Associations among parental education, home environment quality, effortful control, and preacademic knowledge

Emily C. Merz, Susan H. Landry, Jeffrey M. Williams, Marcia A. Barnes, Nancy Eisenberg, Tracy Spinrad, Carlos Valiente, Michael Assel, Heather B. Taylor, Christopher J. Lonigan, Beth M. Phillips, Jeanine Clancy-Menchetti, Tricia A. Zucker, Paul R. Swank, April Crawford, Weihua Huang, Jill de Villiers, Peter de Villiers, Prentice Starkey, Alice Klein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study used a longitudinal design to examine whether effortful control mediated the associations of parental education and home environment quality with preacademic knowledge in toddlers and young preschoolers. The sample consisted of 226 children (2 to 4. years of age at T1) from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Parents provided data on parent education and home environment quality. Children completed effortful control, early literacy, and early math assessments. T2 effortful control partially mediated the associations of T1 parental education and T1 home environment quality with T3 emergent literacy after accounting for child age, gender, race/ethnicity, T1 effortful control, and T2 early literacy. T2 effortful control partially mediated the association between T1 parental education and T3 emergent math after accounting for child age, gender, race/ethnicity, T1 effortful control, and T2 early math. Prior to entry into preschool, parental education and home environment quality may shape effortful control which in turn influences preacademic knowledge.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)304-315
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2014

Keywords

  • Early academic skills
  • Early childhood
  • Effortful control
  • Home environment quality
  • Socioeconomic status

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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