Caring for Whole Families: Relationships Between Providers and Families During Infancy and Toddlerhood.

Caring relationships among families and providers are at the heart of high-quality early care and education (ECE). This study examines relationships between parents and providers in a nationally representative sample of infants and toddlers and their families (N = 527) enrolled in the two-generation Early Head Start (EHS) program in the U.S. EHS' primary services include home visiting and center-based early education, taking a whole family approach to provide comprehensive services within caring and trusting relationships. Using weighted lagged regression models, we found that parent and provider reports of their positive relationships with one another at age 2 years were related to some child and family outcomes at the end of their EHS experience at age 3 years. Providers who reported better relationships with parents rated children as having lower behavior problems and enhanced social competence, language comprehension, language production, and home environments. Parents who reported better relationships with providers also reported lower parenting stress and family conflict. Findings suggest that caring relationships between providers and parents are a key part of high-quality ECE within an environment dedicated to an ethic of care not just for children, but for the whole family.

Patterns of Stress and Wellbeing Among Families Enrolled in Early Head Start/Head Start During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected low-income families in the U.S., particularly those with young children (Kalluri et al., 2021). This longitudinal study describes the resources, stress, and health and wellbeing of low-income families enrolled in an Early Head Start/Head Start program for two cumulative program years before and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found having more resources (higher income, higher education levels, full time employment) prior to the onset of COVID-19 was correlated with better wellbeing and lower stress throughout the pandemic. Implications and directions for future research include understanding the specific types of supports that programs like EHS/HS provided during COVID-19 and how families benefitted from them.

Are math and behavioral skills interrelated? A longitudinal analysis in early childhood.

The interrelationships between math and behavioral skill development prior to school entry are not well understood, yet have important implications for understanding how to best prepare young children for kindergarten. This study addresses this gap by utilizing a sample of 1,750 children (53% male; 47% White, 16% Black, 16% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 13% other or multirace) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to examine the interrelationships between behavioral (parent-reported prosocial skills and externalizing problems) and math skills (directly assessed) across the ages of 4, 5, and 6 years. Results from a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RICLPM) revealed significant between-person associations between each of these skills over time. After controlling for these between-person differences, findings identified several significant within-person associations both between and within domains, with prosocial skills at age 4 predicting both prosocial and math skills at age 5. At age 5, math skills were predictive of future math and prosocial skills at age 6. Externalizing problems were not significantly associated with either of the other skills at any time points, but did predict continued externalizing problems from ages 5 to 6. Findings highlight the importance of supporting children's prosocial and math skills in conjunction with one another during early childhood prior to school entry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).