The Influence of Mother-Reported Infant Development on Parenting Efficacy and Commitment One Year Later

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Background
Since the mid 90’s global development scales have been administered in doctor’s offices (Squires & Bricker, 1995). As such, parents have become increasingly aware of whether their child is “on track” in terms of developmental milestones. Does a child’s developmental progress have an influence on a parent’s confidence and commitment to their parenting role? Studies have shown that young children’s social skills are associated with reports of increased parenting efficacy (or confidence; Coleman & Karraker, 2000). Less is known, however, about whether this association exists for parents of infants and toddlers, and whether physical development plays a similar role. Additionally, the relationship between self-efficacy and commitment has been widely studied in other fields, but has not received notable attention in parenting contexts (Lindheim et al., 2007).

The present study examines whether an infant’s mother-reported physical development (Ages & Stages Questionnaire, Squires & Bricker, 2015) and social emotional development (Devereaux Early Childhood Assessment for Infants, LeBuffe & Naglieri, 2003) at 8 months of age account for higher levels of parenting efficacy one year later, and whether reported parenting efficacy is predictive of parental commitment. Additionally, this study examines whether early development is related to parenting commitment through parenting efficacy.

Methods
Survey and observational data were collected from 83 mothers (ages 19-43) and their infant enrolled in the Legacy for Children™ program. Data were collected every 4 months for the first 2 years of the child’s life, with data for this study being taken from Wave 2 (8 months) and Wave 5 (20 months). The sample collected was diverse in terms of race (35% minority), marital status (44% married), and education (59% HS/GED or less).

Results
Path analysis was conducted using Mplus software. The resulting model demonstrated good fit to the data (Kline, 2016): 2 = 1.39 (df = 1), p = .25; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .07, 90% confidence interval (CI) [.00, .31]; comparative fit index (CFI) = .99; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .03.The path diagram of the model (Figure 1) includes the unstandardized estimates for the causal paths of the indirect and direct effects. The estimated paths of social emotional development to parenting efficacy and parenting efficacy to parenting commitment were positive and significant, with the direct effect from social emotional development to parenting commitment also being significant. Physical development was not found to have any significant paths to parenting efficacy or commitment.

Conclusion
A child’s social emotional development appears to contribute to parents’ efficacy and commitment more than physical factors. If this is the case, perhaps doctors and clinicians should share and emphasize young children’s social emotional development information with parents along with their physical development milestones. These findings might also suggest that the well-studied pathway of self-efficacy and commitment deserves greater attention in the parenting literature. Finally, this study was conducted using a sample of children that were considered to have “normative” patterns of development. Future studies might observe this same path using samples of children exhibiting atypical development.

Authors

• Jens E Jespersen, Oklahoma State University - Center for Health Sciences
  Presenting Author

• Amanda Sheffield Morris, Oklahoma State University - Tulsa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lana Beasley, Oklahoma State University - Stillwater
  Non-Presenting Author