Parental beliefs and values related to family risk, educational intervention, and child academic competence

https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2006(91)90005-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Traditional, authoritarian and progressive, democratic beliefs about child rearing and education, and self-directing and conforming values for children were contrasted in parents of 126 children entering kindergarten. Eighty-three parents were socioeconomically disadvantaged; their children were at risk for mild mental retardation and school failure and had taken part in an experimental study of early childhood educational intervention. Forty-three subjects were parents of randomly selected kindergarten peers from the local population. Mothers of at-risk children with preschool intervention scored lower on traditional beliefs; such beliefs by parents were negatively correlated with child achievement in reading. Parents of children at risk differed from local population parents in both beliefs and values.

References (35)

  • J.L. Adams et al.

    Structural aspects of maternal speech to infants reared in poverty

    Child Development

    (1980)
  • D. Baumrind

    Current patterns of parental authority

    Developmental Psychology Monograph

    (1971)
  • W.C. Becker et al.

    The Parent Attitude Research Instrument: A research review

    Child Development

    (1965)
  • B. Bernstein

    Social class and linguistic development

  • Growing points of attachment theory and research

    Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

    (1985)
  • W.A. Bricker et al.

    Exploration of parental teaching style: Technical note

    Perceptual and Motor Skills

    (1982)
  • F.A. Campbell et al.

    Disadvantaged teenage mothers and their children: Consequences of educational daycare

    Family Relations

    (1986)
  • W. Emmerich

    The parental role: A functional-cognitive approach

    Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

    (1969)
  • D.C. Farran et al.

    A longitudinal study of the effects of day care on mother-child interaction in poor families

  • J.J. Goodnow

    Parents' ideas, actions, and feelings: Models and methods from developmental and social psychology

    Child Development

    (1988)
  • E. Hock et al.

    Continuity of child-rearing attitudes in mothers of young children

    The Journal of Genetic Psychology

    (1981)
  • A. Inkeles et al.

    Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing countries

    (1974)
  • J.S. Kanigsberg et al.

    Parental attitudes and children's self-concept and behavior following parents' participation in parent training groups

    Journal of Community Psychology

    (1988)
  • M.L. Kohn

    Class and conformity: A study in values

    (1977)
  • L.M. Laosa

    Families as facilitators of children's intellectual development at three years of age: A causal analysis

  • T. Luster

    The antecedents and correlates of parental perceptions of efficacy

  • K. Marjoribanks

    Ethnic families and children's achievements

    (1980)
  • Cited by (21)

    • Predictors of quality and child outcomes in family child care settings

      2013, Early Childhood Research Quarterly
      Citation Excerpt :

      However, there is literature positively associating family child care providers’ child-centered motivation and quality practices (Doherty et al., 2006; Kontos et al., 1995). Additionally, though no research has examined the association between providers’ progressive beliefs and children's outcomes, parents’ child-centered, progressive beliefs about childrearing have been positively associated with children's academic skills (Burchinal, Peisner-Feinberg, Pianta, & Howes, 2002; Campbell, Goldstein, Schaefer, & Ramey, 1991; Murphey, 1992). Measures of quality practices, assessing both global quality and provider sensitivity and responsiveness, have been significantly associated with children's attachment and cognitive development (Galinsky, Howes, & Kontos, 1995).

    • The role of parenting styles and teacher interactional styles in children's reading and spelling development

      2012, Journal of School Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      It is important that educators make an effort to inform parents about their crucial role as a source of support in their children's skills development. For example, negative consequences of nonauthoritative parenting might be prevented by providing parents of at-risk children with guidance about alternative child-rearing practices and their positive impacts (Campbell et al., 1991; Hadeed, 2011; Melhuish, Sylva, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, & Taggart, 2006). In turn, given the associations with parental well-being and authoritative parenting (Aunola et al., 1999), authoritative parenting might be promoted by targeting interventions on parents' well-being (Fujiwara, Kato, & Sanders, 2011, see also Aunola et al., 1999).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text