Impacts on Children of a Policy to Promote Employment and Reduce Poverty for Low-Income Parents: New Hope After 5 Years.

The impacts of New Hope, a program to increase parent employment and reduce poverty, were measured 5 years after parents were randomly assigned to program or control groups. New Hope had positive effects on children's school achievement, motivation, and social behavior, primarily for boys, across the age range 6-16. In comparison to impacts measured 2 years after program onset, effects on achievement were robust, but effects on social behavior were reduced. The program produced improvements in family income and use of organized child care and activity settings, suggesting possible pathways by which the New Hope package of policies influenced children's behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A latent class analysis of maternal depressive symptoms over 12 years and offspring adjustment in adolescence.

The authors used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to model patterns of maternal depressive symptoms, from the period of infants’ age 1 month to adolescence (age 12 years), and then examined adolescent adjustment at age 15 years as a function of the course and severity of maternal symptoms. The authors identified 5 latent classes of symptoms in 1,357 women, while also taking into account sociodemographic measures: never depressed, stable subclinical, early decreasing, moderately elevated, and chronic. Women with few symptoms were more likely to be married, better educated, and in better physical health than were women with more elevated symptoms. At age 15 years, adolescents whose mothers were in the chronic, elevated, and stable subclinical latent classes reported more internalizing and externalizing problems and acknowledged engaging in more risky behavior than did children of never depressed mothers. Latent class differences in self-reported loneliness and dysphoria were also found. Discussion focuses on adolescent adjustment, especially among offspring whose mothers reported stable symptoms of depression across their childhoods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socialization and development in a changing economy: The effects of paternal job and income loss on children.

Research on the impact of paternal job and income loss on the child is reviewed. Although some direct effects have been found, most effects are indirect and mediated through the changes that economic loss produces in the father's behavior and disposition. Fathers who respond to economic loss with increased irritability and pessimism are less nurturant and more punitive and arbitrary in their interactions with the child. These fathering behaviors increase the child's risk of socioemotional problems, deviant behavior, and reduced aspirations and expectations. The child also may model the somatic complaints of the father. The child's temperament, physical attractiveness, relationship with the mother, and degree of contact with the father are discussed as factors that condition the father's treatment of the child following economic loss. Economic hardship also may influence the child's development indirectly through the events that it potentiates (e.g., divorce) and discourages (e.g., marriage). High maternal support and experiences that encourage maturity and autonomy appear to be critical sources of psychological resilience in children who have experienced economic hardship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does endorsement of physical discipline matter? Assessing moderating influences on the maternal and child psychological correlates of physical discipline in African American families.

Using longitudinal data from a subsample of 890 African American families in the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examined whether maternal endorsement of physical discipline moderates the link between (a) maternal psychological distress and spanking frequency and (b) spanking frequency and child depressive symptoms. As predicted, physical discipline administered by nonendorsing mothers was more strongly linked to maternal psychological distress than physical discipline administered by endorsing mothers. Also in keeping with the authors' hypothesis, the relation between spanking frequency and child-reported depressive symptoms was stronger for children of nonendorsing mothers than for children of endorsing mothers. In particular, the positive relation between physical discipline and children's depressive symptoms was significant only for children of nonendorsing mothers. These findings suggest that within-group variation in African American mothers' attitudes about physical discipline partially regulates the conditions under which these mothers use physical discipline and the probability that physical discipline contributes to depressive symptoms in children. Conclusions and implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipatory and fantastic role enactment in preschool triads.

Examined the relationship between 4 types of role enactment (domestic, occupational, fantastic, and peripheral) and object ideation, social organization (solitary vs interactive behavior), and metacommunication. Each of 12 same-age, same-sex triads of 3?- and 5-yr-old children (6 boy triads and 6 girl triads) was observed during 2 30-min sessions, one in which objects with highly specific functions (e.g., trucks and dolls) were available and one in which objects with relatively ambiguous functions (e.g., pipecleaners and cardboard cylinders) were present. Because there was no fantasy role enactment in girls, only data for the boys were used to examine the relationships of primary interest. Results indicate that object ideation was less frequent, and interactive behavior and metacommunication more frequent, during role enactment than during domestic or occupational role enactment. Findings indicate that Ss rehearsed certain social and cognitive skills to varying degrees when they enacted different types of roles. Antecedents of different types of role enactment were also identified. Older boys enacted fantasy and occupational roles more frequently, and peripheral and domestic roles less frequently, than younger boys. Domestic and occupational role enactment was more frequent, and fantastic role enactment less frequent, in the presence of high-specificity toys than in the presence of low-specificity toys. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Economic pressure in African American families: A replication and extension of the family stress model.

This study of 422 two-caregiver African American families, each with a 10-11-year-old focal child (54% girls), evaluated the applicability of the family stress model of economic hardship for understanding economic influences on child development in this population. The findings generally replicated earlier research with European American families. The results showed that economic hardship positively relates to economic pressure in families. Economic pressure was related to the emotional distress of caregivers, which in turn was associated with problems in the caregiver relationship. These problems were related to disrupted parenting practices, which predicted lower positive child adjustment and higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results provide significant support for the family stress model of economic hardship and its generalizability to diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development.

Recent research consistently reports that persistent poverty has more detrimental effects on IQ, school achievement, and socioemotional functioning than transitory poverty, with children experiencing both types of poverty generally doing less well than never-poor children. Higher rates of perinatal complications, reduced access to resources that buffer the negative effects of perinatal complications, increased exposure to lead, and less home-based cognitive stimulation partly account for diminished cognitive functioning in poor children. These factors, along with lower teacher expectancies and poorer academic-readiness skills, also appear to contribute to lower levels of school achievement among poor children. The link between socioeconomic disadvantage and children's socioemotional functioning appears to be mediated partly by harsh, inconsistent parenting and elevated exposure to acute and chronic stressors. The implications of research findings for practice and policy are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)