On "The role of parents in the ontogeny of achievement-related motivation and behavioral choices".

This monograph offers a comprehensive test of an important theory of motivation. Because the theory is sufficiently precise to permit disconfirmation, the results that support and those that fail to support it are both informative. The finding that parents' influence appears primarily for peripheral subjects (sports and music), but not for reading and math raises many issues for further research. The study also informs our understanding of gender differences in motivation.

Children's early child care and their mothers' later involvement with schools.

Theory and policy highlight the role of child care in preparing children for the transition into school. Approaching this issue in a different way, this study investigated whether children's care experiences before this transition promoted their mothers' school involvement after it, with the hypothesized mechanism for this link being the cultivation of children's social and academic skills. Analyses of 1,352 children (1 month-6 years) and parents in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that mothers were more involved at their children's schools when children had prior histories of high-quality nonparental care. This pattern, which was fairly stable across levels of maternal education and employment, was mediated by children's academic skills and home environments.

Are middle schools harmful? The role of transition timing, classroom quality and school characteristics.

Are middle schools ill-suited for early adolescents, or can school characteristics account for any differences in student functioning? Achievement, school engagement, and perceived competence of children starting middle schools in 5th and 6th grades were compared to those of their same-grade peers in elementary schools in a national, longitudinal sample (NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, n = 855; 52% Female, 82% White). Classroom quality (observed and teacher-reported) and school characteristics (composition and size) were considered as explanations for any relationships between school-level and student functioning. Fifth grade middle school students did not differ from those in elementary school, but students entering middle school in 6th grade, compared to those in elementary school, experienced lower classroom quality, which in turn predicted slightly lower achievement. They also had lower school engagement, explained by larger school size. Classroom quality and school characteristics predicted youth functioning regardless of school type. We suggest reshaping the research and policy debate with renewed focus on classroom quality and school size instead of grade organization.

Human development in societal context.

Low family socioeconomic position is a net of related conditions-low income, material deprivation, single-parent family structure, low educational level, minority ethnic group membership, and immigrant status. According to ecological theory, proximal contexts experienced by children, including family, material resources, out-of-school experiences, schools, neighborhoods, and peers, are mediators of poverty effects. Developmental timing of exposure to poverty conditions and the processes by which effects occur differ for cognitive and social domains of development. Understanding how contexts combine and interact is as important as understanding their independent influences. Effects may be cumulative, but advantages in one context can also ameliorate disadvantages in others. Although research is typically based on unidirectional causal models, the relations between the developing child and the contexts he or she experiences are reciprocal and transactional. Finally, although income inequality has increased greatly, little is known about the influences of relative poverty and social inequality on human development.

Assessing the effects of a work-based antipoverty program for parents on youth's future orientation and employment experiences.

The impacts of New Hope, a 3-year work-based antipoverty program to increase parent employment and reduce poverty, on youth ages 9-19 (N = 866) were assessed 5 years after parents left the program. New Hope had positive effects on the future orientation and employment experiences of boys, especially African American boys. Compared to boys in control group families, boys in program group families were less cynical about work, less pessimistic about their employment prospects, and more involved in employment and career preparation. They also worked for longer periods during the school year than did control group boys. Comparable effects were not found for girls. The developmental significance of the findings, possible processes that led to the impacts, and the policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Structural and Process Features in Three Types of Child Care for Children from High and Low Income Families.

We use observations from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to compare structural and process characteristics of child care centers, family child care homes (nonrelative care in a home setting) and care by relatives for 2, 3- and 4 ½-year-old children. Type of care differences in structural and caregiver characteristics were consistent across ages: centers had higher child-to-adult ratios and bigger groups; centers had caregivers with better education, more training in early childhood, and less traditional beliefs about child rearing. Children in centers experienced more cognitive stimulation, less frequent language interactions with adults, less frequent negative interactions with adults, and less television viewing than did those in other types of care. In centers and family child care homes compared to relative settings, children engaged in more positive and negative interactions with peers and spent more time in transition and unoccupied. Curvilinear associations were found between structural features of care and family income, particularly for caregiver education and training. In contrast, process measures of caregiving rose monotonically with family income. Children from high-income families experienced more sensitive care, more cognitive stimulation, and fewer negative interactions with adults than did those from low-income families. We interpret the findings by linking the structural features and caregiver training to the cognitive and social processes observed in different types of care. Future research designed to understand the influences of child care on children's behavior might benefit from using this more nuanced description of child care experiences.

Socioeconomic status, schooling, and the developmental trajectories of adolescents.

The socioeconomic stratification of American society profoundly influences how the life course unfolds by shaping various developmental pathways as well as the connections among these pathways. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, this study charted trajectories of personal control and parental consultation from middle school to the end of high school and then examined how various combinations of these trajectories were associated with math/science course taking in high school across socioeconomic strata. Results indicated that low and/or decreasing levels of personal control were associated with the accumulation of fewer math/science credits, as were declining levels of parental consultation no matter what the initial level. Mismatches between control and consultation trajectories (e.g., high, stable control with low, stable consultation) were also associated with fewer math/science credits. These patterns tended to be less predictive of math/science credit accumulation at the highest and lowest ends of the socioeconomic spectrum.

School readiness and later achievement.

Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Impacts on children of a policy to promote employment and reduce poverty for low-income parents: new hope after 5 years.

The impacts of New Hope, a program to increase parent employment and reduce poverty, were measured 5 years after parents were randomly assigned to program or control groups. New Hope had positive effects on children's school achievement, motivation, and social behavior, primarily for boys, across the age range 6-16. In comparison to impacts measured 2 years after program onset, effects on achievement were robust, but effects on social behavior were reduced. The program produced improvements in family income and use of organized child care and activity settings, suggesting possible pathways by which the New Hope package of policies influenced children's behavior.

Time spent in child care: How and why does it affect social development?

Children who experience early and extensive child care, especially center-based care, are rated by teachers as having more externalizing behavior problems than are other children. This association is reduced, but not eliminated, when care is of high quality, and it varies by socioeconomic disadvantage and the type of behavior assessed. We examine the processes that may account for the quantity effect, concluding that it occurs primarily among relatively advantaged White non-Hispanic families. It appears primarily for teacher-rated behavior, especially externalizing and low self-control, but is not evident for positive behavior and peer interaction skills. Some of the processes accounting for the relation of quantity to behavior are most likely to be poor caregiver-child relationships and negative peer interactions, not reduced attachment to mothers or lowered maternal sensitivity. Many questions remain about duration of effects, developmental and individual differences, more nuanced conceptualizations of both care quality and social behavior, and variations across cultural and ethnic groups.

The mother-infant relationship in single, cohabiting, and married families: a case for marriage?

Single-mother, cohabiting 2-parent, and married 2-parent families with infants were compared on maternal and infant behavior, Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scores, and infant's security of attachment. Married mothers and their infants demonstrated more positive behavior and received higher HOME scores when the infant was 6 and 15 months old than did their cohabiting and single counterparts. Married families were also better off than single and cohabiting families on several demographic, parent personality, financial, and social context measures. Single and cohabiting families were similar across most measures. Selection variables (maternal age, ethnic group, and education) explained much, but not all, of the family structure differences in the mother-infant relationship and the HOME. Maternal psychological adjustment, attitudes about child rearing, income, and social support explained little of the family structure variation, suggesting that characteristics that preceded marriage and conception were important determinants of family structure differences.

Developmental changes in impacts of an antipoverty experiment on low-income children's structured out-of-school time.

The experiment reported here tested impacts of New Hope, an employment-based poverty intervention for adults on developmental patterns of children's participation in structured out-of-school activities, using a cross-sequential design spanning ages 6 through 19. New Hope increased participation in activities (lessons, sports, religious, clubs, community centers, service). Its effects did not vary significantly across age, time of measurement, or gender, lasting well beyond parents' eligibility for program benefits. Overall participation peaked in early adolescence, declining thereafter. Policies that enhance participation during middle childhood may have long-term benefits because structured activities can provide opportunities for skill development and adult supervision that may be especially useful for children from low-income families.

The long-term effects on children and adolescents of a policy providing work supports for low-income parents.

New Hope, an employment-based poverty-reduction intervention for adults evaluated in a random-assignment experimental design, had positive impacts on children's achievement and social behavior two and five years after random assignment. The question addressed in this paper was the following: Did the positive effects of New Hope on younger children diminish or even reverse when children reached the challenges of adolescence (eight years after random assignment)? Small positive impacts on school progress, school motivation, positive social behavior, child well-being, and parent control endured, but impacts on school achievement and problem behavior were no longer evident. The most likely reasons for lasting impacts were that New Hope families were slightly less likely to be poor, and children had spent more time in center-based child care and structured activities. New Hope represents a model policy that could produce modest improvements in the lives of low-income adults and children.

A tale of two methods: comparing regression and instrumental variables estimates of the effects of preschool child care type on the subsequent externalizing behavior of children in low-income families.

We apply instrumental variables (IV) techniques to a pooled data set of employment-focused experiments to examine the relation between type of preschool childcare and subsequent externalizing problem behavior for a large sample of low-income children. To assess the potential usefulness of this approach for addressing biases that can confound causal inferences in child care research, we compare instrumental variables results with those obtained using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. We find that our OLS estimates concur with prior studies showing small positive associations between center-based care and later externalizing behavior. By contrast, our IV estimates indicate that preschool-aged children with center care experience are rated by mothers and teachers as having fewer externalizing problems on entering elementary school than their peers who were not in child care as preschoolers. Findings are discussed in relation to the literature on associations between different types of community-based child care and children's social behavior, particularly within low-income populations. Moreover, we use this study to highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of each analytic method for addressing causal questions in developmental research.

From research to policy and back.

Although science policy and social policy have distinct cultures, there are overlapping influences on both. Science policy decisions across the spectrum of basic and applied research are influenced by perceived social utility and the potential for solving current social problems. With the advent of evidence-based policy requirements, social policymakers increasingly use scientific information, although it constitutes only 1 factor in a mix of ideology, interests, and institutional constraints. The spread of early childhood intervention programs in the United States and elsewhere is one example in which strong, cumulative evidence has contributed to a policy consensus. Developmental scientists can contribute to better science policy and better social policy by strengthening the scientific quality of their evidence and communicating research-based knowledge more effectively.

Effects of Employment-Based Programs on Families by Prior Levels of Disadvantage.

This study examines how welfare and employment policies affect subpopulations of low-income families that have different levels of initial disadvantage. Education, prior earnings, and welfare receipt are used to measure disadvantage. The analysis of data from experiments suggests that employment-based programs have no effects on economic well-being among the least-disadvantaged low-income, single-parent families, but they have positive effects on employment and income for the most-disadvantaged and moderately disadvantaged families. These programs increase school achievement and enrollment in center-based child care of children only in moderately disadvantaged families. The most-disadvantaged families are found to increase use of child care that is not center based. Parents in these families experience depressive symptoms and aggravation. The findings raise questions about how to support families at the lowest end of the economic spectrum.

Mothers' time with infant and time in employment as predictors of mother-child relationships and children's early development.

This study tested predictions from economic and developmental theories that maternal time with an infant is important for mother-child relationships and children's development, using time-use diaries for mothers of 7- to 8-month-old infants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (N = 1,053). Employment reduced time with infants, but mothers compensated for some work time by decreasing time in other activities. With family and maternal characteristics controlled, time with infants predicted high Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scores and maternal sensitivity, but bore little relation to children's engagement with mothers, secure attachment, social behavior, or cognitive performance from 15 to 36 months. Mothers who spent more time at work had higher HOME scores. Maternal time with infants may reflect maternal characteristics that affect both time allocation and maternal behavior.

Predicting participation and outcomes in out-of-school activities: similarities and differences across social ecologies.

The majority of research on out-of-school-time activity participation has focused on its relation to academic and social development, presumed to be consequences of participation, rather than on antecedents or predictors of participation. Understanding who participates in these programs can assist program directors in improving and sustaining youth involvement. This chapter uses data from two research study samples to examine differences in children's activity participation based on family social ecology and child gender and how the relations between participation and outcomes vary based on sample, gender, and activity type. Although children in both samples were of roughly the same age and were assessed for similar outcomes, their family incomes, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and neighborhoods were very different. Findings suggest that participation in activities varies depending on the young person's social ecology, age, and gender. Furthermore, participation in activities was typically associated with positive youth outcomes, but these relations varied depending on the level of youth participation, type of activity, and social ecology.

Reforms and child development.

Since their inception in the 1930s, U.S. welfare and income support programs have played an important role in providing benefits to children. Unlike programs directly targeted to children, however, welfare programs are designed to produce economic and employment impacts on adults, so that any effects on children would be indirect. This article explores the influence of such programs on children's well-being and development, first by defining goals for children's healthy development, then by proposing a framework for understanding the impact of welfare policies on children. A review of the literature within each component of this framework reveals the following: Measures of children's well-being should encompass physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development. The physical and material environment, family environment, and social and community environment can all affect a child's healthy development. Policies designed to increase maternal employment, reduce welfare use, and strengthen families do not necessarily lead to more positive environmental contexts and increased child well-being. The author concludes that to ensure positive impacts on children, welfare and income support policies must move beyond their exclusive emphasis on adults and include goals that focus on improving children's social and physical environments at home and in the community.