Externalizing behavior, reading skills, and parental involvement: Patterns of influence in a sample of inner city elementary school children Samantha Woo, MPH, Deborah Gorman-Smith, PhD, Michael Schoeny, PhD, Patrick Tolan, PhD, David Henry, PhD The University of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Juvenile Research

Background Entrance into elementary school is an important developmental transition (Entwisle et al., 1988) Significant challenges to child’s family structure and coping mechanisms (Entwisle et al., 1988) Children maladjusted to new school environments are at higher risk of problem behaviors (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2004) Developmental Transition: Decreased parental supervision Increased interaction with authority figures other than parents New social roles and expectations Challenges to family structure and coping mechanisms: Stronger negative effects of school entry on children at increased risk before entering elementary school Children entering schools in the inner city may face a more difficult transition School’s resource constraints Schools may have lower learning expectations for the students Parents may not have been particularly successful in school or had positive experiences as students

Externalizing Behaviors More stable than internalizing behaviors (e.g., withdrawal, dysphoria, anxiety) (Hinshaw, 1992) Characterized by hostile and aggressive behavior, impulsivity, hyperactivity, defiance, and concentration problems (Hinshaw, 1992; Deater-Deckard et al., 1998) Often lead to antisocial behavior, immature social relationships, substance abuse, delinquency, criminality (Deater-Deckard et al., 1998) Problem behaviors, specifically externalizing behaviors… More stable: Worse prognosis and resistance to most forms of intervention Many different dimensions of externalizing behavior, which have in common symptoms that are disruptive to others Leads to… Immature and unrewarding relationships with peers and adults Delinquency in childhood and adolescence Criminality in adulthood

Reading Skills Early experiences in the classroom can frame future academic pursuits (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2004) Illiteracy holds consequences for personal, professional, and emotional adjustment of the individual (Spreen, 1986) Reading problems are stable and can incur high societal costs without early intervention (Smart, Sanson, & Prior, 1996) Poor reading skills, in particular, may affect academic achievement, as a whole Limited social opportunities Inhibited from pursuing the most lucrative professions Reading problems often persist into adulthood once established

Parental Involvement in School Parents raising children in the inner city face increased levels of unique challenges (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2004) First grade children form expectations about school and value themselves based on evaluations by significant others (Entwisle et al., 1988) Positive parental involvement promotes competence and the internalization of parental values (Beyers et al., 2003) Parents face significant neighborhood problems, such as violence Multiple jobs Poor social support However, a child’s entry into school remains as an important developmental transition Positive parental involvement has a protective influence on conduct problems

Patterns of Influence Externalizing Reading Behavior Parent The interaction of reading skills, parental involvement in school, and externalizing behavior suggest multiple patterns of influence This model suggests the existence of unidirectional or bidirectional relations between each of the variables Explanation of Model: Poor reading skills precede (or exacerbate) the emergence of externalizing behaviors. For example, frustration, lowered self-image, demoralization, lack of school attachment Behavioral problems precede reading problems. Interferes with proper classroom behavior and learning. Considerable evidence that Behavior Problems predict poor reading skills Mixed support for the hypothesis that poor reading skills predict BPs Low positive parental involvement consistently predicts externalizing behavior Limited discussion of how BPs affect Parental Involvement Strong evidence of the effects of Parental Involvement on Reading Skills (but specific to parental involvement in reading, not necessarily in school) Limited research on whether reading skills predict parental involvement. These 6 patterns of influence are the focus of this study Parent Involvement

SAFEChildren Preventive intervention with two components Multiple-family groups Phonics-based reading tutoring program 22 weeks of intervention begun at start of first grade This study uses data from a randomized controlled trial of a family-focused, preventive intervention designed to address risk factors which lead to behavioral problems Family Groups: *Parenting Skills *Family Relationships Managing challenges to the family Increasing social support among parents *Parental involvement in school Tutoring: *Developed as part of the Fast Track intervention Basic skills of reading Understanding letter-sound relationships Blending sounds into words

Methods Research participants: 424 families from 7 inner city Chicago schools 42.5% African American 57.5% Latino 51% male 49% female 40% in single-parent households 59% annual family income below $20,000 85% annual family income below $30,000 The sample population consisted of 424 low income African American and Latino families of children entering 1st grade. The sample was taken from 7 Chicago public schools located in the inner city. Inner city refers to a set of urban poor communities, characterized by extreme concentration of poverty, high rates of crime, high rates of multiple social problems such as early pregnancy and school dropout, and low rates of home ownership or business investment.

Methods Five waves of data collection: Wave 1: End of kindergarten (Pretest 1) Wave 2: Beginning of first grade (Pretest 2) Wave 3: Midintervention (Only teacher data)* Wave 4: End of first grade (Posttest) Wave 5: 6 months later (Follow-up) *Wave 3 is excluded in this analysis Data were collected through individual interviews conducted with the primary caregiver, teachers, and children. 5 waves of data collection over a 24 month period Due to financial constraints, data in Wave 3 were only collected from teachers. Therefore only data from Waves 1, 2, 4, and 5 were used for this analysis

Measures Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery Measures reading achievement Teacher/Parent Observations of Classroom Adaptation Measures child’s externalizing behaviors Fast Track Parent Involvement Scales (Parent and Teacher Forms) Measures parental involvement in school Various measures were used to assess specific constructs of school functioning, behavior, and parenting and family relationships. 4 subscales of the Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery A composite of the TOCA/POCA measured three aspects of externalizing behavior: aggression, hyperactivity, and concentration PINV Scales were administered to both teachers and parents, and measured parental involvement in school

Analytic Model – Simultaneous Latent Growth Curve 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 Intercept A Slope A Our analytic model centered around the comparison of growth trajectories of specific intervention targets among participants, using four data points. The specific intervention targets analyzed were reading skills, parental involvement in school, and externalizing behavior. Using this model, we were able to compare relative levels at baseline, as well as changes in these levels over time, and compare these to each other. Intercept is defined as the initial level of a variable. Slope is defined as the change in levels over time of a variable. Pathways from the Intercept of one variable to the Intercept of another variable signify the relation between the initial levels of the two variables. Pathways from the Slope of one variable to the Slope of another variable signify the relation between the changes in the two variables. Pathways from the Intercept of one variable to the Slope of that same variable signify the relation between the initial level and the change in levels of that variable Pathways from the Intercept of one variable to the Slope of a different variable signify the relation between the initial level of the first variable and the change in the second variable. This last pathway is the relation that we hope to see. Intercept B Slope B 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 B1 B2 B4 B5

Analytic Model – Alternative Model 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 Intercept A Slope A Intervention Controlled for the intervention effects in an alternative model and found that the results were not biased by these effects Intercept B Slope B 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 B1 B2 B4 B5

Analytic Model – Two Group Model Intercept A Slope A Intercept B Slope B 1 3 2 A1 A2 A4 A5 B1 B2 B4 B5 Intercept A Slope A Intercept B Slope B 1 3 2 A1 A2 A4 A5 B1 B2 B4 B5 Tested a two group model, to see if there was any moderation for the treatment condition, and found limited moderation effects. Gender: Negative relation between parental involvement in school at baseline and change in externalizing behavior over time significant in Tx group only Ethnicity: African American group showed a negative relation between parental involvement at baseline and change in externalizing behavior over time. Latino group showed no significant relation.

Reading Skills and Externalizing Behavior -0.13 Reading Intercept Reading Slope -0.13 -0.09 SIGNIFICANT: Significant negative relation between externalizing behavior at a point in time and change in reading skills over time. High levels of externalizing behavior early on related to lower reading skills over time. Significant negative relation between reading skills at a point in time and change in reading skills over time. Weaker readers early on naturally have more room to improve and therefore show greater changes over time Significant negative link between reading skills and externalizing behavior at early on. Stronger reading skills linked to less externalizing behavior Contrary to the literature, reading skills early on did not predict change in externalizing behavior over time. Externalizing Intercept Externalizing Slope

Parental Involvement in School and Externalizing Behavior Parent Inv Intercept Parent Inv Slope -0.12 -0.09 SIGNIFICANT: Significant negative relation between parental involvement at a point in time and change in externalizing behavior. High parental involvement in the beginning is related to decreases in externalizing behavior over time. Significant negative relation between externalizing behavior at a point in time and change in parental involvement over time. High levels of externalizing behavior at any given point in time is related to decreases in parental involvement over time. Externalizing Intercept Externalizing Slope

Parental Involvement in School and Reading Skills Parent Inv Intercept Parent Inv Slope No significant relations between parental involvement and reading skills. Reading Intercept Reading Slope

Summary Evidence of unidirectional relation between reading skills and externalizing behaviors Evidence of bidirectional relation between parental involvement in school and externalizing behaviors No relation between parental involvement in school and reading skills Unidirectional: Early externalizing behaviors predict later change in reading skills Bidirectional: Early parental involvement predict later change in externalizing behaviors Early externalizing behaviors predict later change in parental involvement

Conclusions A focus on reducing problem behaviors holds implications for improving reading skills and increasing parental involvement in school Interventions should consider the bidirectional relation between parental involvement in school and externalizing behavior More intervention research is needed to determine clear causal pathways between variables While parental involvement in reading may predict higher reading skills, parental involvement in school seems to have no significant effect Results generalizable to urban minority samples, but not all populations and settings In addition, since our intervention focused on affecting change in multiple variables, causal relations could not be determined from our data. Despite the significant patterns of influence found in this study, more research is needed to clarify the strength and direction of pathways between reading skills, parental involvement, and externalizing behavior

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