Parenting in West Indian Families: Relationship to Parental Literacy Beliefs and Practices

Transcription

1 ParentinginWestIndianFamilies: RelationshiptoParentalLiteracyBeliefsandPractices ElizabethJaeger,Ph.D.,KatherineMacTurk,M.S.,&JacquelineNguyen,Ph.D. SaintJoseph'sUniversity,Philadelphia,PA Posterpresentedatthe CaribbeanRegionalConferenceonPsychology Nassau,Bahamas November2011 ThisstudywasfundedwithsupportfromtheSaintJoseph'sUniversityOfficeof Mission,theDepartmentofPsychology,andtheChildDevelopmentLaboratory. Wewouldalsoliketogratefullyacknowledgethesupportgiventothisprojectfrom thestaffatthefamilyconnection,aprogramofthecommunityfoundationofthe VirginIslands,andthemotherswhogaveoftheirprecioustimetospeakwithus.

2 Introduction Many children in the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI) enter kindergarten with poor language and visual discrimination skills (CFVI, 2008). One explanation for such outcomes might be the prevalence of the authoritarian parenting style among Caribbean parents (Brown & Johnson, 2008), which has been linked to poorer academic outcomes in U.S.-born children and children of Caribbean immigrants in the U.S. (Roopnarine, Krishnakumar, Metindogan, & Evans, 2006). Before the role of authoritarian parenting can be adequately investigated, however, it is important to first consider whether the concept has the same meaning in West Indian families as it has traditionally been defined. Specifically, are relationships with parents that value high levels of adult control necessarily marked by low levels of warmth in the parent-child relationship? If not, the influence of each dimension should be considered separately. Research Questions Question 1: Are adult control and warmth separate dimensions of parenting styles in West Indian families? Question 2: Do attitudes towards adult control in parent-child relationships in West Indian parents relate to their beliefs about when and how children learn to read, and their literacy practices? Question 3: Does the amount of warmth in parent-child relationships in West Indian families relate to parent s beliefs about when and how children learn to read, and their literacy practices? Method Participants: 31 West Indian mothers of young children (M Age = months, SD = 16.63) living on St. Thomas or St. John; 58.1% male; 48.4% had no siblings. Procedure: Mothers completed an hour-long interview and two questionnaires; they received $25 compensation. Measures: Semi-structured Interview Family characteristics Age child learns how to read 1 Best way to learn to read Frequency of parent-child book reading 2

3 Reading for fun Parental Modernity Scale (Schaefer & Edgerton, 1985) Traditional (Authoritarian) childrearing attitudes (α =.82) Parent Reading Belief Inventory (DeBaryshe & Binder, 1994) 1 Encouragement of verbal participation (α =.54) Direct reading instruction (α =.79) Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Pianta, 1995) Warmth and Support (α =.73) Results Table 1 provides the descriptive statistics for the study variables. 2 Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of Study Variables. M (SD) / % Adult control (11.38) Warmth 4.43 (0.44) Reading age < 2 years 52% > 3 years 48% Best way to learn to read Constructivist 43% Skills-based 57% Reading frequency Several times a year 3% 1-2 times per month 6% 1-2 times per week 26% 3-4 times per week 29% 5-7 times per week 35% Reading for fun Yes 52% No 48% Reading instruction (1.58) Verbal participation 7.80 (0.56) Question 1. Although mothers in the VI were found to hold strong traditional attitudes towards adult control, a non-significant, modest, positive relationship between parental control and warmth was observed (r =.24, p =.196).! Current sample: M = 75.12(11.38), range = ! NICHD SECC Sample 3 : M = 56.12(13.12), range =

4 Question 2. Mothers who endorsed higher levels of adult control (see Table 2):! Believed that children begin to read at a later age (3 years old or older),! Tended to be more likely to report a skills-based belief about the best way a child learns how to read,! Reported being more likely to engage in direct reading instruction,! Tended to engage in less verbal participation during reading, and,! Tended to be less likely to read with their children for fun, although this relationship disappeared when mother s schooling was controlled.! Adult control was unrelated to the frequency of book reading. Question 3. Mothers who reported more warmth (see Table 2):! Believed that children begin to read at a later age, though only adult control significantly predicted a belief about reading age when the effects of both were examined simultaneously, and! Were more likely to report reading with their child for fun.! Warmth was unrelated to frequency of book reading. Table 2. Relationship between Parenting and Literacy Variables. Parent Dimensions Adult Control Warmth M (SD)/ r [p] M (SD)/ r [p] Reading age Two years old or less (11.25) 4.27 (.47) Three years old or older 79.92* (10.66) 4.59 (.40) Best way to learn to read Constructivist (9.0) 4.55 (.37) Skills-based (5.69) 4.48 (.52) Reading frequency.15 (.42).28 (.13) Reading instruction.63 (.013).08 (.765) Verbal participation -.45 (.091) -.29 (.299) Reading for fun Yes (13.42) 4.62 (.30) No (8.41) 4.29* (.48) = p <.10 * = p <.05 Discussion and Conclusion! Although West Indian parents in the VI hold attitudes towards adult control typically identified with the authoritarian parenting style, the results call into question the validity of this style to describe West Indian parenting. It might be more accurate to describe the views expressed concerning adult control as traditional. 4

5 ! Both adult control and warmth predicted aspects of parental literacy beliefs and practice, albeit different ones. Interestingly, strong attitudes in favor of adult control were related to literacy beliefs and practices, which, on the whole, could also be described as traditional.! Future research needs to examine whether parenting dimensions predict children s literacy outcomes, and to replicate these findings in larger, more representative samples. Research that illuminates how the larger cultural context has shaped relationships among more general dimensions of parenting and domain-specific practices, and how external pressures to change affect them, is also needed.! Despite a number of methodological limitations, the current study suggests that it is important to consider how parenting may be contributing to literacy outcomes in young Virgin Islanders. Notes 1. Data on these variables are only available for 16 mothers. 2. Several demographic variables demonstrated significant relationships to the main variables of interest and were entered as covariates where relevant. 3. The comparison numbers are from the National Institute of Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care sample of over 1000 mothers of preschool-aged children from 10 locations in the U.S. (Appelbaum, Battan, & Bland, 1993). References Appelbaum, M., Battan, D., & Bland, S. (1993). Child care data report 4: Maternal attitudes and feelings psychometrics. Unpublished Data Report: NICHD Study of Early Childcare Research Network. Brown, J., & Johnson, S. (2008). Childrearing and child participation in Jamaican families. International Journal of Early Years Education,16(1), Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. (2008). U.S. Virgin Islands Kids Count Data Book 2008: Our children now! Moving forward by 10%. (9 th ed.). Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI. DeBaryshe, B. D., & Binder, J. C. (1994). Development of an instrument for measuring parental beliefs about reading aloud to children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, Pianta, R. C. (1995). The Child Parent Relationship Scale. Unpublished measure: The University of Virginia. 5

6 Roopnarine, J. L., Krishnakumar, A., Metindogan, A., & Evans, M. (2006). Links between parenting styles, parent-child academic interaction, parent-school interaction, and early academic skills and social behaviors in young children of English-speaking Caribbean immigrants. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21, Schaefer, E. S., & Edgerton, M. (1985). Parent and child correlates of parental modernity. In I. E. Sigel (Ed.), Parental belief systems: The psychological consequences for children (pp ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 6