Mediating effects of parent-child dysfunctional interactions in the relationship between parenting distress and social-emotional problems and competencies

This study investigated the association between parenting distress and four variables of young children's social-emotional problems and competencies: externalizing, internalizing, and dysregulation problems, and social-emotional competencies, and whether parent-child dysfunctional interactions mediated these associations. Participants were Chinese toddlers (N = 711) aged 24-36 months in family (44.3%) and center-based (55.7%) care. The results from structural equation modeling showed that parent-child dysfunctional interactions fully mediated the relationship between parenting distress and externalizing, and dysregulation problems, and social-emotional competencies, while partially mediated in the internalizing problems for both groups. Furthermore, multi-group SEM models showed the direct and indirect pathways differed between two groups. The research concludes that parent-child interaction plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between parenting distress and young children's social-emotional problems and competencies. For families' choice of childcare, this study suggests early center-based services provided for toddlers exposed to family risk characteristics such as parents' poor mental health, and more importantly, low levels of parent-child interactions.

Parents' perceptions of their children's mental health during COVID-19: Evidence from Canada

OBJECTIVE

This study examined several factors affecting the perception of Canadian parents about their children's mental health during COVID-19. The contribution of this research included fresh evidence from examining the demographic and sociological factors influencing children's well-being during COVID-19 using the Canadian context.

METHODS

We used a cross-sectional dataset from Statistics Canada titled Impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians - Parenting during the Pandemic (2020). We relied on an ordered logit model and computed the respective odds ratios.

RESULTS

Our results showed that parents with a university degree and those working from home are less concerned about their children's mental health. Nonetheless, having a disabled child, belonging to a minority, having children aged six-to fourteen-years old, and having lost a job or experienced a drop in working hours increased parents' worry. Additionally, having worries about being connected with family and friends, being concerned about work-life balance, feeling lonely at home, and waiting for the reopening of childcare services all increased the likelihood of parents' anxiety about their child's mental health. When running the analysis by province, we saw that being an immigrant and belonging to a minority increased parents' worry only in Ontario and British Columbia.

CONCLUSIONS

Policymakers are encouraged to foster working-from-home practices as working from home has been linked to less worry about child mental health, mainly among mothers, as indicated in our gender heterogeneity analysis. In addition, it is advised that families with a disabled child, and families belonging to a minority received additional support. Lastly, policymakers are advised to consider the social cost of preventive measures and incorporate this into any future preventative policymaking as the social impact variables were robust across all models.

Association between maternal employment and the child´s mental health: a systematic review with meta-analysis

The recent rise in maternal workforce participation has led to more research regarding the role of maternal employment for (early) childhood mental health. This systematic review with meta-analysis covers new evidence on the association of both variables. A systematic literature search was conducted. Studies had to compare children 0-7 years of age on the basis of their mothers' employment status, working amount, employment duration, i.e., how long the mother had been back at work after birth, or timing of return to work. Child mental health was operationalized as behavior problems and prosocial behavior. Narrative and meta-analytic syntheses of evidence were conducted. Maternal employment was associated with more conduct problems but less internalizing behavior problems and anxious/depressed behavior in children; full-time employment was linked to more externalizing behavior problems and more hyperactivity/inattention. Longer employment duration was related to less (internalizing) behavior problems and more prosocial behavior but also more externalizing behavior problems. Narrative syntheses indicated early maternal return to work to be associated with more child externalizing behavior problems and less prosocial behavior. Whether maternal employment is associated with child mental health strongly depends on both variables' operationalization. Especially part-time employment, longer employment duration, and return to work only after the first year postpartum may be beneficial for child mental health. Practical implications pertain to an expanded offer of family leave and the endorsement of maternal employment after the first year postpartum. Here, factors that may buffer the negative associations with full-time employment warrant consideration.

Teacher, Center, and Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Variations in Preschool Quality in Childcare Centers

BACKGROUND

Childcare programs serving preschool children are generally of poorer quality than publicly-funded preschools both in terms of their classroom processes and structural features. Research on childcare programs has typically collapsed them into a single group, yet these programs vary greatly in neighborhood disadvantage and organization as they are managed by for-profit chains, non-profit community organizations, faith-based organizations, or individual owners. Little is known about variations in childcare program quality and what factors are associated with quality.

OBJECTIVE

The current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) with classroom process, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage indicators to identify patterns of quality and neighborhood disadvantage within a diverse sample of childcare programs serving preschool children.

METHODS

Classroom processes (instructional support, emotional support, classroom management, positive discipline) and structural features (teacher age, experience, education, and satisfaction) data was collected from preschool teachers (N = 127) from 76 childcare programs. Neighborhood disadvantage (median income; rates of unemployment, single parents, and education) was measured using census tract data.

RESULTS

LPA indicated two profiles of childcare programs with high-quality classroom processes and two with poorer processes. Both of the high-quality profiles were in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and the two low-quality profiles were in more affluent neighborhoods. Subsequent analyses suggested quality covaried with management type with the lowest quality centers often run by for-profit chains.

CONCLUSIONS

Connections between classroom processes, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage are complex making it extremely challenging for parents to identify high-quality care for their children.

Longitudinal Predictors of Self-Regulation at School Entry: Findings from the All Our Families Cohort

Self-regulation is the ability to manage emotions, modulate behaviors, and focus attention. This critical skill begins to develop in infancy, improves substantially in early childhood and continues through adolescence, and has been linked to long-term health and well-being. The objectives of this study were to determine risk factors and moderators associated with the three elements of self-regulation (i.e., inattention, emotional control, or behavioral control) as well as overall self-regulation, among children at age 5. Participants were mother–child dyads from the All Our Families study (n = 1644). Self-regulation was assessed at age 5. Risk factors included income, maternal mental health, child sex, and screen time, and potential moderation by parenting and childcare. Adjusted odds ratios of children being at risk for poor self were estimated using multivariable logistic regression. Twenty-one percent of children had poor self-regulation skills. Risk factors for poor self-regulation included lower income, maternal mental health difficulties, and male sex. Childcare and poor parenting did not moderate these associations and hostile and ineffective parenting was independently associated with poor self-regulation. Excess screen time (>1 h per day) was associated with poor self-regulation. Self-regulation involves a complex and overlapping set of skills and risk factors that operate differently on different elements. Parenting and participation in childcare do not appear to moderate the associations between lower income, maternal mental health, male sex, and screen time with child self-regulation.

Caregivers' emotional competence and behavioral responsiveness as correlates of early childcare workers' relationships with children in their care

In the current study, we examined associations among early childcare workers' emotional competence, observed responsiveness, comfort with socioemotional teaching practices, and the quality of their relationships with children in their care. The participants were 100 early childcare workers (72 center-based Early Head Start teachers and 28 family childcare providers). Results showed that caregivers' emotion regulation ability was positively associated with caregiver-child relational closeness. Understanding and regulation of emotion were both positively associated with childcare workers' comfort with socioemotional teaching practices. Their observed responsiveness was positively related to relational closeness and negatively related to relational conflict. Findings are consistent with aspects of the prosocial classroom model, which asserts that educators high in emotional and social competence tend to adopt childcare practices that result in supportive relationships with children. Results provide insight into whether childcare workers' responsiveness to young children and their perceived socioemotional teaching practices provide a pathway between emotional competence and the quality of caregiver-child relationships.

Environmental characteristics of early childhood education and care, daily movement behaviours and adiposity in toddlers: A multilevel mediation analysis from the GET UP! Study

STUDY OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the direct effects of environmental characteristics of early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres on adiposity, and the indirect effects through daily movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary time and naps).

METHODS

274 children (average age 19.73 ± 4.15 months) from 27 ECEC centres participated in this study. Environmental characteristics of ECEC centres were rated using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-revised edition (ITERS-R). Daily movement behaviours were assessed using 24-h accelerometry. Body mass index z-scores were used to indicate adiposity.

RESULTS

There were no significant direct effects or indirect effects of environmental characteristics on toddlers' adiposity through daily movement behaviours. However, the environmental characteristics of "personal care routine" (B=0.72, p = 0.041) and "activity" (B = 0.87, p < 0.050) were positively associated with the percentage of time these toddlers spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). "Listening and talking" was also positively associated withnap(s) durations (B = 4.08 p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The relationships between environmental characteristics of ECEC centres and adiposity in toddlers, as well as, the mediating roles of daily movement behaviours still need confirmation by future longitudinal and experimental studies with long follow-up periods. At the same time, a broader spectrum of environmental characteristics of these settings needs to be examined with toddlers' adiposity in future studies; other potential mediators may also need to be taken into considerations.

Child-care quality moderates the association between maternal depression and children's behavioural outcome

BACKGROUND

Maternal depression is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in the child, including emotional and behavioural difficulties. There is evidence that child care attendance during the preschool years may moderate associations between familial risk factors and child outcome. However, the possibility that high-quality child care provides protection for children exposed to maternal depression or that low-quality child care provides additional risk has not been investigated. We study whether child-care quality moderates the association between probable history of maternal depression (PMD) and child behavioural and emotional outcomes over the preschool period.

METHODS

Within a longitudinal study, we examined PMD (no depression; clinical PMD before the child's birth; subclinical PMD from 0 to 5 years; clinical PMD from 0 to 5 years), child-care quality and child emotional and behavioural difficulties at the ages of 2, 3 and 4 years. Child-care quality was evaluated in settings, and trajectories were calculated to reflect (a) global quality and (b) two quality subfactors: 'Teaching and interactions' and 'Provision for learning'. Data were analysed for 264 families.

RESULTS

Significant interactions emerged between clinical PMD and global quality of child care for children's externalising behaviour (b = -.185, p = .008), more specifically hyperactivity/inattention (b = -.237, p = .002). In the context of clinical PMD, children attending high-quality child care presented fewer difficulties than those attending a low-quality care. Child-care quality was not associated with outcomes for children whose mothers did not report a PMD or a PMD before their birth.

CONCLUSIONS

In the context of PMD, high-quality child care was associated with fewer behavioural problems and may thus constitute a protective factor.

Examining young children's social competence using functional ability profiles

PURPOSE

To explore the use of International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) based profiles of children's functional abilities in relation to their social competence. Subgroups based on shared profiles of functional ability were investigated as an alternative or complement to subgroups defined by disability categories.

METHODS

Secondary analysis of a nationally representative data set of young children identified for special education services in the United States was used for the present study. Using five subgroups of children with shared profiles of functional ability, derived from latent class analysis in previous work, regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between social competence and functional abilities profile subgroup membership. Differences among the subgroups were examined using standardized effect sizes. R² values were used to examine explained variance in social competence in relation to subgroup membership, disability category, and these variables in combination.

RESULTS

Functional ability profile subgroup membership was moderately related to children's social competence outcomes: social skills and problem behaviors. Effect sizes showed significant differences between subgroups. Subgroup membership accounted for more variance in social competence outcomes than disability category.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide empirical support for the importance of functional ability profiles when examining social competence within a population of young children with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation The extent to which children with disabilities experience difficulty with social competence varies by their functional characteristics. Functional ability profiles can provide practitioners and researchers working young children with disabilities important tools to examine social competence and to inform interventions.

Epigenetic Patterns Modulate the Connection Between Developmental Dynamics of Parenting and Offspring Psychosocial Adjustment

This study attempted to establish and quantify the connections between parenting, offspring psychosocial adjustment, and the epigenome. The participants, 35 African American young adults (19 females and 16 males; age = 17-29.5 years), represented a subsample of a 3-wave longitudinal 15-year study on the developmental trajectories of low-income urban mother-offspring dyads. Mothers were assessed on their perceptions of maternal stress at each wave. Offspring were assessed on their perceptions of maternal parenting at each wave and on their adaptive and maladaptive behavior at the last wave. Genome-wide DNA methylation in peripheral T lymphocytes at the third wave was assayed using Methyl Binding Domain(MBD) sequencing. Statistically significant associations were identified between the change in offspring's perception of parenting from middle childhood to adulthood and the DNA methylation in offspring's adult genomes. Specifically, the slope of perceived parental rejection across the 3 time points was related to an increase in methylation, or a potential downregulation, of 565 genes thought to be involved in the control of a broad spectrum of biological functions generally related to cellular signaling. A subset of these epigenetic marks, clustered in 23 genes, some of which participate in the development and functioning of the CNS, were in turn associated with psychosocial adjustment as captured by interpersonal relationships and emotional self-evaluation. This appears to be one of the first investigations of the modulating role of the methylome in associations between developmental dynamics of parenting throughout the formative years of child and adolescent development and psychosocial adjustment in adulthood.

Little evidence that time in child care causes externalizing problems during early childhood in Norway

Associations between maternal reports of hours in child care and children's externalizing problems at 18 and 36 months of age were examined in a population-based Norwegian sample (n = 75,271). Within a sociopolitical context of homogenously high-quality child care, there was little evidence that high quantity of care causes externalizing problems. Using conventional approaches to handling selection bias and listwise deletion for substantial attrition in this sample, more hours in care predicted higher problem levels, yet with small effect sizes. The finding, however, was not robust to using multiple imputation for missing values. Moreover, when sibling and individual fixed-effects models for handling selection bias were used, no relation between hours and problems was evident.

Do type of childcare and age of entry predict behavior problems during early childhood? Results from a large Norwegian longitudinal study

Associations between type and age of entry into Norwegian universally-accessible childcare and children’s behavior problems at age 3 years were examined in this study. Data from 73,068 children in the large population-based, prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) were used, and included information about childcare arrangements, behavior problems, and a variety of covariates. The results provided little support for childcare being related to children’s behavior problems at age 3 years when controlling for covariates. In fact, previous research has indicated that children may benefit from Norway’s childcare in other areas, such as language development. Results are discussed in relation to differences in countries' early childhood policies as a possible factor explaining discrepancies across studies.