Poster #52 - Family Socioeconomic Status and the Cognitive Competence of Very Young Children From Migrant and Nonmigrant Families: The Mediating Role of Parenting Self-Efficacy and Parental Involvement

• In Event: 18.060 - MTCC Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: 18.060-7 - Early Childhood Poster Session 1

Abstract

This study examined the relations of family socioeconomic status (SES), parenting self-efficacy, and parental involvement to the cognitive competence of very young Chinese children. Based on a sample of 748 migrant and non-migrant families residing in urban China, results from structural equation modeling showed that young Chinese children from higher-SES families had higher cognitive competence. These relations were mediated by parenting self-efficacy and parental involvement in that higher-SES parents had higher parenting self-efficacy and higher involvement in their children’s education, which, in turn, explained their children’s higher cognitive competence. However, these direct and indirect pathways differed between migrant and non-migrant families. The paper affords insights into the specific kinds of parental beliefs and practices for lower-SES young children.

Author

• TING LIU, East China Normal University