Factors influencing parenting in early childhood: a prospective longitudinal study focusing on change
- PMID: 20015278
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01037.x
Factors influencing parenting in early childhood: a prospective longitudinal study focusing on change
Abstract
Background: Parenting influences child outcomes but does not occur in a vacuum. It is influenced by socio-economic resources, parental health, and child characteristics. Our aim was to investigate the relative importance of these influences by exploring the relationship between changing parental health and socio-economic circumstances and changes in parenting.
Methods: Data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were used to develop an eight-item parenting measure at 8 and 33 months. The measure covered warmth, support, rejection, and control and proved valid and reliable. Regression analysis examined changes in financial circumstance, housing tenure, marital status, social support, maternal health and depression, and their influence on parenting score. The final model controlled for maternal age, education, and baseline depression.
Results: Most mothers reported warm, supportive parenting at both times. Maternal depression was the only variable for which both positive and negative change was associated with changes in parenting score. Less depression was associated with better parenting scores and more depression with worse parenting scores. Improvements in social support and maternal general health were both associated with improved parenting scores, but for neither of these variables was deterioration associated with deterioration in parenting scores. Worsening financial circumstances predicted deterioration in parenting score, but improvements were not predictive of improvements in parenting.
Conclusions: Programmes aiming to improve parental health and social support are likely to return greater dividends with regard to improving parenting than programmes that aim to reduce family poverty.
Similar articles
-
Socioeconomic risk, parenting during the preschool years and child health age 6 years.Eur J Public Health. 2007 Oct;17(5):508-13. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckl261. Epub 2006 Dec 14. Eur J Public Health. 2007. PMID: 17170020
-
Parent-training programmes for improving maternal psychosocial health.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD002020. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002020.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Jun 13;(6):CD002020. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002020.pub3. PMID: 14973981 Updated. Review.
-
Onset and persistence of childhood asthma: predictors from infancy.Pediatrics. 2001 Oct;108(4):E69. doi: 10.1542/peds.108.4.e69. Pediatrics. 2001. PMID: 11581477
-
Parent-training programmes for improving maternal psychosocial health.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;(2):CD002020. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002020. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001. Update in: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD002020. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002020.pub2. PMID: 11406024 Updated. Review.
-
Adaptation during early childhood among mothers of children with disabilities.J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1999 Feb;20(1):9-16. doi: 10.1097/00004703-199902000-00002. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1999. PMID: 10071940
Cited by
-
Parenting attitude towards children with autism spectrum disorders: the Japan environment and children's study.BMJ Paediatr Open. 2024 Apr 4;8(1):e002360. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2023-002360. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2024. PMID: 38575170 Free PMC article.
-
Negative Parenting Mediates the Longitudinal Association between Parental Internalizing Symptoms and Child Oppositional Symptoms.Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2023 Jul 21. doi: 10.1007/s10578-023-01575-0. Online ahead of print. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2023. PMID: 37477825
-
Parental Autonomy Support and Mental Health among Chinese Adolescents and Emerging Adults: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 28;19(21):14029. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192114029. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022. PMID: 36360911 Free PMC article.
-
Residential parenting services: An integrative literature review of characteristics, service usage and parent and staff perspectives.Nurs Open. 2023 Mar;10(3):1180-1216. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1415. Epub 2022 Nov 1. Nurs Open. 2023. PMID: 36317700 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Parenting Behaviors as Mediators of the Association Between Parental Internalizing Symptoms and Child Externalizing Symptoms.Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2024 Aug;55(4):916-928. doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01462-0. Epub 2022 Oct 28. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2024. PMID: 36306027 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical