Human Development & Quantitative Methodology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2248
The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation; Human Development; and the Institute for Child Study.
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Item Family Child Care: Characteristics, Relationships, and Parent Outcomes(2022) Jimenez Parra, Laura Fernanda; Jones Harden, Brenda; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Researchers employing qualitative methods consistently emphasize the close relationship between parents and providers as a unique feature of family child care (FCC) arrangements that is often missed in quality improvement initiatives (Ang et al., 2017; Hooper et al., 2019). Strong parent-provider relationships may be a critical conduit to support positive provider, parent, and child outcomes (Blasberg et al., 2019; Forry et al., 2012). However, little is known about how these constructs operate in FCC settings. I examined the association between FCC providers’ characteristics, the quality of the parent-provider relationship, and how these connections relate to parental involvement and well-being. My results revealed that FCC providers’ educational attainment and the pleasure they derived from their profession were positively associated with the quality of the relationship they formed with families in their programs. However, these relationships were not found to be related to FCC providers’ years of experience, feelings of burnout and stress, and professional development. Further, parents’ perceptions of this relationship were related to better parental mental health outcomes. Yet, there were mixed associations between parents’ perceptions of the parent-provider relationship and their engagement in their children’s education. Findings of this study highlight the need to understand the distinct aspects of quality in FCC settings. FCC offers unique features, such as closer parent-provider relationships, that need to be examined to successfully promote high-quality care in FCC homes and to inform the early childhood field about mechanisms that support positive outcomes in FCC providers and the families they serve.Item Promoting Children's Early Mathematical and Statistical Understanding Through Parent-Child Math Games(2022) DePascale, Mary; Ramani, Geetha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Basic statistical literacy is essential for understanding and making inferences from information received from external sources and for developing critical thinking skills necessary for engagement in real-world contexts. However, many children and adults struggle with understanding and interpreting data and graphs. Therefore, it is critical to develop engaging, effective methods for teaching early graphing and data analysis, as they have the potential to enhance children’s development of statistical understanding, math, and higher-order thinking skills that remain essential throughout their lifespan. Math games are a common method for teaching math in a way that is engaging and effective for young children. However, few studies have examined games for math content beyond numerical skills. The current study examined the effectiveness of a home-based, experimental graphing game intervention for children’s statistical understanding and math skills. One-hundred-forty-eight 5- to 6-year-old children and their parent were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: graphing board game, graphing card game, or literacy board game, and completed a pretest, 4-week intervention, and posttest. At each test session, children completed statistical understanding and math ability measures. During the intervention, parents and children played games together in their home. Game materials were mailed to families, and families video recorded a session of gameplay at the midpoint of the intervention. Parent and child use of numerical, mathematical, and statistical talk during play were examined. Children in the graphing game conditions improved more than children in the literacy game condition on measures of statistical understanding and arithmetic. Families who played graphing games used more number and math talk during play than families who played literacy games. Talk during play did not relate to gains in statistical understanding or math abilities. These findings provide initial evidence on the effectiveness of games for promoting children’s early statistical understanding, as well as descriptive information about children’s early graphing skills and parent and child engagement in graphing games at home. Results also support the development of play-based interventions and materials to promote children’s early mathematical and statistical skills, with implications for children’s later development and achievement.Item The Association Between Parental Executive Function and Children’s Language Skills at 18 Months(2021) McKee, Kelsey; Cabrera, Natasha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Executive function (EF) is thought to be particularly important for parenting (Crandall et al., 2015). Studies have shown that maternal EF is related to parenting quality and children’s social and cognitive outcomes (Bridgett et al., 2015). These studies are few and are mostly conducted with mothers raising the question of whether paternal EF also affects children in the same way as maternal EF. In an effort to address these gaps I examined whether maternal and paternal EF influenced child language at 18-months, in part through parental engagement in home learning activities, in a sample of low-income, first time parents and their infants. My results did not show a significant, direct influence of maternal or paternal EF when children were 9 months old on children language skills at 18 months. Similarly, neither of the overall indirect effects of parental EF to child language through home parental learning activities were significant. However, paternal EF did positively predict paternal home learning activities, though this was not the case for mothers. Results of this study highlight the unique influences on maternal and paternal parenting and suggest further study is needed to fully elucidate the relation between parental EF and child language skills.Item The Effects of Observed Friendship Formation on Group Level Peer Experiences: A Study of Behaviorally Inhibited Preschooler(2020) Fleece, Hailey; Rubin, Kenneth H; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early social withdrawal places children at a greater risk for later internalizing disorders and peer difficulties. However, positive friendships can serve as a buffer against this trajectory. Currently, very little is known about if friendships develop between preschool aged withdrawn children, and how this affects their group level peer processes. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether socially withdrawn children who made a friend demonstrated gains in social skills in their preschool classrooms over an 8-week period during which they had participated in an intervention designed to increase social interaction and decrease social reticence. Overall, the children who made a friend over the intervention period had less observed reticent behavior and more prosocial behavior in their preschool classrooms both before and after the intervention period. These children entered the intervention with more advanced social skills and were able to utilize them to develop a meaningful friendship.Item Families With Low Incomes and the Search for Child Care: An Exploration of Factors Influencing Search Actions and Choices(2017) Watts, Kathryn Suzanne; Klein, Elisa; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Quality child care appears to have a positive effect on the school readiness of children with low incomes, and child care subsidy programs encourage parents to make informed decisions about choosing quality child care. However, research on child care decision making suggests that most parents do not consult with resources that are available to support informed decisions. The current study utilized a subsample of families with low incomes from the National Survey of Early Care and Education to increase understanding of child care decision making, focusing on search actions and choices of care. Guided by an accommodation model of child care decision making, the study examined: (1) how parents in families with low incomes search for and choose child care; (2) whether there are differences in the searches and choices of families receiving child care subsidies and other families with low incomes; and (3) how child care preferences and priorities, family and child factors, and community factors relate to searches and choices. Results indicated that families with subsidies and other families with low incomes largely searched for care in similar ways, although families with subsidies were more likely to choose a center-based provider and less likely to choose a known home-based provider. Logistic regression analyses revealed that parents’ preferences and priorities regarding child care were related to search actions but were mostly unrelated to choices, and that the reason for the child care search was significantly associated with both search actions and choices. Certain family, child, and community factors were found to be related to child care search actions and choices, most notably parental immigration status and living in a rural area. Implications and future directions for research, measurement, and policy are discussed.Item Home Literacy Activities in Latino Immigrant Families: Contributions to Toddlers’ Expressive and Receptive Language Skills(2016) Malin, Jenessa Laura; Cabrera, Natasha J; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The development of language is a critical component of early childhood, enabling children to communicate their wishes and desires, share thoughts, and build meaning through linguistic interactions with others. A wealth of research has highlighted the importance of children’s early home experiences in fostering language development. This literature emphasizes the importance of a stimulating and supportive home environment in which children are engaged in literacy activities such as reading, telling stories, or singing songs with their parents. This study examined the association between low-income Latino immigrant mothers’ and fathers’ home literacy activities and their children’s receptive and expressive language skills. It also examined the moderating influence of maternal (i.e., reading quality and language quality) and child (engagement during reading, interest in literacy activities) characteristics on this association. This study included observational mother-child reading interactions, child expressive and receptive language assessments, and mother- and father-reported survey data. Controlling for parental education, multiple regression analyses revealed a positive association between home literacy activities and children’s receptive and expressive language skills. The findings also revealed that mothers’ reading quality and children’s engagement during reading (for expressive language skills only) moderated this association. Findings from this study will help inform new interventions, programs, and policies that build on Latino families’ strengths.Item Preschoolers' Early Math Experiences in Varying Contexts: Parent and Child Math Talk During Playful and Didactic Activities(2015) Eason, Sarah; Ramani, Geetha; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The home numeracy environment, particularly parent math talk, are predictive of children’s early math development, yet it is not clear what contexts produce high-quality parent-child exchanges about math. Both formal math learning activities and informal activities where math is embedded in the task have been linked to children's math knowledge; however, there is a need for experimental studies investigating the contextual factors that contribute to how parents and children engage in math talk during joint activities. The current study investigated parent and child talk about fractions and numbers during didactic and playful math activities as well as an unguided play context. Seventy-two dyads of parents and preschoolers were assigned to one of three conditions (Didactic Instruction, Guided Play, Unguided Play) to participate in an activity intended to promote understanding of fractions. The conditions varied in the extent to which the activity was structured, as well as the instructions and materials provided. The quantity and quality of parent and child math talk were analyzed; children’s fraction knowledge was assessed before and after the activity. Parents also completed a survey reporting enjoyment of the task and whether they believed it could promote math learning. Dyads in the more structured didactic and playful math contexts engaged in greater proportions of, and more diverse, math talk than dyads in the unguided play context. Dyads in the didactic math context also used a greater proportion of, and more diverse, math talk than dyads in the playful math context. Despite the differences found in math talk, no change in children’s fraction knowledge was found after participating in the parent-child interaction. Interestingly, parents in the playful math activity context rated the interaction as being as enjoyable as did the parents in the unguided play activity; however, parents in both structured math contexts (playful and didactic) were equally likely to indicate that their respective activities would promote math learning. These findings support the importance of providing guidance to parents for engaging their children in high-quality math talk and highlight the need for further research investigating qualitative differences in parent-child interactions in didactic and playful contexts.Item School readiness of maltreated preschoolers and later school achievement: The role of emotion regulation, language, and context(2015) Panlilio, Carlomagno del Carmen; Jones Harden, Brenda; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Academic achievement is an important indicator for the well-being of children with a history of maltreatment. Unfortunately, many of these children fall behind their non-maltreated peers in measures of academic performance, and the achievement gap between these groups is increasing. Attempts to close this gap at later ages can prove to be challenging. The focus on early childhood as a developmental period to direct research and intervention efforts holds promise. Early childhood is a critical time for the ongoing development of emotion regulation, which is an important domain of school readiness. For young maltreated children, however, specific individual-level and context-level factors need to be considered in understanding how emotion regulation development proceeds. That is, the placement experiences for these young children vary greatly in the cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and stability they provide. Qualitative differences in these context-level factors can place children in different trajectories of development. These varying trajectories, in turn, may place young maltreated children in different pathways that lead to different academic outcomes in later grades. The goals of this study then were to: 1) examine the growth curves and determine the functional form of emotion regulation across time, beginning with early childhood when first contact with Child Protective Services (CPS) occurred; 2) identify latent classes based on developmental patterns of emotion regulation for maltreated preschool-aged children; 3) examine developmental differences based on individual-level and context-level factors specific to the experiences of young maltreated children; and 4) elucidate the different pathways to later academic achievement. This study utilized data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I) study, which was a nationally-representative study that employed a complex probability sampling framework that provided estimation of national-level parameters. Data analyses used latent growth curve models, latent class analyses, and latent transition analyses to answer the goals stated above. Results indicated stability and change in emotionally regulated vs. emotionally dysregulated latent classes across 4, 5, and 6 ½ years of age. Moreover, children classified as emotionally dysregulated at age 6 ½ scored significantly lower than children who were classified as emotionally regulated on measures of reading and math achievement by age 10. Policy implications for child welfare and early childhood education are presented.Item Sibling Relationships in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders(2013) White, Jamell Delaine; Klein, Elisa L; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the fastest growing disabilities in the United States. As the number of children diagnosed with ASD rises there is a parallel increase in families and siblings of children with ASD (F-ASD). There is a gap in the research (Meadan, Halle, & Ebata, 2010) on the interaction between children with ASD and other family members, especially siblings. In this study I explored sibling relationships in families of children with ASD with a focus on children of elementary to early middle- school age. Three research questions guided the inquiry: 1) What is the nature of sibling interactions in families of children with ASD, and do the individual characteristics of the child with and without ASD influence sibling relationships? 2) How do family attitudes and beliefs about ASD have an influence on sibling relationships? and 3) What factors contribute to parental decisions to access sibling support services? Sibling relationships in families of children with ASD were examined through observations, interviews, and focus groups. Siblings with and without ASD, parents, and clinical professionals participated in the process in order to gain multiple perspectives. Consistent with qualitative methods (Miles & Huberman, 1994), a four-stage analytic process involving transcription of the data, coding and categorization, interpretation and identification of patterns and themes, and verification of the data was used to identify themes. Data analysis revealed one core theme and five subthemes. The findings of this study suggest that sibling relationships were bound by the way in which the ASD traits were seen in each child, the individual characteristics of each child, and the way in which the children and family perceived and understood their circumstances. The sibling relationships were, in many ways, similar to those between typical siblings but with an added layer of complexity related to the ASD. The findings are discussed with reference to current literature on sibling adjustment and relationships in families of children with disabilities. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.Item Maternal Well-Being, Child Care, and Children's Development in Families Eligile for Subsidies(2013) Barofsky, Meryl Yoches; Klein, Elisa L; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Child-care subsidies (CCDF) were expanded after welfare reform in 1996 to help low-income families pay for child-care. Descriptive studies have been conducted on the relationship of subsidies to maternal work characteristics, but there is limited research on the extent to which CCDF is related to factors of maternal well-being. Although many studies have examined the relation between subsidy-use and child care type and quality, few studies have included child developmental outcomes as they relate to subsidy-use. A subsample of subsidy eligible mothers and their children from the Three-Year In-Home and Three-Year Child Care Study of the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study were used to examine these relationships. Propensity score matching was used to limit the sample and group code analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the relationships between maternal well-being, child care and children's development. Finally, multiple group comparisons and latent class analyses with known groups were conducted to assess the invariance of the relationships in the models across families in states with divergent policy considerations. The results indicate that although subsidy use is not independently related to children's developmental outcomes, maternal well-being and child care quality are. Interactions between well-being, quality and subsidy-use were also found to be related to behavior problems and vocabulary. These relationships varied depending on choices states make about CCDF implementation. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.