Georgia Public School Board Members Beliefs Concerning the Inclusion of Creationism in the Science Curriculum

Data analysis indicated that School Board Members’ beliefs regarding school board members in YEC had a positive correlation and beliefs in OEC had a negative correlation with the permitted inclusion of creationism in the district science curriculum. However, no correlation was found between school board member beliefs in YEC/OEC and the required inclusion of creationism. The results of this study provide insight into connections between beliefs of board members and the science/creationism issue which may translate into enlightened voting decisions

Introducing a novel online observation of parenting behavior: reliability and validation

Objective. Observations of parents with their children are important for better understanding the critical role that parents play in their children’s adjustment, but resource limitations commonly compromise assessment. A novel online observation tool, Etch-a-Sketch Online (ESO), is introduced that allows resource-efficient observations in the family home. Design. Study 1 was a preliminary, cross-sectional study of 20 mothers with their singleton children (M = 5.96 years). Mothers were observed using both ESO (recorded via Skype) and a traditional Etch-a Sketch task recorded during a home-visit; mothers’ positive and negative parenting was coded from these observations. Study 2 was a longitudinal study of 119 mothers and their young twins. Mothers’ ESO-observed positive parenting and negative parenting at Time 1 (M = 5.51 years) were examined as predictors of children’s disruptive behavior at Time 2 (M = 6.04 years) controlling for mothers’ Time 2 self-reported positive and negative parenting. Results. Study 1 provided preliminary evidence of inter-rater reliability and convergent validity of ESO-observations. Study 2 supported this evidence of inter-rater reliability and ESO’s convergent validity as well as providing predictive validity. ESO-observed parenting at Time 1 was associated with children’s disruptive behavior at Time 2, over and above concurrent maternal reports of their own parenting. Conclusions. ESO shows promise in providing the means for detailed assessment of parenting processes in the home

Evaluation of a longitudinal family stress model in a population‐based cohort

The family stress model (FSM) is an influential family process model that posits that socioeconomic disadvantage impacts child outcomes via its effects on the parents. Existing evaluations of the FSM are constrained by limited measures of socioeconomic disadvantage, cross‐sectional research designs, and reliance on non‐population‐based samples. The current study tested the FSM in a subsample of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,918), a large population‐based study of children followed from birth through the age of nine. We employed a longitudinal framework and used measures of socioeconomic disadvantage beyond economic resources. Although the hypothesized FSM pathways were identified in the longitudinal model (e.g., economic pressure at the age of one was associated with maternal distress at the age of three, maternal distress at the age of three was associated with parenting behaviors at the age of five), the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage at childbirth on youth socioemotional outcomes at the age of nine did not operate through all of the hypothesized mediators. In longitudinal change models that accounted for the stability in constructs, multiple indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage at childbirth were indirectly associated with youth externalizing behaviors at the age of nine via either economic pressure at the age of one or changes in maternal warmth from ages 3 to 5. Greater economic pressure at the age of one, increases in maternal distress from ages 1 to 3, and decreases/increases in maternal warmth/harshness from ages 3 to 5 were also directly associated with increases in externalizing behaviors from ages 5 to 9. Results provide partial support for the FSM across the first decade of life.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163397/2/sode12446.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163397/1/sode12446_am.pd

Inhibitory Control Across the Preschool Years: Developmental Changes and Associations with Parenting

The normative developmental course of inhibitory control between 2.5 and 6.5 years, and associations with maternal and paternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were tested. The sample consisted of 383 children (52.5% boys). During four annual waves, mothers and fathers reported on their children’s inhibitory control using the Children\u27s Behavior Questionnaire. During the first wave, mothers’ and fathers’ sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed and coded with the Emotional Availability Scales. Inhibitory control exhibited partial scalar invariance over time, and increased in a decelerating rate. For both mothers and fathers, higher levels of sensitivity were associated with a higher initial level of children\u27s inhibitory control, whereas higher levels of intrusiveness predicted a slower increase in children\u27s inhibitory control

Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; surprisingly, there were no significant gender differences in relational aggression. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). The countries differed significantly in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Despite mean level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross-country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression, as well as links between gender and aggression

Parenting, culture, and the development of externalizing behaviors from age 7 to 14 in nine countries

Using multilevel models, we examined mother-, father-, and child-reported (N = 1,336 families) externalizing behavior problem trajectories from age 7 to 14 in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). The intercept and slope of children\u27s externalizing behavior trajectories varied both across individuals within culture and across cultures, and the variance was larger at the individual level than at the culture level. Mothers’ and children\u27s endorsement of aggression as well as mothers’ authoritarian attitudes predicted higher age 8 intercepts of child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, prediction from individual-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes to more child externalizing behaviors was augmented by prediction from cultural-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes, respectively. Cultures in which father-reported endorsement of aggression was higher and both mother- and father-reported authoritarian attitudes were higher also reported more child externalizing behavior problems at age 8. Among fathers, greater attributions regarding uncontrollable success in caregiving situations were associated with steeper declines in externalizing over time. Understanding cultural-level as well as individual-level correlates of children\u27s externalizing behavior offers potential insights into prevention and intervention efforts that can be more effectively targeted at individual children and parents as well as targeted at changing cultural norms that increase the risk of children\u27s and adolescents’ externalizing behavior

Mothers\u27, fathers\u27 and children\u27s perceptions of parents\u27 expectations about children\u27s family obligations in nine countries

Children\u27s family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children\u27s family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children\u27s family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries

Gene-Environment Interaction in the Etiology of Mathematical Ability Using SNP Sets

Mathematics ability and disability is as heritable as other cognitive abilities and disabilities, however its genetic etiology has received relatively little attention. In our recent genome-wide association study of mathematical ability in 10-year-old children, 10 SNP associations were nominated from scans of pooled DNA and validated in an individually genotyped sample. In this paper, we use a ‘SNP set’ composite of these 10 SNPs to investigate gene-environment (GE) interaction, examining whether the association between the 10-SNP set and mathematical ability differs as a function of ten environmental measures in the home and school in a sample of 1888 children with complete data. We found two significant GE interactions for environmental measures in the home and the school both in the direction of the diathesis-stress type of GE interaction: The 10-SNP set was more strongly associated with mathematical ability in chaotic homes and when parents are negative

Single Parenting and Child Behavior Problems in Kindergarten

Two waves of data from a sample of 89 poor and near-poor single black mothers and their preschool children were used to study the influences of parenting stress, physical discipline practices, and nonresident fathers’ relations with their children on behavior problems in kindergarten. The results indicate that higher levels of parent stress, more frequent spanking, and less frequent father–child contact at time 1 were associated with increased teacher-reported behavior problems at time 2. In addition, more frequent contact between nonresident biological fathers and their children moderated the negative effect of harsh discipline by mothers on subsequent child behavior problems. Specifically, when contact with the father was low, maternal spanking resulted in elevated levels of behavior problems; with average contact, this negative effect of spanking was muted; and with high contact, spanking was not associated with increased behavior problems in kindergarten. The implications of these findings for future research and policy are discussed

Parenting and child adjustment: a comparison of Turkish and English families

The links between parenting and child behaviour in cultural context have received increasing research attention. We investigated the effect of parenting on child adjustment using a multi-method design, comparing English and Turkish families. The socioeconomically diverse samples included 118 English and 100 Turkish families, each with two children aged 4–8 years. Mothers completed questionnaires as well as parent–child interaction being assessed using a structured Etch-a-Sketch task with each child separately. Children were interviewed about their relationships with their mothers using the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Multiple-group Confirmatory Analysis was used to test Measurement Invariance across groups, and a multi-informant approach was used to assess parenting. We found partial cross-cultural measurement invariance for parenting and child adjustment. Strikingly, the association between parenting and child adjustment was stronger among English families than Turkish families. Culturally distinct meanings of both parenting and child behaviour must be considered when interpreting their association