Publication year
2004
Citation Title
Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: Contributions to language and cognitive development
Journal Name
Child Development
Journal Volume
75
Issue Number
6
Page Numbers
1806-1820
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00818.x
Summary
A longitudinal, observational study of children at 24 and 36 months old evaluated the effect of parent-child interactions, and father-child interactions in particular, on children's cognitive and language development. Results suggest that positive parent-child interactions significantly influence child development, and that fathers have both direct and indirect influences on child outcomes.
Key Findings
Fathers’ and mothers’ positive parenting (characterized by sensitivity, positive regard, and cognitive stimulation), as well as parental education, marital status, and income were associated with higher cognitive and language scores at 24 and 36 months.
Fathers’ supportive parenting predicted child outcomes beyond the effect of mothers’ supportive parenting, suggesting independent and direct influence of fathers’ parenting.
Parental education was a robust predictor of child outcomes, even after accounting for positive support.
Implications for Military Professionals
Encourage fathers’ involvement in programs related to improving children’s functioning
Increase awareness about the relationships between positive parenting strategies and positive child outcomes
Implications for Program Leaders
Develop curricula that teach positive parenting strategies, especially to new parents
Offer classes to parents of children with cognitive delays about ways they can support their children and strategies to improve their cognitive and language skills
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend routine screening of children who are at-risk of cognitive delays for early detection of difficulties
Support initiatives that increase training for professionals to teach families about positive parenting
Methods
Data were gathered from families who participated in the National Early Head Start evaluation study.
Children were administered measures of cognitive and language development. Parents participated in semi-structured, parent-child interactions that were coded along three positive and three negative parenting dimensions.
Data were collected from parents and children when the child was 24 months and 36 months.
Participants
Participants were 290 resident fathers and their partners, along with a child enrolled in the Early Head Start program. Only 111 families had data at both time points.
In this sample, 60% of fathers were White, 22% were Black, 15% Latino, and 3% other (similar racial/ethnic background reported for mothers).
About half of participating children were males and average age at Time 1 was 25.01 months (SD = 1.40) and at Time 2 was 37.10 months (SD = 1.61).
Limitations
Demographic data of families who completed data at both time points differed significantly from those who did not, which may indicate that the two groups differ in ways that were not addressed in the study.
Parenting characteristics were based on a 10-minute videotaped interaction, which may not accurately reflect overall parenting characteristics of the families observed.
There was a restricted range of negative parenting behavior in the study, precluding stringent tests of the association between negative parenting and child outcomes.
Avenues for Future Research
Include a larger, more representative samples to determine whether the findings generalize to other families
Explore multiple methods and informants to characterize parenting behavior
Conduct a longer study period to evaluate the long-term effect of those parenting behaviors on child cognitive and language development
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
Father_child and mother_child engagements were examined longitudinally in relation to children's language and cognitive development at 24 and 36 months. The study involved a racially/ethnically diverse sample of low-income, resident fathers (and their partners) from the National Early Head Start evaluation study (n=290). Father_child and mother_child engagements were videotaped for 10 min at home during semistructured free play, and children's language and cognitive status were assessed at both ages. Fathers' and mothers' supportive parenting independently predicted children's outcomes after covarying significant demographic factors. Moreover, fathers' education and income were uniquely associated with child measures, and fathers' education consistently predicted the quality of mother_child engagements. Findings suggest direct and indirect effects of fathering on child development.
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