Beyond Socioeconomic Status: A Strengths-Focused Structural Equation Modeling Study of Collaboration-Focused...

Early-language skills vary and are among the best predictors of later social and academic outcomes. High-quality early interaction supports strong early-language skills. Identifying modifiable sources of variability in early interaction quality is critical to determining intervention need, developing effective caregiver coaching, and improving outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how caregivers' parenting beliefs, locus-of-control (LoC) perceptions, and stress when the infant was 1 month old affect child language skills at 36 months via parent-child interaction quality at 24 months. Furthermore, we tested whether beliefs, LoC perceptions, and stress mediated the relationships between parent education level and interaction quality as well as child language.

We designed and tested a structural equation model using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Our sample included data from 180 parent-child dyads evenly distributed across income groups and matched for child expressive language at 36 months. We used data from the 1-month, 24-month, and 36-month timepoints.

Model fit was adequate (comparative fit index = .892, standardized root-mean-square residual = .078). We observed a significant, positive direct effect of collaboration-focused parenting beliefs on interaction quality and indirect effect on child language outcomes. Collaboration-focused parenting beliefs mediated the relationship between parent education and interaction quality significantly. Mothers' LoC perceptions and stress did not play a mediating role between parent education and child outcomes.

Dyads in which parents have more collaboration-focused parenting beliefs tend to exhibit higher quality interaction and children tend to have stronger language skills. This has clinical implications for implementing strengths-based caregiver coaching and for improving intervention effectiveness.