Poster #163 - Change in Parents’ Reports of Harshness During Head Start

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Head Start’s mission recognizes the importance of positive parenting practices (Heard Start Act of 2007, p. 130-131), consistent with evidence from the research literature (Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Hindman, Miller, Froyen, & Skibbe, 2012). To date, a few studies have examined the effects of Head Start on parents’ practices, including warmth, support, and spanking, generally finding modest positive effects (HSIS; USDOE, 2010; Gelber & Isen, 2013; Gershoff, Ansari, Purtell, & Sexton, 2015; Puma, Bell, Cook, & Heid, 2010; Zhai, Waldfogel, & Brooks-Gunn, 2013). Most work, however, has not explored effects on parents with more authoritarian or harsh practices, who might most benefit from additional or alternative strategies. Our study targets three research questions:
1. In a nationally representative sample, what is the nature of parents’ self-reported practices over the Head Start year, both (a) across the sample as a whole and (b) for a sub-sample of parents who report high levels of authoritarian practices (i.e., families at higher risk)?
2. Within these families at higher risk, what child, family, and Head Start factors predict change in parenting over the course of the year?
3. To what degree does change in parenting in higher risk families predict children’s cognitive and social development?
Method
Participants completed the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), 2009 cohort, including 2,381 children (and their families) in households at or near poverty. The sample was ethnically diverse (36% Hispanic/Latino, 35% African American (non-Hispanic), 22% white (non-Hispanic), 8% of other/multiple backgrounds). Most (98%) respondents were biological mothers. In fall and spring, parents completed a 13-item version of the Child Rearing Practices Scale (Block, 1965) used in all FACES cohorts and the Head Start Impact Study, tapping supportiveness and harshness (Author, 2018). Children’s vocabulary was also assessed on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4, and parents and teachers examined children’s prosocial and problem behaviors using a FACES-designed tool based on the Social Skills Rating System.
Results
Q1: Head Start parents reported high supportiveness (M>4.00 out of 5) and low harshness (M<2.00 out of 5) in both fall and spring, with no change over time. However, 17% of families rated their fall agreement with harshness items as “somewhat like me” or higher (score of 2.67). By spring, these families’ reports of harshness decreased two-thirds of a point (on the 5-point scale), a significant drop, t(329) = 12.54, p<001, (d=-.85).
Q2: Multilevel SEM models were conducted in Mplus. For families with high initial harshness, more parental depression (β=-.10, p=.008) and less education (β=-0.21, p<.001) were linked to increases in harsh parenting, although families at higher economic risk decreased (β=.08, p=.05). No child or Head Start factors predicted change.
Q3: Decreased harsh parenting was linked to fall-to-spring improvement in parent-rated social skills (β=.08, p=.010), but not teacher-rated social skills or vocabulary.
Conclusions
About one in six families begins Head Start with moderate-to-high levels of harsh parenting. Decreased harshness over the year predict improved child social outcomes. Head Start could enhance efforts to support parenting.

Authors

• Kaiyla Darmer, Temple University
  Presenting Author

• AnneMarie Hindman, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author