Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion
| Key
Data: This study of low-income adolescent mothers and their
children found that preschoolers with the highest cognitive competency
had mothers with greater parenting skills as measured by six care-giving
and home environment scales...(more) From an early age, the children of low-income teenage mothers are at risk of lagging in their academic achievement. Yet some young children show academic promise despite their family circumstances. Can a young mother’s parenting skills influence her child’s early cognitive development and success? Researchers explored this question in a recent paper. The researchers studied a group of adolescent mothers living in poverty who were enrolled in a family support program in Flint, MI, in the early 1990s. The mothers’ first-born children were ranked into four groups, ranging from the lowest to highest achievers, using a cognitive-verbal test administered just before they turned five. Aided by social workers who knew the families, the researchers assessed the mothers on six maternal care-giving and home environment scales. On all six scales, the mothers of top-performing children had significantly higher average ratings than the mothers of the children with lower cognitive-verbal scores. In short, the two groups of mothers behaved differently towards their children. Although more descriptive than explanatory in nature, these findings reveal a clear pattern: the high-performing children’s mothers created better home environments and interacted more affirmatively with their children. Good parenting matters, especially among young, low-income mothers. |
Other
findings on child outcomes, parenting and family resources:
 Adolescent outcomes, from academic to behavioral, are affected by family resources ...(more) Preschool-age children of low-income mothers who struggle with depression or obesity watch more TV...(more) Family Research Experts:
Pat Fagan William H. G. FitzGerald Research Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues Christine Kim Policy Analyst, Domestic Policy Studies Jennifer Marshall Director, Domestic Policy Studies For Interviews call Media Relations at (202) 675-1761 |
|
| The Heritage Foundation's familyfacts.org catalogs social science findings on the family, society and religion gleaned from peer-reviewed journals, books and government surveys. Serving policymakers, journalists, scholars and the general public, familyfacts.org makes social science research easily accessible to the non-specialist. | ||
View Findings by Category
Click a Category from the list:
Create Your Own Search
Enter topic, keyword or author:
Resources
Events:Religious Practice and Civic Life: What the Research Says October 4, 2007 |