Exploring marriage-parenting typologies and their contextual antecedents and developmental sequelae

To identify types of families, latent-class analysis was applied to (reported) marriage and (observed) parenting measures obtained during the infancy, toddler, and/or preschool years for 828 two-parent families participating in the NICHD Study of Child Care. Five types of families were identified: Consistently Supportive (i.e., good parenting, good marriage, 15% of sample), Consistently Moderate (i.e., moderate marriage, moderate parenting, 43%), Consistently Risky (i.e., poor parenting, poor marriage, 16%), Good Parenting/Poor Marriage (19%), and Poor Parenting/Good Marriage (7%). When groups were compared in terms of contextual antecedents (measured at child age I month) and child cognitive-academic and socioemotional functioning in first grade, results indicated (a) that contextual risks increased linearly and children's functioning decreased linearly as one moved across the first three aforementioned groups; and after controlling for group differences in background factors (b) that children in the Good-Parenting/Poor-Marriage families outperformed those in the Poor Parenting/Good Marriage; (c) that there was evidence of "added value" developmentally when children experienced two sources of support (i.e., good marriage and good parenting) rather than just one (i.e., good marriage or good parenting); but (d) that there was only modest evidence of protective buffering whereby children experiencing just good parenting (but not just good marriages) outperformed children experiencing poor parenting and poor marriages. Results are discussed in terms of the relative influence of marriage and parenting on child development and the potential benefits of applying typological approaches to the study of marriage-parenting family subsystems

Infant-mother attachment security, contextual risk, and early development: A moderational analysis

In light of evidence that the effects of attachment security on subsequent development may be contingent on the social context in which the child continues to develop, we examined the effect of attachment security at age 15 months, cumulative contextual risk from I to 36 months, and the interaction of attachment and cumulative risk to predict socioemotional and cognitive linguistic functioning at age 3 years, using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Results indicated that early attachment predicts both socioemotional development and language skills, but not cognitive functioning as indexed by a measure of school readiness, and that tire effect of attachment on socioemotional development and expressive language varied as a function of social-contextual risk. Insecure-avoidant infants proved most vulnerable to contextual risk, not children classified as secure or insecure more generally, although in one instance security did prove protective with respect to the adverse effects of cumulative contextual risk. Findings are discussed in terms of risk and resilience and in light of the probabilistic nature of the relation between early attachment and later development

The impact of Sure Start local programmes on seven year olds and their families

This research report presents the findings of a longitudinal study into the impact of Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) on 7-year-olds and their families. In assessing the impact of SSLPs on child and family functioning over time, the evaluation followed up over 5,000 7-year-olds and their families in 150 SSLP areas who were initially studied when the children were 9 months and 3- and 5-years-old

National evaluation of Sure Start local programmes: an economic perspective

The first 524 Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) were established between 1999 and 2003. They were aimed at families with children up to the age of 4 living in disadvantaged areas. The aim was to bring together early education, childcare, health services and family support to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and children. This report discusses the economic issues arising out of the evaluation of the impact of Sure Start local programmes in England. It takes the outcomes for children and families at the age of five years reported in the National Evaluation of Sure Start and where possible estimates economic values for those outcomes. Where a direct estimation of economic value is not possible at this stage, probable sources of future economic values are discussed. It should be read in conjunction with the impact report, which describes the details of the methodology of the study and the full range of outcomes for children and their families when the children were 5-years-old

The impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on five year olds and their families

The ultimate goal of Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) was to enhance the life chances for young children growing up in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Children in these communities are at risk of doing poorly at school, having trouble with peers and agents of authority (i.e., parents, teachers), and ultimately experiencing compromised life chances. In this report children and families who were seen at 9 months and 3 years of age in the NESS or MCS longitudinal studies are compared to determine whether differences in child and family functioning found at 3 years of age persist until 5 years of age, and whether any other differences emerge

The impact of Sure Start local programmes on three-year-olds and their families

This evaluation found that living in a Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) area was associated with positive impacts on 5 of the 14 outcomes investigated. The analysis of the most recent data shows beneficial effects for almost all children and families living in SSLP areas and provides almost no evidence of adverse effects on population sub-groups such as workless or lone-parent families. These results are in marked contrast to the findings of the initial study published in 2005. Although methodological variations may account for differences in findings across the two phases of the evaluation, the researchers argue that it is eminently possible that the differing results accurately reflect the contrasting experiences of SSLP children and families in the two phases. They argue that the three-year-olds in the latest study have benefited from exposure to more mature and developed local programmes throughout their young lives

The quality of group childcare settings used by 3-4 year old children in Sure Start local programme areas and the relationship with child outcomes (Research report DFE-RR068)

"Influenced by research indicating long-term benefits of early childhood programmes for disadvantaged children, the Government of the time set up Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) from 1998 to reduce child poverty and social exclusion. By 2004, 524 SSLPs targeted families with children 0-4 years of age in the 20% most deprived communities. In 2005 it was decided to develop SSLPs further by turning them into children’s centres and roll out the programme nationally, ensuring that comprehensive early education and family support services are available for every community. The National Evaluation of Sure Start has been undertaking research relevant to the development of SSLPs since 2001. This part of the study focuses on 150 SSLP areas from the first four rounds of SSLPs, which are all in deprived areas." - Page iii