Longitudinal Links to Positive Parenting among African American and Hispanic American Low-Income Mothers Laura D. Pittman INTRODUCTION Given the growing diversity in American society, a greater understanding of what factors influence parenting in multiple family contexts is important. Furthermore, positive parenting (e.g., cognitive stimulation, authoritative parenting) has been found to be protective among low-income children, so considering what influences parenting will inform intervention and prevention initiatives. Multiple factors have been suggested to influence parenting behaviors including income, mothers’ psychological health and child temperament. Less considered among families with younger children, the neighborhood environment has been linked to parenting of adolescents. This study will examine these factors among low-income African American and Latino families with preschool-aged children. In addition to examining direct associations over time, whether ethnicity serves as a moderator in these links will be considered. METHOD At Time 1, 2,402 families were recruited and completed interviews as part of Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study. At Time 2, 88% of families were retained and interviewed on average 16 months later. Both waves of the main survey included caregiver interviews and direct academic assessments of focal children. During both time points, families with a 2- to 4-year-old focal child at Time 1 were asked to participate in an Embedded Developmental Study (EDS). Of those eligible, 82% and 88% agreed to participate during Times 1 and 2, respectively. Those African American and Hispanic families who participated at both time points of the EDS were used in the current study (N = 440). Measures Mothers’ Parenting: 6-items from Family Routines Inventory (Jensen et al., 1983) Cognitive Stimulation from the HOME (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984) Parenting Stress assessed based on New Hope Study & PSID Authoritative, Harsh, Permissive & Disengaged Parenting scales derived from Raising Children Checklist (Shumow et al., 1998) Household Economic Conditions: Income-to-Needs Ratio Financial Strain Index (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 2000) Mothers’ Psychological Health: 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1986) Short form of the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 2000) Neighborhood Characteristics: Neighborhood Problems adapted from the Denver Youth Study and Chicago Youth Achievement Study (Eliot et al., 1996) Collective Efficacy Scale (based on Sampson et al., 1997) Children’s Temperament: Sociability, Impulsivity, & Emotionality scales from EASI (select items only; Buss & Plomin, 1975) Data Analysis 1)T-test comparisons between African-American and Hispanic Americans on all variables were completed. 2)Regression models were run predicting each Time 2 parenting variable, entering all independent variables simultaneously, controlling for multiple demographic characteristics as well as the corresponding Time 1 parenting variable. 3)Added interactions terms between ethnicity and each of the distal variables. REFERENCES Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Buss, A.H., & Plomin, R. (1975). A temperament theory of personality development. New York: Wiley. Caldwell, B.M., & Bradley, R.H. (1984). Home observation for the measurement of the environment. Little Rock, AR: University of Arkansas at Little Rock Press. Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (2000). Welfare receipt, financial strain, and African-American adolescent functioning. Social Service Review, 74, Derogatis, L. R. (2000). Brief Symptom Inventory 18. Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems. Elliot, D., Wilson, W. J., Huizinga, D., Sampson, R., Elliot, A., & Rankin, B. (1996). The Effects of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Adolescent Development. The Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, 33, Jensen, E. W., James, S. A., Boyce, W. T., & Hartnett, S. A. (1983). The family routines inventory: Development and validation. Social Science & Medicine, 17, Quint, J. C., Bos, J. M., & Polit, D. E. (1997). New Chance: Final Report on a Comprehensive Program for Young Mothers in Poverty and Their Children. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. Rosenberg, M. (1986). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhood and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 227, Shumow, L., Vandell, D. L., & Posner, J. K. (1998). Harsh, firm, and permissive parenting in low-income families: Relations to children's academic achievement and behavioral adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 19, T-test comparisons T-tests comparing ethnic groups found that, at both Time 1 & 2, African American families tended to use more cognitive stimulation and harsh parenting, but less disengaged or permissive parenting than Hispanic American families. However, after controlling for other demographic characteristics, only differences in cognitive stimulation remained significant. SUMMARY OF RESULTS & DISCUSSION Low-income African American parents appear to have more positive parenting than Hispanic American, although only differences in cognitive stimulation remain after controlling for other demographic characteristics Consistent with previous research, African American mothers had higher levels of harsh parenting than Hispanic American mothers, although this did not remain after controlling for demographic characteristics. Over time, controlling for Time 1 characteristics, African American mothers did report more parenting stress than Hispanic American mothers. Consistent with previous research, better household economic conditions were linked to better parenting over time (i.e., less parenting stress, less permissive parenting, and more authoritative parenting). Similarly, consistent with previous research, better maternal mental health was linked to better parenting over time (i.e., more family routines, more authoritative parenting, and less disengaged and permissive parenting). Unlike with adolescents, neighborhood characteristics were not significantly linked with parenting. Only children’s sociability was linked to more parenting stress over time, with no other significant associations. Overall the links between these factors and parenting were similar across ethnic groups. However, some specific factors were differentially linked to specific aspects of parenting across groups. Specifically, Greater financial strain was linked to more harsh parenting among African Americans, but less harsh parenting among Hispanic Americans. Greater neighborhood collective efficacy was linked to lower parenting stress among African Americans, but was not significant among Hispanic Americans. Children’s temperament is linked over time differently to harsh parenting and cognitive stimulation between the two groups. Family Routines Cognitive Stimulation Parenting Stress Disengaged Parenting Permissive Parenting Authoritative Parenting Harsh Parenting Time1 parenting.29***.33***.43***.26*.41***.28***.49*** Child’s age *** Child gender a * Mothers’ age High School education Mothers’ marital status (Single omitted group) Married.17* Cohabiting ** Ethnicity b ***.14* Income-to-needs ratio * ** Financial Strain * -.07 Mother’s Self-esteem.14* *.05.21** -.04 Mother’s Internalizing Symptoms * Neighborhood Problems Neighborhood Coll. Efficacy Child Sociability * Child Impulsivity Child Emotionality F-ratio R2R2.32***.18***.29***.24***.34***.25***.31*** RESULTS Interactions To determine whether the factors were linked to parenting differed by ethnic group, interaction terms were added to the regression model, based on Aiken & West (1991). Overall, the considered factors influence parenting similarly across ethnic groups. However, as displayed in the following figures, four interactions were significant. Descriptive Statistics of Sample Mean Age of Mothers: years (SD = 8.43) Mean Age of Children: 3.51 years (SD = 0.86) 42% African American; 58% Hispanic American 61% Single; 33% Married; 6% Cohabiting Mean Household Income-to-Needs Ratio: 0.81 (SD=0.48) Note. Standardized Betas are presented for ease of interpretation; * p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p <.001 a 1 = Male; 2 = Female b 0= Hispanic American; 1= African American Time 1Time 2 Parenting VariableAfrican Americans Hispanic Americans t-valueAfrican Americans Hispanic Americans t-value Family Routines Cognitive Stimulation * *** Parenting Stress Disengaged Parenting * ** Permissive Parenting *** *** Authoritative Parenting Harsh Parenting ** *** Longitudinal Regressions Examining Main Effects