression
Because depression is a frequent challenge facing low-income families
with young children (Hall,Williams & Greenberg, 1985; Liaw &
Brooks-Gunn, 1994), depression among the Head Start parents was measured
using the CES-D Depression Scale (Radloff, 1975). Overall, parents
had a mean score of 6.8 in the fall of 2000, which was in the mildly
depressed range. While most parents were classified as not depressed
(47.7 percent) or only mildly depressed (27.0 percent), one fourth
of the parents (25.3 percent) were classified as moderately depressed
(13.6 percent) or severely depressed (11.7 percent). From fall to
spring, there was a small decline in the overall mean depression scores
(spring 2001 mean score of 6.6), but the difference was not statistically
significant.
The level of depression did not vary significantly by ethnicity. Similar proportions of African American parents (27.7 percent), Hispanic parents (27.4 percent), and White parents (25.0 percent) were classified as moderately or severely depressed.
Group differences, evaluated using t-tests, were found between parents who were moderately or severely depressed and those who were not at all or only mildly depressed. Parents who were moderately or severely depressed reported a lower household income, had a more external locus of control, had a more authoritarian parenting style (i.e., more directive and harsh), and spanked their children more frequently. When asked about activities with the children, parents who were moderately or severely depressed were more likely to report participating in fewer activities with their children and were also less likely to be involved with their children’s Head Start program. A higher proportion of mothers living without a father in the home were classified as moderately or severely depressed (30.4 percent) than those who had a father present in the home (20.3 percent).
Results of partial correlations controlling for parental income, education, and employment and for child gender, age, and ethnicity also revealed that the overall parental depression scale score was significantly correlated with parent and teacher reports of the children’s behavior. Parents who were more depressed reported that children had more problem behavior, including being more aggressive, hyperactive, and withdrawn. Similarly, teachers also reported more aggressive, hyperactive, and overall problem behavior for children of parents who were more depressed. Negative correlations were also found between parental depression and children’s positive social behavior ratings and emergent literacy, indicating that less depressed parents reported having children with better social and academic skills.
Significant correlations were also found between parental depression and selected child cognitive outcomes. Children of parents who were depressed did worse on one-to-one counting and early math tasks, as well as on the teacher reports of creativity (descriptions of the child outcome measures are found in the Appendix).
Additional risks associated with maternal depression were explored more fully through multivariate logistic regression models, controlling for mother’s education and employment, household income, and for child’s race, age, and gender. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for each model are presented in Table 6.2 (located at the end of the chapter).These risk estimates indicate that parents who were moderately or severely depressed, compared to parents who were not at all or only mildly depressed, were 1.5 times more likely to be single parents, and almost twice as likely to report that they, another household member, or a non-household biological parent had been arrested or charged with a crime since the birth of their Head Start children. In addition, depressed parents were 1.3 times more likely than non-depressed parents to drink or live with someone who drank alcohol, and 1.6 times more likely to have been exposed to violence in their neighborhoods or homes. The risk for screening positive for domestic violence greatly increased for those parents who were moderately or severely depressed. These parents were almost 3 times more likely to have been victims of domestic violence compared to parents who were only mildly depressed or not depressed.
Exposure to Violence
Neighborhoods have long been recognized in theory and research as
important contexts for child development (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn,
2000), but they can provide unique challenges when families are exposed
to violence. Parents were asked about the violence they knew to occur
in their neighborhoods, and were asked additional questions about
their own personal exposure to violence and domestic violence, as
well as their Head Start children’s exposure to violence.
More than one fifth of all parents (22.5 percent) reported seeing nonviolent crime such as selling drugs or stealing in their neighborhoods in fall 2000 (15.3 percent more than once), as well as having been a witness to violent crime (22.4 percent; 17.2 percent more than once). Approximately 17.0 percent of the parents knew someone who was the victim of a violent crime in their neighborhood, bringing the reality of violence very close to many of the Head Start families. Five percent of parents reported being a victim of violent crime in their neighborhood, and similarly, 5.0 percent of the parents reported being victims of violence in their homes.
Exposure to violence varied across ethnic groups. Among parents of African American children, 34.5 percent reported seeing nonviolent crimes in their neighborhoods, a figure that was over twice the rate reported by parents of White children (15.0 percent) and approximately one third more than parents of Hispanic children (24.2 percent). This pattern held for each type of exposure to violent crime. Over twice as many parents of African American children (36.3 percent) reported witnessing violent crimes in their neighborhoods compared to parents of White children (15.5 percent) and Hispanic children (17.5 percent). For reports of victimization, parents of African American children were again highest, with 7.4 percent indicating they were victims of crime in their neighborhoods, and 6.2 percent reporting they were victims of violent crime in their homes. These victimization rates were closer to reports for parents of Hispanic children (5.8 percent in the neighborhoods; 5.4 percent in their homes) than for parents of White children (4.4 percent in the neighborhoods; 4.5 percent in their homes).
As for the Head Start children, 3.8 percent were reported by parents to have witnessed a violent crime and 8.6 percent were reported to have witnessed domestic violence during the previous year. Slightly over one percent of the children were reported by their parents to have been victims of violent crime (1.1 percent), while almost two percent were victims of domestic violence (1.7 percent) during the previous year.
Exposure to violence had direct and indirect associations with child outcomes. Partial correlations controlling for parental income, education, and employment and for child gender, age, and ethnicity revealed small but significant positive correlations between parents’ reports of exposure to violence and parents’ reports of child problem behavior. In these analyses, exposure to violence is represented as a summary score of how often each of the five types of exposure to violence (as noted above) was reported by parents. Scores ranged from 5 (no exposure) to 15 (more than one exposure to every type). The mean score for the sample was 6.1. Parents who reported greater exposure reported their children engaged in fewer positive social behaviors and more overall problem behavior; teachers of these children also reported they were more aggressive. This contrasts with the parents with less violence exposure, who reported more positive behaviors for their children. Exposure to violence did not have a direct relationship with child cognitive outcomes. Parents who reported more exposure to violence were significantly more depressed, but interestingly, they also were more likely to have an authoritative parenting style (e.g., less harsh, more use of rationales).
Controlling for mother’s education and employment, household income, and for child’s race, age, and gender, multivariate logistic regression models were used to further explore the risks associated with exposure to violence. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for risk factors (alcohol use, single parent, domestic violence, criminal justice system involvement) included in the models are presented in Table 6.2 (located at the end of the chapter). Parents who reported exposure to violence in their neighborhoods or homes, compared to parents who were not exposed to violence, were 1.5 times more likely to be single parents as well as to live in households where either they or someone else drank alcohol. Parents who were exposed to violence in their neighborhoods or homes, compared to parents not exposed to violence, were also 1.7 times more likely to have reported that they, another household member, or a non-household biological parent had been arrested or charged with a crime since the birth of their Head Start children, and over 2.7 times more likely to have screened positive for domestic violence (see measure below).
Domestic Violence
A three-item screening measure for domestic violence was administered
to the parents (Feldhaus, Loziol-McLain & Amsury, 1997). They
were asked if they had ever been hit, kicked, punched, or otherwise
hurt by anyone within the past year, if they felt safe in their current
relationship, or if they currently felt unsafe from a partner in a
previous relationship. Almost 13 percent of the parents answered ‘yes’
to one of these questions, thereby screening positively for experiencing
domestic violence. Differences on family and child outcomes were found
between families with a parent who screened positively for domestic
violence versus those who did not. For example, parents experiencing
domestic violence were significantly more depressed, and they reported
their children to be more aggressive, more hyperactive, more withdrawn,
and to have more overall problem behavior. Teachers also reported
these children to be more withdrawn and have more overall problem
behavior than children whose parents were not experiencing domestic
violence. However, no direct relationship was found between parent-reported
domestic violence and child cognitive outcomes.
Multivariate logistic regression models, controlling for mother’s education and employment, household income, and for child’s race, age, and gender, estimated that parents who screened positive for domestic violence, compared to those who did not, were 2.5 times more likely to be single parents, 1.5 times more likely to drink alcohol or live with a drinker, and almost 3.5 times more likely to report that they, another household member, or a non-household biological parent had been arrested or charged with a crime since the birth of their Head Start children.
Substance Use in the Home
The occurrence of substance use in homes, whether cigarette smoking,
alcohol use, or drug use, is another challenge that faced a number
of Head Start families. Almost one half of the Head Start children
(45.1 percent) lived in households with at least one individual who
smoked cigarettes. Smoking varied by ethnicity. Cigarette smoking
was reported less frequently in households where African American
children lived (38.8 percent) than in households of Hispanic children
(52.2 percent) or White children (54.3 percent). More than one fourth
of the parents (28.1 percent) reported drinking alcohol such as beer,
wine, or liquor in the past 30 days; 20.0 percent drank less than
once a week, and 7.8 percent reported drinking between 1-2 times per
week to every day. Slightly over 40 percent of all households reported
having at least one individual who drank alcohol. Among families who
lived in households where someone drank alcohol, 7.9 percent reported
alcohol-related problems with family members, 5.9 percent experienced
trouble with the police because of alcohol, and 4.2 percent missed
work or school due to alcohol-related illness. Less than one percent
of the families reported having anyone in the household who used drugs.
The findings suggest that living in a household with someone who drinks increased the risk of negative family and child outcomes. Parents who drank or who lived with a drinker were significantly more likely to be depressed and to report their children to have more overall problem behavior than parents who did not drink or live in a household with a drinker. Children who lived with someone who drank alcohol scored lower on vocabulary, color naming, and social awareness tasks.
Further exploration of the risks associated with drinking or having a drinker in the household was done using multivariate logistic regression models, again controlling for mother’s education and employment, household income, and for child’s race, age, and gender. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the associated risk factors included in the models are presented in Table 6.2. Parents who drank alcohol or lived with a drinker were approximately 1.5 times more likely to report involvement in the criminal justice system, exposure to violence, or domestic violence in their lives compared to parents who did not drink or live with a drinker. Parents who drank or lived with a drinker were no more likely to be single parents than those who lived in alcohol-free households.
Involvement With the Criminal
Justice System
In order to assess how many families had involvement with the criminal
justice system, parents were asked if they, another household member,
or a non-household biological parent had been arrested or charged
with a crime since the birth of their Head Start children. Almost
one fifth (19.2 percent) of the parents reported that someone had
been arrested and charged with a crime and 16.7 percent reported someone
who spent time in jail. Involvement with the criminal justice system
did not vary much by ethnicity. About one fifth of parents of White
children, parents of Hispanic children, and parents of African American
children reported having someone in their family who was arrested
(21.8 percent, 20.1 percent, and 18.9 percent, respectively).
T-tests were conducted to examine if child behavior and cognitive outcomes differed between children who were members of families with involvement in the criminal justice system and children from families without such involvement. Children from families who had someone arrested scored lower on assessed vocabulary and were reported by their parents to be more aggressive, more hyperactive, more withdrawn, and to have more overall problem behavior. They were also reported by their teachers to be more aggressive and have more overall problem behavior than children from families who did not have someone arrested.
Multivariate logistic regression models, controlling for mother’s education and employment, household income, and for child’s race, age, and gender were used to determine estimates of risk among those families who had someone close to them who was involved in the criminal justice system (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals are reported in Table 6.2). These risk estimates indicated that parents who reported that they, another household member, or a non-household biological parent had been arrested or charged with a crime since the birth of their Head Start children were twice as likely to be depressed, over 2.5 times more likely to be single parents, and over 3.5 times more likely to have been a victim of domestic violence than parents who did not have someone in their families involved in the criminal justice system.
Children in families from which someone had been arrested were at great risk for witnessing or being a victim of violent crime and domestic violence compared to children in families where no one had been arrested or charged with a crime. These Head Start children were more than 3 times more likely to have been a witness to violent crime and almost 3.5 times more likely to have witnessed domestic violence in the past year. Their risk of victimization also increased greatly. These children were 3 times more likely to have been both a victim of domestic violence and a victim of violent crime in the past year than children whose families did not report involvement with the criminal justice system. While there is a strong literature to suggest that children of incarcerated parents are at increased risk for negative outcomes (Lange, 2000), these findings suggest that risk greatly increases when there is any family involvement with the criminal justice system.
Cumulative Social and Economic
Risk
Previous work has noted that social and economic risk factors may
be associated with negative child outcomes, particularly when multiple
risks are present (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1999; ACYF, 2002). To
explore this further, we adapted a standard list of family risk factors
(Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1999) to investigate relationships with
child outcomes. These risk factors include:
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The child lived with a single parent;
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The mother was a high school dropout;
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The family income was below the poverty line;
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The child was living with a parent(s) who did not have steady, full-time employment;
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The family was receiving welfare benefits; and
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The child did not have private health insurance.
While a number of these risks are already included in broader analytic models looking at the child outcomes (see earlier chapters), the cumulative effects of these risks may be associated with reduced school readiness. Across all six risks, at least one risk was evident in 89 percent of the Head Start families. For all families, the most prevalent risks were having a mother without a high school education (38.2 percent), being in a single-parent household (48.2 percent), and children not having private health insurance (64.6 percent).23 None of the other risks were reported for more than 30 percent of the families.
Of greater concern is that increases in the number of risk factors, particularly counts of four or more risks, increased the likelihood of negative child outcomes. About one fifth of the families (20.3 percent) were found to have four or more risk factors, with almost 10 percent having five or six risks. Less than one fifth of the families of White children (18.6 percent) and Hispanic children (18.6 percent) had 4 or more of the risk factors, while one quarter of the families of African American children (24.9 percent) were found to have this high level of risk.
Parents reporting four or more risk factors also had higher depression scores, a lower locus of control, and, interestingly, scored higher on both the authoritarian and authoritative parenting style scales. These same parents also reported more problem behavior for their children, including aggressive and withdrawn behavior, and gave lower ratings on emergent literacy. In addition, the Head Start teachers also rated the children from families with four or more risks as having more withdrawn and hyperactive behavior.
In terms of the child cognitive assessments, the cumulative risk of four or more risk factors was clearly associated with lower child outcomes. This high level of risk meant significantly poorer performance on social awareness, design copying, color naming, one-to-one counting, book knowledge, comprehension, print concepts, vocabulary, letter identification, early math, and early writing.
B. Family Involvement and Its Relationship to School Readiness
Family Activities
While the findings presented above suggest that a number of family
characteristics are likely to have negative associations with children’s
school readiness, the frequency of families’ interactions with
their children reflects family strengths that could improve school
readiness. For example, do families that are more active with their
children have children with better behavior and better cognitive skills?
Parents were asked how often family members engaged in selected activities over the previous week as well as the previous month with their Head Start children.The weekly activities included telling the child a story; teaching letters, words, or numbers; teaching songs or music; doing arts and crafts; playing toys or games; doing errands; or doing household chores. Parents were also asked about how often they read to their children over the past week, and findings related to this variable are addressed in Chapter V. The monthly activities included visiting the library, shows, museums, and zoos; attending community or sporting events; and discussing family history. Total activity scores are based on the sum of the weekly and monthly activity scores.
The total activity score for combined weekly and monthly activities indicated that families engaged in a mean of 7.6 activities with the children, out of a possible 14 activities (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996). Weekly activities made up most of that total, with a reported mean of 5.7 activities of a possible seven, while a mean of 1.9 monthly activities was reported, also out of a possible seven.
Ethnic differences were noted in the number of activities families engaged in with their children. For the activities in the previous week, African American children had higher family activity than both White or Hispanic children, and White children had higher activity scores than Hispanic children. For the activities covered for the previous month, there was a similar effect for ethnicity, as African American children were engaged in more activity than White or Hispanic children.
There were several positive relationships between activities with children and child behavioral and cognitive outcomes. Partial correlations were run controlling for parent income, education, and employment; child gender, age, and ethnicity; and how often the child was read to in the previous week. The frequency of weekly, monthly, and combined family activities was positively correlated with parent reports on positive child behaviors and emergent literacy skills. All three types of activity scores were negatively correlated with parent reports of aggressive behavior, while weekly and total behavior scores were negatively associated with overall problem behavior and the hyperactive behavior subscale. Among parents, being engaged in activities with their children was correlated positively with both locus of control and authoritative parenting. Teacher ratings of hyperactive and overall problem behavior were negatively correlated with monthly activities.
With regard to child cognitive scores, partial correlations identified a number of positive relationships, with weekly activities having the strongest association with cognitive skills. For example, engaging in more activities with the children during the previous week was positively correlated with higher scores for the children on the color naming and vocabulary assessments. Participating in the monthly activities also had small positive correlations with the social awareness, color naming, one-to-one counting, book knowledge, and print concepts assessments.
Parenting Style
FACES 2000 provided the opportunity to look at the correlations of
parenting style with selected child cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
The parents were scored on two different parenting styles: authoritarian
and authoritative. The first of these styles is generally considered
a stricter, directive style, while the authoritative style reflects
a less harsh style with greater use of rationales. The differences
in these styles were apparent in their relationships with the parent
and child outcomes. As expected, the authoritative and authoritarian
scales were negatively correlated with each other.
Partial correlations, controlling for parent income, education, and employment; child gender, age, and ethnicity; and how often the child was read to in the previous week, were used to assess the relationship between parenting style and child behavioral and cognitive outcomes. Parents who scored higher on the authoritative subscale also had higher internal locus of control (i.e., felt more in control of their lives rather than at the mercy of external factors) and gave their children higher ratings of positive social behavior and emergent literacy. In contrast, the authoritarian subscale scores were positively correlated with the overall ratings of children’s problem behavior, as well as the subscales of aggression, hyperactivity, and withdrawn behavior, but negatively correlated with parents’ locus of control.
There were generally weak relationships between parenting style and the cognitive outcomes. The authoritative parenting style scores were positively correlated with children’s social awareness and the authoritarian parenting style was negatively correlated with color naming, but neither parenting style was correlated with any of the other cognitive measures. Hyperactive behavior as rated by teachers was positively correlated with an authoritarian parenting style.
Family Support From Head Start
In the spring of 2001, parents were asked about the ways that they
were involved in the Head Start program throughout the past school
year. Parents most frequently reported attending parent-teacher conferences
(79.0 percent), observing in their children’s classrooms for
at least 30 minutes (74.9 percent), and meeting with a Head Start
staff member in their homes (69.4 percent). More than one half of
the parents volunteered in their children’s classrooms (60.0
percent) or prepared food or materials for special events (58.1 percent)
and slightly less than one half helped with field trips (42.5 percent),
or attended bazaars (42.3 percent) and workshops (42.5 percent). Less
than one fourth of the parents participated in a Policy Council (22.5
percent).
A summary score measuring total involvement was created for each parent who responded to the questionnaire. A series of partial correlations, controlling for parent income, education, and employment; child gender, age, and ethnicity; were conducted to examine the relationship between involvement at Head Start and other family and child factors. Higher levels of involvement at Head Start were significantly related to positive outcomes for the children. Parents who were more involved at Head Start were likely to report more positive social behavior for their children and less aggressive and overall problem behavior, as well as higher emergent literacy skills than parents who were less involved at Head Start. There was also a relationship between involvement and teachers’ reports of the children’s skills and with the children’s scores on cognitive assessments. For example, teachers rated the children of more involved parents as more creative and more socially aware. On the cognitive measures, children whose parents were more involved at Head Start scored higher on vocabulary, book knowledge, early writing, early math, and letter-identification tasks.
Consistent with previous findings (ACYF, 2002), most parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the Head Start program. For example, while more than one half were very satisfied with Head Start in every area, more than 82 percent of the parents reported they were very satisfied with how the program helped their children grow and develop, respected the family’s culture, identified child services, maintained a safe program, and prepared the children for kindergarten. There were very few unsatisfied parents, with reports of dissatisfaction generally under 2.5 percent. The area with the greatest degree of reported dissatisfaction was how Head Start helped parents become involved in their community, but even this concern was cited by less than 7 percent of the parents.
Parents also reported that they and their children had positive experiences at Head Start. Almost 85 percent of the parents reported that their children ‘often’ or ‘always’ received individual attention, while more than 90 percent reported their children ‘often’ or ‘always’ felt safe and secure at Head Start, were happy in the program, were treated with respect, and felt accepted by their teachers. With regard to the teachers, more than 90 percent of the parents reported that their children’s teachers ‘often’ or ‘always’ were open to new learning, were warm towards the children, were interested in the children, were supportive to parents, were welcoming, did not use harsh discipline, and were happy.
C. Head Start’s Protective Role for Families and Children
Earlier findings from the FACES 1997 cohort of families suggest that Head Start may play an important role in protecting families and children from the challenges that many families face. To validate this finding in the FACES 2000 cohort, a series of linear regression models, controlling for parent income, education, and employment; child gender, age, and ethnicity; and parent level of activity with their children, tested whether the effect of maternal depression, exposure to violence, domestic violence, alcohol use, or involvement in the criminal justice system on child behavior and child cognitive outcomes varied as a function of (or was moderated by) Head Start satisfaction, experience, or involvement. Summary scores were created for parents’ involvement at Head Start, for parents’ reports of having a positive experience at Head Start, and parents’ reports of satisfaction with the program. Means and standard deviations for these three variables are found in the Appendix.
Table 6.1 presents the interaction terms found to be significant moderators of risk factors in the regression equations. These findings support the earlier results and suggest that Head Start may play an important role in protecting families from the negative outcomes associated with these challenges. For example, there is a direct positive relationship between domestic violence and parent and teacher reports of children’s problem behavior. This relationship remains consistent for children of parents who had fewer positive experiences with the program; however, when parents had positive experiences at Head Start, the effects of domestic violence on parent and teacher reports of increased aggressive, hyperactive, withdrawn, and overall problem behavior for children were no longer evident. These findings indicate that the negative effects of being exposed to domestic violence on children were buffered by parents’ positive experiences at Head Start.
The moderating effects of Head Start on negative outcomes for children are consistent across all risk factors presented in Table 6.1, and include moderation of the relationship between risk factors and lower cognitive outcomes, as well as negative child behavior. For example, parents’ depression, exposure to violence, or involvement in the criminal justice system were related, in some cases, to poorer cognitive outcomes for children, such as early math, book knowledge, color naming, one-to-one counting, and vocabulary. Having a parent who reported positive Head Start experiences or who was more involved with the program moderated this relationship and appeared to protect the children from these negative outcomes. All significant modifying relationships are presented below.
The difficult challenges or risks that parents face—depression, exposure to violence, domestic violence, alcohol use, and involvement with the criminal justice system—are often associated with negative behavioral and cognitive outcomes for their children. The findings cited above provide some evidence that Head Start may play an important role in protecting children and their families from the consequences of these risk factors. Parent involvement at Head Start, parent reports that they and their children had positive experiences at Head Start, and parent satisfaction with the program, significantly moderated relationships between these risk factors and many negative child behavior and cognitive outcomes. These findings provide support for the theory that children’s school readiness is enhanced when programs work with families as well as with children.
SUMMARY
This chapter examined family and parent characteristics that are related to school readiness in early childhood, and parents’ important role in preparing children for school. The challenges families face and the strengths they possess are important considerations in understanding how best to prepare children for school. The main findings are summarized below.
| Head Start Satisfaction, Experience, and Involvement as Moderators of the Negative Outcomes for Children and Families Related to Maternal Depression | ||
|---|---|---|
| Interaction Term (Independent Variable x Moderator) |
Outcome Variable | Sig |
| Depression x Head Start Satisfaction | Withdrawn Behavior (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Depression x Head Start Involvement | Book Knowledge | p < .05 |
| Depression x Head Start Experience | Early Math | p < .01 |
| Depression x Head Start Experience | Creativity (teacher report) | p < .05 |
| Head Start Satisfaction, Experience, and Involvement as Moderators of the Negative Outcomes for Children and Families Related to Exposure to Violence | ||
| Interaction Term (Independent Variable x Moderator) |
Outcome Variable | Sig |
| Violence x Head Start Involvement | Hyperactive Behavior (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Violence x Head Start Involvement | Emergent Literacy (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Violence x Head Start Involvement | Social Awareness | p < .01 |
| Violence x Head Start Involvement | Color Naming | p < .01 |
| Violence x Head Start Experience | One-to-One Counting | p < .05 |
| Head Start Satisfaction, Experience, and Involvement as Moderators of the Negative Outcomes for Children and Families Related to Domestic Violence | ||
| Interaction Term (Independent Variable x Moderator) |
Outcome Variable | Sig |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Social Skills (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Total Problem Behavior (parent report) | p < .001 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Aggressive Behavior (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Withdrawn Behavior (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Satisfaction | Hyperactive Behavior (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Total Problem Behavior (teacher report) | p < .05 |
| Domestic Viol x Head Start Experience | Social Score (teacher report) | p < .05 |
| Head Start Satisfaction, Experience, and Involvement as Moderators of the Negative Outcomes for Children and Families Related to Alcohol Use by Family Member | ||
| Interaction Term (Independent Variable x Moderator) |
Outcome Variable | Sig |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Experience | Social Skills (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Satisfaction | Total Problem Behavior (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Experience | Withdrawn Behavior (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Satisfaction | Hyperactive Behavior (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Experience | Total Problem Behavior (teacher report) | p < .01 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Experience | Aggressive Behavior (teacher report) | p < .01 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Involvement | Emergent Literacy (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Alcohol Use x Head Start Experience | Social Score (teacher report) | p < .05 |
| Head Start Satisfaction, Experience, and Involvement as Moderators of the Negative Outcomes for Children and Families Related to Involvement with the Criminal Justice System | ||
| Interaction Term (Independent Variable x Moderator) |
Outcome Variable | Sig |
| Crime x Head Start Experience | Social Skills (parent report) | p < .05 |
| Crime x Head Start Experience | Withdrawn Behavior (parent report) | p < .01 |
| Crime x Head Start Involvement | Vocabulary | p < .05 |
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One quarter of the parents were classified as moderately or severely depressed. Parents who were more depressed reported that their children had more problem behaviors and fewer positive social behaviors, a finding supported by the teachers’ reports of children’s behavior. Their children also had lower scores on one-to-one counting, creativity, design copying, early writing, letter identification, and early math assessments.
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More than one fifth of the parents reported they had witnessed violent crime. Five percent reported being victims of violent crime in the neighborhood, while a similar percentage reported being victims of violence in their homes. Almost 10 percent of the children were reported to have witnessed domestic violence during the previous year. Less than two percent of the children were reported to have been victims of violent crime or victims of domestic violence. Positive correlations were found between increased exposure to neighborhood violence and reports of child problem behavior, while children in more violent neighborhoods had lower assessment scores on the color naming and book knowledge assessments.
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Almost 13 percent of the parents indicated that they have been victims of domestic violence. Teachers and parents reported children in these families had more overall problem behaviors. However, no direct relationship was found between parent reports of domestic violence and child cognitive outcomes.
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Almost one half of the Head Start children lived in households with at least one individual who smoked cigarettes, and about two fifths of the households reported having at least one individual who drank alcohol. Living in a household with someone who drinks increased the risk of maternal depression, while the children in these homes were reported to have more overall problem behavior and scored lower on vocabulary, color naming, and social awareness assessments.
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Almost one fifth of the parents reported that someone in their household had been arrested and charged with a crime. Children in these families were more than three times more likely to have been a witness to violent crime or domestic violence in the past year. These children were also three times more likely to have been a victim of domestic violence or violent crime. These children had lower vocabulary scores, and were reported by both parents and teachers to be more aggressive and have more overall problem behaviors.
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At least one of a set of selected risk factors was evident in over 90 percent of the families. Almost one quarter of the families had four or more risk factors. Children in these families had lower parent ratings on emergent literacy and higher teacher and parent ratings of problem behavior. In the assessments, these children scored lower on design copying, color naming, one-to-one counting, book knowledge, vocabulary, early math, early writing, and letter identification.
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Families engaged their children in a number of weekly and monthly activities. The number of activities was positively correlated with positive child behaviors and emergent literacy and negatively correlated with problem behaviors. In particular, the weekly activities had positive correlations with scores on the social awareness, color naming, one-toone counting, book knowledge, vocabulary, early math, early writing, and letter identification tasks.
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Higher authoritative parenting style scores were significantly positively correlated with children’s social awareness, but not with any of the other cognitive measures. On the other hand, higher authoritarian scores were significantly negatively correlated with comprehension, color naming, vocabulary, and early math assessments.
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More than two thirds of parents had attended parent-teacher conferences, observed in their children’s classrooms for at least 30 minutes, or met with a Head Start staff member in their homes. Parent involvement in Head Start was positively correlated with parental reports of positive social behavior and higher emergent literacy skills and negatively correlated with aggressive and overall problem behavior. Children with more involved parents scored higher on vocabulary, book knowledge, early writing, early math, and letter identification tasks.
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Head Start may play an important role in protecting families and children from the challenges that low-income families face. Parent involvement at Head Start, parent reports that they and their children had positive experiences at Head Start, or parent satisfaction with the program, significantly moderated relationships between risk factors such as maternal depression, exposure to violence and domestic violence, substance use, and involvement with the criminal justice system, and many negative child behavior and lower cognitive outcomes.
REFERENCES
Annie E. Casey Foundation. (1999). 1999 Kids count data book: State profiles of child well-being. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Administration on Children, Youth and Families (2002). A Descriptive Study of Head Start Families: FACES Technical Report I. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Feldhaus, K. M., Koziol-McLain, J., & Amsbury, H. L. (1997). Accuracy of 3 brief screening questions for detecting partner violence in the emergency department. Journal of the American Medical Association, 227(17), 1357.
Hall, L., Williams, C., & Greenberg, R. (1985). Supports, stressors, and depressive symptoms in low-income mothers of young children. American Journal of Public Health, 75, 518-522.
Lange, S. M. (2000). The challenges confronting children of incarcerated parents. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 11(4), 61-68.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309-337.
Liaw, F., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1994). Cumulative familial risks and low birth weight children’s cognitive and behavioral development. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23, 360-372.
National Center for Education Statistics. (1996). National Household Education Survey Parent and Family Involvement Questionnaire. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
| Maternal Depression | ||
|---|---|---|
| Risk Factors | Adjusted Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval |
| Exposure to Violence | 1.69 | (1.38 - 2.06) |
| Domestic Violence | 2.99 | (2.33 - 3.84) |
| Alcohol Use | 1.36 | (1.12 - 1.65) |
| Criminal Justice System Involvement | 1.97 | (1.57 - 2.47) |
| Single Parent | 1.45 | (1.17 - 1.79) |
| Exposure to Violence | ||
| Risk Factors | Adjusted Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval |
| Domestic Violence | 2.68 | (2.09 - 3.44) |
| Criminal Justice System Involvement | 1.73 | (1.38 - 2.16) |
| Alcohol Use | 1.46 | (1.21 - 1.75) |
| Single Parent | 1.43 | (1.18 - 1.74) |
| Domestic Violence | ||
| Risk Factors | Adjusted Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval |
| Criminal Justice System Involvement | 3.47 | (2.68 - 4.50) |
| Single Parent | 2.61 | (1.97 - 3.46) |
| Alcohol Use | 1.50 | (1.18 - 1.91) |
| Alcohol Use | ||
| Risk Factors | Adjusted Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval |
| Criminal Justice System Involvement | 1.48 | (1.19 - 1.83) |
| Exposure to Violence | 1.45 | (1.21 - 1.74) |
| Domestic Violence | 1.48 | (1.17 - 1.89) |
| Criminal Justice System Involvement | ||
| Risk Factors | Adjusted Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval |
| Maternal Depression | 1.97 | (1.57 - 2.47) |
| Single Parent | 2.64 | (2.06 - 3.39) |
| Domestic Violence | 3.47 | (2.68 - 4.50) |
| Child Witness to Violence | 3.23 | (2.04 - 5.12) |
| Child Witness to Domestic Violence | 3.60 | (2.63 - 2.90) |
| Child Victim of Violence | 3.06 | (1.35 - 6.97) |
| Child Victim of Domestic Violence | 3.14 | (1.57 - 6.30) |
22Findings cited from the FACES Technical Report I include quantitative data from the main study, as well as qualitative data from the case study.(back)
23The Fall 2000 FACES parent interview identified children without private health insurance, but was not clear on whether children received Medicaid or SCHIP.(back)
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