The Association Between Increases in Maternal Education and Child Behavioral and Academic Outcomes

• In Event: 2-175 - Parent-Child Dynamics and Child Development: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Integrative Statement

Research on maternal educational attainment has shown associations between higher levels of maternal education and positive child outcomes, such as greater academic proficiency (Dollaghan et al., 1999) and fewer externalizing problems (e.g., Auerbach et al., 1992;). Most studies examine maternal education as a stable construct, measuring it at one point in time (e.g., Magnuson, 2007); however, a sizeable minority of mothers pursue education after the birth of a child (25% in one study; Choy, 2002). As such, it is important to investigate whether an increase in maternal education is a protective or a risk factor for child outcomes. Further, few studies have examined the processes in which these associations exist.

The current study examined the association between increases in maternal education between the child’s birth and age 5 and child achievement and externalizing behavior at age 9. Using structural equation modeling, latent constructs were estimated for both achievement and externalizing behavior at year 9. For academic achievement, indicators included scores from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Woodcock-Johnson (WJ) passage comprehension subtest, and the WJ applied problems subtest. For externalizing behavior, indicators included child-report, parent-report, and teacher-report of externalizing problems at age 9. Further, this study examined home learning environment and positive parenting at age 5 as mediators in the association between increases in maternal education and child outcomes. The present study hypothesized that increases in maternal education would be associated with greater academic achievement and fewer externalizing behaviors at age 9; further, it was hypothesized that these links would be mediated by a better-quality home environment and higher positive parenting practices at age 5.

Data was from Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal birth cohort study comprising 4,898 families. Data from birth year and child ages 1, 3, 5, and 9 were included. The model displayed good model fit: RMSEA (.036, .040), CFI (.917), and SRMR (.032). Increases in maternal education were associated with greater child academic achievement (b=.037, p=.049) but not child externalizing behavior at year 9. Increases in maternal education were not linked to home learning environment or positive parenting at year 5; however, higher levels positive parenting and a better-quality home learning environment were both associated with higher levels of academic achievement at age 9 (b= .073, p=.002; b= .059, p=.018) and fewer child externalizing problems at age 9 (b= -.066, p=.034; b= -.140, p<.001), even after controlling for various demographic covariates and earlier measures of child academic achievement and child externalizing behavior. Findings suggest that although increases in maternal education are associated with greater child academic skills, this association does not operate through a better-quality home learning environment or use of more positive parenting practices. However, a better-quality home learning environment and more positive parenting practices at year 5 were related to greater academic achievement and fewer externalizing behaviors at age 9, suggesting that these components of the home environment and parenting are predictive of better child outcomes in addition to increases in maternal educational attainment. Additional findings will be discussed.

Authors

• Samantha R. Awada, Northern Illinois University
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth C. Shelleby, Northern Illinois University
  Non-Presenting Author