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Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Parent-child interaction quality mediates the relationship between parental self-efficacy and child vocabulary
Kristina Strother-Garcia1, Britt Singletary1, Daniela Avelar1
1Crane Family Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
Objective:
We examined relationships among parental self-efficacy, parent-child interaction quality, and child vocabulary in families of low socioeconomic status (SES).
Background:
SES is correlated with child vocabulary, but this relationship is mediated by parenting characteristics, as explained by the family stress and family investment models. Here, we explored parental self-efficacy because it is associated with both SES and parenting behaviors that support child development.
Method:
Parental self-efficacy, sociodemographic, and household data were measured at baseline in a sample of 89 low-SES mother-child dyads. Parent-child interaction quality was assessed from video recordings (child age M = 12.01 months) and vocabulary was assessed via parent report (child age M = 25.09 months). Comparisons of means, correlations, and mediation analyses were conducted.
Results:
No mean differences in parent-child interaction quality or child vocabulary were found based on sociodemographic or household traits. Parental self-efficacy and parent-child interaction quality were correlated, as were parent-child interaction quality and child vocabulary. Parent-child interaction quality fully mediated the relationship between parental self-efficacy and child vocabulary.
Conclusion:
Parental self-efficacy relates to child language development indirectly through its positive effect on parenting behavior.
Implications:
Targeting parental self-efficacy for intervention alongside parent-child interaction skills may improve parenting quality and children's subsequent development.
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