parents role in child growth essay

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• v.15(1); Jan-Feb 2021

Parenting and Child Development: A Relational Health Perspective

A child’s development is embedded within a complex system of relationships. Among the many relationships that influence children’s growth and development, perhaps the most influential is the one that exists between parent and child. Recognition of the critical importance of early parent-child relationship quality for children’s socioemotional, cognitive, neurobiological, and health outcomes has contributed to a shift in efforts to identify relational determinants of child outcomes. Recent efforts to extend models of relational health to the field of child development highlight the role that parent, child, and contextual factors play in supporting the development and maintenance of healthy parent-child relationships. This review presents a parent-child relational health perspective on development, with an emphasis on socioemotional outcomes in early childhood, along with brief attention to obesity and eating behavior as a relationally informed health outcome. Also emphasized here is the parent–health care provider relationship as a context for supporting healthy outcomes within families as well as screening and intervention efforts to support optimal relational health within families, with the goal of improving mental and physical health within our communities.

‘Viewing development through the lens of relational health reflects recognition of the critical role that relationships play in children’s social, emotional, health, and cognitive outcomes.’

“In order to develop normally, a child requires progressively more complex joint activity with one or more adults who have an irrational emotional relationship with the child. Somebody’s got to be crazy about that kid. That’s number one. First, last and always.”—Urie Bronfenbrenner “If a community values its children it must cherish their parents.”—John Bowlby

Introduction

Bronfenbrenner recognized the critical importance of the emotional relationship between a child and an adult, whereas Bowlby’s observation underscores the responsibility of communities and practitioners in supporting healthy child development by supporting parents. The belief that we can support children directly, without supporting their parents, overlooks the complex system of relationships within which children develop. 1 Together, Bronfenbrenner and Bowlby remind us that to support healthy development, we must focus on the emotional quality of the relationships within which the child participates—as well as consider how the larger community supports those relationships.

Yet parenting is a broad topic and an exhaustive review is beyond the scope of any one article. Informed by the field of infant mental health with its explicit relational focus 2 and in an effort to contribute to our understanding of parenting as multiply determined, 3 we focus our discussion here on the construct of relational health as a tool for promoting socioemotional and physical health among young children. Relational health reflects a sense of “connectedness” with attuned others, including caregivers, family members, and other individuals within the community. 4 Such a focus is consistent with the field of lifestyle medicine—which considers the environment as a social determinant of health and well-being 5 —and research on health and social behavior, which highlights parents as significant influences on children’s health. 6 Viewing development through the lens of relational health reflects recognition of the critical role that relationships play in children’s social, emotional, health, and cognitive outcomes. 3 Accordingly, the revised Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC-05) 7 considers how characteristics of the broader caregiving environment, such as coparenting quality and other close relationships, relate to developmental and mental health diagnoses. 2

Relational Health Within Primary Care: The Parent-Provider Relationship

We suggest that the parent-provider relationship provides a potentially valuable, although far less emphasized, context for promoting relational health. We present a review of the literature surrounding relational health science and encourage the health care provider to view their patients through the relational health lens. When considered from this angle, for children and their caregivers, the relationship is the patient. As health care providers endeavor to encourage healthy lifestyle choices in the families they serve, each decision a family makes—whether to the benefit or detriment—will occur in the context of their relationships. The health care provider must learn to consider and then acknowledge the family support relationships present in the exam room, the waiting room, and at home to best engage a family’s healthy choices. When caring for patients through this approach, the provider will consider the patient’s treatment choices in their realistic and relational context, rather than as compliant versus noncompliant. Moreover, by acknowledging the provider’s own relationship to the family, the provider can become a supportive member of the treatment decision team rather than an information broker, motivational interviewer, or reticent supplier of difficult-to-follow advice.

The relational health perspective considers the practitioner as a supportive (or unsupportive) “other” in navigating the sometimes difficult, uncertain, or fear-provoking experience of parenting a child from preconception through adulthood. An awareness of relational health in pediatric and adult medicine settings may increase positive outcomes in both parents and children through increased empathy. Specifically, during challenging situations, the practitioner should assess and address relationship quality rather than judging parenting or assigning sole credit or blame to either the parent or child. The focus lies in identifying strengths and opportunities in service to the relationship. 4

Relational Health Within Families: The Parent-Child Relationship

A relational health perspective on development embodies a family systems perspective as well, which recognizes the interconnectedness of individuals and relationships within families 8 and the bidirectional, transactional nature of relationships 9 ; parents affect children and children affect parents. 10 A relational health approach to understanding parent-child relationships emphasizes the dyadic connection between parent and child. Although a multitude of factors have been explored as correlates and predictors of parenting and child outcomes, we focus here on a subset of the factors that may influence relational health, with the goal of increasing practitioners’ understanding of relationship-focused approaches to health promotion within families.

Parent-Child Attachment Relationships: Parental Sensitivity and Reflective Functioning

One of the most influential relationship-focused frameworks for understanding development is attachment theory. An extensive literature describes the early parent-child attachment relationship as an enduring, emotional bond that enables children to explore the environment, 11 yet maintain the proximity and contact necessary for healthy development. Parent-infant attachment relationships, therefore, provide the earliest contexts for children’s relational health. Secure attachment balances developmentally appropriate exploration of the world with seeking closeness and comfort from the caregiver when distressed. Secure parent-child attachment relationships are associated with a range of positive social and emotional outcomes in children. 12 , 13 Conversely, disorganized attachment, a form of insecure attachment, is a risk factor for poorer developmental outcomes 14 and has been linked to disturbed caregiving behavior. 15 - 17 Efforts aimed at increasing security within these critical early relationships remain of interest to researchers and clinicians. 18 Interventions including Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), 19 , 20 Circle of Security, 21 and Video Intervention for Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) 22 have been effective in promoting secure attachment and positive child outcomes (including fewer behavior problems) via creation of measurable, positive changes in parents’ sensitive and responsive behavior, a key factor in secure attachment. 23 , 24 Yet these interventions are not widely available to the public, thus limiting the ability of clinicians to offer them to their patients and families.

Perhaps the most effective mediator toward creating change in parental sensitivity and responsiveness is fostering growth in a parent’s reflective functioning (RF). RF reflects the extent to which a parent can consider the mental states (ie, thoughts, feelings, intentions) that may motivate the behavior of self and other. 25 This capacity can be described in terms of both self-focused RF and child-focused RF. 26 , 27 Interventions such as Minding the Baby 28 , 29 and Mothering from the Inside Out 30 , 31 appear effective in supporting healthy relational outcomes via a focus on growing RF. The concept of RF is also relevant for understanding how adults’ own early relational experiences may affect their parenting. 32

Recommendations for Providers

These 2 elements of parenting—sensitive, responsive caregiving and RF—support the formation of secure parent-child relationships. 24 We suggest that health care providers use thoughtful questioning that may support parental RF, as recently suggested and detailed by Ordway et al. 33 Health care providers can also demonstrate and model RF and help build this capacity in families via routine care and also in medically intensive environments. In environments such as the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), for example, barriers to parent-neonate relational health development are prominent because of parents coping with fears of infant death and infants experiencing frequent stressors. 34 - 39 Although NICU staff recognize the critical role they play in supporting early parent-child relational health and promoting positive socioemotional outcomes among infants born prematurely, 40 this role may come secondary to the provision of direct medical support to neonates. Professionals’ engagement in reflective practice, with its focus on awareness of the mental and feeling states of self and others, 41 may be one pathway toward promoting positive infant outcomes via the provision of greater psychological support to parents of premature and medically fragile newborns. Building reflective capacity among a range of health care providers may further strengthen the foundation of early relational health within families. 33

Mothering, Fathering, and Grandparenting

Although attachment perspectives historically have emphasized the mother-child relationship, attachment theory and research has been extended to a variety of other caregiver-child relationships, including father-child relationships. 42 - 44 A family systems perspective 8 on relational health suggests that to understand development, we must consider how mother-child and father-child relationships may independently or interactively contribute to developmental outcomes.

Rigorous recent research indicates that children benefit socially and emotionally when fathers are more involved in their lives. 45 Moreover, the benefits of father involvement hold for nonresident as well as resident fathers. 46 Yet fathers’ engagement in parenting is multiply determined, 47 and individual, family, and institutional-level factors may all play important roles in predicting paternal involvement. At an individual level, a father’s identity as a parent, 48 , 49 as well as a father’s attitudes and beliefs about his role in his child’s life, 50 , 51 matter for his engagement. At the family level, evidence highlights the quality of the father’s relationship with a child’s mother. For example, mothers are more likely to be gatekeepers within families, controlling fathers’ access to children as well as the quantity and quality of fathers’ interactions with their children. 52 , 53 At a policy level, compared with countries such as Sweden where paternal leave is supported, the lack of paid paternal leave within the United States may also present barriers to fathers’ involvement with their young children as well as erode fathers’ sense of efficacy in the parental role. 54

Above and beyond these individual, family, and policy variables, mothers’ and fathers’ parenting may differ and uniquely predict developmental outcomes. For example, mothers may be the primary providers of emotional security for children via the establishment of early parent-child attachment relationships, whereas for fathers, exploration of the world may be a primary emphasis in parenting. 55 Fathers’ more stimulating play style—often involving rough-and-tumble play—may promote positive outcomes in children, including developmentally appropriate risk taking and establishment of autonomy. 56 , 57 Mothers, by contrast, are more likely to engage in object-mediated teaching interactions as well as providing structure for their children. 58 However, though mothers and fathers may have interaction styles that differ, the fact remains that many children in the United States are raised in households headed by mothers and may experience wide variability in contact with their biological fathers. 59 This fact, coupled with increasing acceptance and prevalence of families headed by same-sex parents, cautions against a return to the belief that to develop optimally, children require both fathers and mothers (known as the “essential father” hypothesis). 60

We must also recognize that nonparental primary caregivers may play a central role in the care and raising of young children. For example, the increasing number of grandparent-headed households means that more grandparents—with their own sets of strengths and challenges—are making health and wellness decisions for children and may require a unique set of supports from health care providers. 61 Even when not primary caregivers, many grandparents—especially maternal grandmothers—report being involved and influential in their grandchildren’s lives. 62 In fact, involvement of maternal grandmothers with grandchildren may buffer young children from the risks to their development posed by difficult temperament and harsh parenting by mothers. 63 A wider relational health perspective suggests that grandparents (both custodial and noncustodial) be considered as potential sources of support in children’s health and well-being.

Shifting demographics suggest that fathers, nonparental caregivers, and grandparents play an active and involved role in the lives of children. As providers, recognition of the range of relationships in which the child is embedded is critical. Examining potential biases around who is most knowledgeable or best equipped to care for children may help providers approach each adult who is involved in the child’s life as a potential partner in health promotion. 64

Coparenting Relationships

The recognition that children develop within relationships between multiple caregivers, including mothers, fathers, grandparents, and others, makes it critical to also consider the health of the relationships among these adults (ie, coparents) who share responsibility for raising particular children. 65 , 66 Whereas constructs such as marital quality or marital satisfaction focus on the intimate partner relationship, the coparenting relationship, although related, is separate and distinct. Coparenting reflects a wider range of relationship structures and processes specific to parenting. 67 , 68 For example, coparenting relationships occur among a variety of individuals who share responsibility for parenting, whether romantically involved or not, 65 , 69 such as same-sex parents, adoptive parents, divorced or never married parents, and mothers and maternal grandmothers. 70

Consistent with a family systems perspective, 8 better coparenting relationship quality is associated with children’s positive social and emotional development over and above the effects of both romantic relationship quality between parents (if present) and mothers’ and fathers’ parenting. 71 Notably, coparenting relationship quality among same-sex parents shows similar associations with children’s socioemotional development. 72 If supportive, coparenting relationships may help caregivers, especially fathers, promote children’s positive socioemotional development, 73 but undermining or conflictual coparenting relationships may have a detrimental effect on child development. For instance, although grandmother involvement may benefit children, conflict between mothers and grandmothers can be detrimental to children’s socioemotional development. 63 , 74 Thus, prevention and intervention programs have been developed to support effective relationships between coparents. 75 , 76 For example, Feinberg’s Family Foundations program targets couples expecting their first child and focuses on building strong coparenting relationships across the transition to parenthood 77 , 78 —a critical foundation for parent-child relational health.

Coparenting research highlights the role of supportive versus undermining coparenting for children’s development. Often, the extent to which coparents support or undermine one another stems from whether they share the same views on parenting goals and practices and have a similar perspective on the child’s development. Thus, when interacting with patients, we suggest inquiring about the extent of agreement versus disagreement among the adults who make decisions regarding the child’s health and development. For example, the primary custodial parent may emphasize healthy food choices and regular physical activity, whereas the nonresidential coparent may provide markedly different choices during visitation periods. Alternatively, one parent may have concerns about a child’s language or motor development, whereas a grandparent may continually emphasize that the child is “just fine.” These discrepancies in perceptions of typical versus atypical development may delay or interfere with prevention efforts, medical diagnosis, and treatment. Disagreements among multiple caregivers may create stress and tension within families, and challenges with coparenting can be addressed through prevention and intervention programs.

Parental Characteristics That Contribute to Parenting and Relational Health

Psychosocial resources and mental health.

Belsky’s early model of parenting competence suggests that multiple factors affect parenting and child outcomes, with parents’ psychosocial resources playing a prominent role. 3 Individual differences between parents in their personality characteristics affect the quality of their parenting. 79 In particular, higher openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, and lower neuroticism has been related to more optimal parenting cognitions, practices, and behaviors, including parental warmth and support for autonomy. 79 - 81

For parents with common mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, the experience of parenting may be especially challenging. Maternal depression has been linked consistently with more negative and disengaged parenting behavior and lower engagement in healthy feeding and sleep practices. 82 Less research has considered fathers’ mental health in relation to their parenting, 83 although there has been a recent increase in attention to fathers’ antenatal and postnatal depression, 84 and fathers who experience postpartum depression demonstrate lower levels of developmentally appropriate positive engagement with their infant children. 83 Anxiety disorders in fathers as well as mothers have been linked with more overinvolved parenting behavior that does not foster age-appropriate independence in children. 85

Although prevalence rates suggest the importance of considering parental anxiety and depression, other mental health disorders should be considered as well. For example, for mothers diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, higher levels of negative affectivity as well as lower rates of effortful control 86 and sensitivity, and support for child autonomy 87 have been reported. Less maternal sensitivity has also been reported among mothers with obsessive compulsive disorder. 88

Screening for parental mental health concerns from pregnancy (or from pregnancy planning) throughout the child’s development is consistent with a relational health approach. Beyond screening, health care providers can become aware of evidence-based treatments that may support healthy outcomes in children by supporting maternal mental health and parenting skills. 89 For example, the attachment-based, group intervention Mom Power, which emphasizes parenting, self-care, and engagement in treatment, holds promise for supporting positive outcomes for children by supporting maternal mental health and parenting competence. 90 With increased knowledge of evidence-based treatments for fathers’ mental health and parenting, we may be able to move beyond a focus on mothers to provide all parents with a stronger support system and resource base for effective parenting.

Parental Developmental History and Adverse Experiences in Childhood

According to Belsky’s model of the determinants of parenting, a parent’s psychosocial resources stem from their developmental history. 3 The experience of adversity and toxic stress during development may affect brain architecture , 91 a term used to convey how early experiences help build the structural foundation for healthy brain development. Under conditions of sustained, persistent stress such as maltreatment or neglect, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis may be affected, contributing to atypical diurnal patterns of cortisol and increased risk over the course of development. 92 As our understanding of the impact of toxic stress on children has grown, the focus on understanding patterns of intergenerational transmission of impaired parenting has grown as well. Experiences of adversity and toxic stress in one generation are linked to poorer parenting and developmental outcomes in the next generation. 93 Thus, improving the quality of the caregiving environment as early as possible may help improve stress responding in young children. 92

Foundational work on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as predictors of physical, relational, and behavioral health has contributed to a growing understanding of the dose-response relation between experiences of adversity in early childhood (conceptualized as exposure to abuse and household dysfunction) and well-being in adulthood 94 as well as the experience of parenting. 95 Pregnant women reporting higher levels of ACEs in early childhood, for example, exhibit more hostile parenting toward their own infants; this pattern of hostile parenting then increases the child’s risk for poorer developmental outcomes. 96

In response to growing recognition of the impact of adversity and toxic stress within families, in 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement recommending education for health professionals on ACEs along with 2-generational screening for ACEs within families. 97 , 98 By screening for parental and child ACEs, health providers may be able to provide referrals to trauma-informed therapeutic supports within the community that can help build or rebuild relational health.

Yet, in the face of adversity, the presence of individuals who are connected to the child, such as family members, can help mitigate its negative effects. 4 In addition to exploring multiple factors related to the experience of adversity, a relational health perspective suggests the importance of identifying and growing supportive connections. For example, the neurosequential model of therapeutics focuses on relational health and connectedness with others. 99 Results from recent work with this model highlight the importance of promoting the health, safety, and positivity of the parent-child relationship.

Although pediatric health care providers are aware of the impact of ACEs on parenting and developmental outcomes, additional research, education, and resources are necessary to support practitioners in identifying and addressing these impacts within families. 100 The limitations and potential cost-benefit analysis of screening for ACEs must also be considered because screening without provision of adequate referrals to evidence-based treatments may undermine the possible value of the screen. 101 Moreover, identification of appropriate screening tools for ACEs remains an important consideration. Focusing on the experiences of adversity as an ACE score that relates to poorer health outcomes may confuse correlation with causation; thus, to best inform policy and practice, factors such as timing of adversity, the overall pattern of stress, and the absence or availability of protective factors must be considered. 4 Yet through increased awareness of ACEs (both the parent’s and the child’s) as well as other psychosocial risk factors for impaired relational health, professionals can widen their lens of assessment when interacting with parents and children during medical visits.

Child Characteristics That Contribute to Parenting and Parent-Child Relational Health

Another set of key factors in the quality of parenting and parent-child relationships involves characteristics of the child. Recognizing the bidirectional nature of relationships between parents and children, Bornstein noted that “caregiving is a two-way street.” 102 Although early literature emphasized the parents’ impact on the child, a relational health approach to development suggests that we consider child contributions to parenting as well as to the overall parent-child relationship. Among a number of child characteristics that may affect parent-child relational health, research has focused on child temperament and age as well as children with special health care needs.

Temperament

Although early research on temperament emphasized the child’s inborn characteristics (eg, rhythmicity, mood) and temperament types such as easy, difficult, and slow to warm up, 103 our current understanding of temperament reflects the interplay between biological and environmental factors over the course of an individual’s development. 104 Definitions of temperament typically include individual differences in activity, emotionality, attention, and self-regulation. 104 However, particularly relevant to the experience of parenting is the temperamental characteristic of reactivity, defined as the extent to which the child is predisposed to experiencing strong negative and/or positive emotions, which may reflect the sensitivity of the nervous system to environmental stimuli. 105

Although difficult child temperament has long been viewed as a risk factor for poorer parent-child relational health, 106 more recent theory and research on the concept of differential susceptibility suggest that children with difficult or highly reactive temperaments may be more susceptible to both the negative and positive effects of the parenting environment. 105 , 107 For example, children with more difficult temperaments, reflecting higher levels of reactivity, may be particularly susceptible to the detrimental effects of negative parenting. 108 In contrast, for highly reactive children, the experience of more positive parenting is associated with fewer child behavior problems 109 and greater social competence. 110 Parenting intervention studies have further shown that more reactive children appear to benefit more from experimentally induced positive changes in parenting. 111 Thus, it is important for practitioners to shift their perspectives on “difficult” children from vulnerability to opportunity and support parents in adopting a similar view. Indeed, to the extent that the biological parents of a highly reactive child may share similar underlying genetic sensitivities, 112 these parents may be especially responsive to practitioners’ efforts, just as their children are particularly responsive to their parenting.

Because the demands and challenges of parenting change as a function of children’s age, parents must have opportunities to gain research-informed recommendations for supporting relational health with their children from birth throughout the life span. For example, within early childhood, toddlers’ and preschoolers’ growing autonomy and self-awareness creates new demands and opportunities for both parent and child. Thus, supporting parents in reflecting on the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs regarding their child’s increasing autonomy could be one strategy for supporting relational health as children move through the early childhood years. Moreover, the roles of various parenting practices for supporting children’s self-regulatory capabilities may differ across early childhood, with responsiveness most critical in infancy and other forms of support becoming more critical during the preschool years. 113 Research must, therefore, identify which practices are most relevant, at which age, 113 and for which outcome of interest. Doing so will help practitioners provide targeted support to families, based on parents’ concerns regarding their child’s particular social and emotional strengths and challenges.

Special Health Care Needs

Children with special health care needs represent a growing demographic, 114 and expert recommendations continue to promote early detection in primary care. 115 , 116 Just as providers should consider the parent factors contributing to relational health, the child’s contribution to parent-child relationships is paramount. Within the family context, a child with a developmental disability and/or special health care needs may require disproportionate resources and time compared with neurotypical siblings. 117 The child’s condition may translate into added health care costs and increased stress for parents along with decreased access to social support and leisure activities within the community. 118 , 119 For example, a systematic review of parenting stress in the face of chronic child illness indicated that among parents who were parenting a child with chronic illness, significantly higher levels of parenting stress were found; in turn, this stress was related to lower levels of psychological adjustment among parents and children. 120 Among parents of children with autism specture disorder (ASD), higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress have also been reported. 121 , 122 These higher levels of parental stress and distress may, in turn, affect parental availability and sensitivity, thus affecting relational health.

In light of the evidence on child contributions to parenting and developmental outcomes, it seems important to consider the “what” and “how” of child contributions to relational health. Identifying the ways in which child characteristics influence and interact with parenting behaviors and relational health may provide practitioners with the tools and questions necessary to shift from a focus on the effects of parenting on children to also consider how parenting has been influenced by the child and how the overall health of the relationship has been shaped by both relational partners.

Contextual and Process Variables That May Affect Relational Health

Although the bidirectional nature of parent-child relationships underscores the importance of considering parent and child contributions to relational health, a family systems approach, coupled with a bioecological approach, suggests that the social and contextual contexts in which parent-child relationships are embedded should be considered as well.

Parent-Child Feeding Practices

The promising protective role of healthy parent-child relationships in the development of obesity 123 in early childhood is also evident, perhaps via links with more optimal self-regulation in young children. 124 , 125 For example, theoretical models 125 and research 126 on the development of appetite self-regulation and positive physical activity habits, 127 , 128 which are critical to weight-related health throughout the life span, highlight the important role of parenting. Parental behaviors such as permissiveness or indulgence have been associated with weight status and obesity in childhood. More specifically, allowing children too much freedom regarding food choices in society’s obesogenic food environment can increase children’s risk for obesity. 123 Similarly, unrestricted, unmonitored screen time has also been associated with unhealthy weight status. 129 Yet the question remains to what extent these cycles occur within families, whereby parents’ lack of control over their own food choices and screen time contribute to unhealthy weight status for their children and the unhealthy weight status of children contributes to parents’ continued struggles with their own food choices and activity levels. Thus, a family-level relational approach to understanding risks for obesity may be particularly advantageous.

Given that parents’ attitudes and beliefs can shape a range of parenting behaviors related to health and wellness, including feeding practices, exploring relational correlates and predictors of feeding practices beginning in infancy seems prudent. Parents’ feeding practices provide a unique window into parent-child relationship health, because from birth, feeding makes up a critical part of parents’ daily interactions with young children. Decisions regarding breastfeeding and/or bottle-feeding can cause considerable stress for parents. 130 And although children’s eating behavior emerges early and is relatively stable over time, eating is influenced more by external factors across development. 131

Mothers who use food to soothe their distressed infants or toddlers have reported lower parenting self-efficacy and higher child negativity. 132 Using food to soothe was also linked with higher weight status among children, particularly for children who were perceived as having more negative temperaments. 132 Among preschoolers, parents’ use of food for the purpose of emotion regulation was associated with children’s increased intake of sweets when not hungry, a pattern that may reflect the early origins of children’s emotional eating. 133

Eating behaviors and nutrition are important components of lifestyle medicine. In promoting healthy eating behavior and weight outcomes for children, health care professionals can consider how parents’ attitudes may shape their feeding practices—above and beyond a child’s weight status—and how dyadic and family-level interactions around food may support or undermine relational health. From birth, providers can recognize that decisions regarding feeding (eg, breast and/or formula; homemade meals versus fast food) may be multiply determined and best understood through a relational health lens, where parent and child factors are viewed as contributing to parenting practices, practices that may differ from recommended best practices for promoting child health outcomes.

The Household Environment: Family Chaos, Technology, and Social Media Use

The home environment represents an important context for parent-child relational health, including the quality of parenting as well as children’s well-being and health. 134 - 138 Recent research, focused on household chaos, has highlighted the role of disorder/disorganization 139 and instability/turbulence 140 for understanding parenting quality and family well-being. Lower levels of household chaos (evidenced by greater organization, stability, and predictability) are associated with higher-quality parenting behavior than home environments characterized as noisy, crowded, unpredictable, and disorganized. 138 Among preschoolers, recent evidence suggests that higher rates of household chaos are also associated with higher screen use. 141

In fact, parents’ and children’s increasing engagement with, and reliance on, technology and social media suggest the need for providers to consider technology and social media as interactive partners. For example, Facebook may provide new parents with an important source of social capital, 142 and parents report using the internet to gain information about pediatric health. 143 , 144 Yet parents (and grandparents) do not report universally positive effects of their technology use. For example, parents may experience a range of internal tensions surrounding their use of mobile technology, such as cognitive, emotional, and relationship tension. 145 Researchers are documenting how technology may interrupt the flow of interaction patterns between children and their parents—a concept known as technoference. 146 For example, higher levels of child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems have been reported by mothers who also reported higher levels of technoference in their interactions with their children. 146

Supporting parents in identifying, reducing, or coping with household chaos, as well as technoference, may be promising avenues for supporting relational health. Because the experience of chaos in the home environment often co-occurs with poverty 139 as well as parental mental health symptoms, 147 screening and intervention approaches aimed at identifying and addressing the multiple co-occurring factors that relate to family chaos may be warranted. Moreover, gauging the perceived impact of technology and social media use on parent-child relational health may be an important area of inquiry for health practitioners.

Cultural Context and Relational Health

Understanding relational health requires us to also consider the impact of race, ethnicity, and culture on parent-child relationships; accordingly, consideration of diversity has moved to the forefront of our current research and practice efforts. Although broad parenting goals are remarkably similar across diverse cultures, 102 the processes by which parents in varying cultural contexts seek to achieve these goals may differ. For example, some scholars have suggested that the concept of sensitivity, the primary determinant of secure attachment according to attachment theorists, may be biased toward more individualistic cultures because it is focused on meeting the child’s individual needs. 148 Moreover, the meaning of parenting constructs such as controlling behavior may vary across cultures. For example, Asian American parents may emphasize strict control of children as part of culturally embedded approaches to parenting, which are not equivalent to western notions of harsh/controlling parenting and do not appear to have negative effects on their children’s development. 149 , 150

These debates can support practitioners in reflecting on how their own beliefs about what is the “best” kind of parenting to promote relational health and positive child outcomes may be shaping their messaging for parents. For example, among immigrant families, attention to acculturation—the process of adapting to a new culture—rather than parenting behavior, per se, may provide a window into relational health. For example, acculturation may happen at different rates for children and parents, and greater discrepancies in the level of acculturation may contribute to increased parent-child conflict. 151

The roles of culture, race, and ethnicity in parenting practices are particularly apparent with respect to discipline practices. For example, higher rates of corporal punishment, including spanking, are generally reported by African American parents, in comparison to Hispanic or white parents, 152 although recent evidence suggests similar endorsement of spanking by African American and Hispanic mothers, along with longitudinal associations between endorsement of spanking and children’s later internalizing and externalizing behaviors. 153 Evidence continues to highlight the negative impact of corporal punishment on children 154 and the AAP’s 2018 statement on effective discipline emphasizes the need for positive alternatives to corporal punishment and spanking. 155 And, although many parents report spanking their young children, these same parents may also be looking for nonphysical, effective alternatives for guiding their children’s behavior. 156

Understanding how cultural beliefs and practices shape parents’ expectations and socialization goals may help us better define what relational health is, both within and across diverse families. Health care professionals can be a source of guidance and support for parents to choose discipline strategies that align with research and support parent-child relational health. When practitioners recognize the larger context in which parents’ discipline decisions are embedded, they may more readily identify the beliefs, histories, and socialization goals that underlie families’ discipline practices. Health providers can recognize parents’ concerns regarding children’s behavior and provide culturally responsive, research-informed, preventive recommendations for helping parents identify alternative strategies to the use of corporal punishment and physical discipline.

Reducing Risks to Relational Health: Screening and Referral

Given that the parent-child relationship is critical for healthy development, health providers must adopt a dyadic-level, family systemic, and culturally informed approach to screening, referring, and treating parent-child dyads to integrate research with practice. Equipping health professionals with knowledge of relational health may provide a solid foundation for supporting parent-child relational health from birth. For example, evidence from research with pediatric residents suggests that training in a parent-child relational framework was effective in supporting residents’ observational skills and knowledge of child development. 157

An emphasis on transactional associations within families further underscores the importance of screening and early intervention to support child and parental well-being and use of positive parenting practices. 10 Commonly used assessments in parent-child attachment research, such as the Strange Situation Procedure 158 Attachment Q-Set, 159 are labor-intensive and were not developed as clinically relevant screening tools. Moreover, even when insecurity in the parent-child relationship is suspected, access to attachment-based interventions (ie, VIPP-SD, ABC) may be extremely limited.

Whereas much of the research literature on early parent-child relationships (typically mother-child relationships) has focused on attachment, recent work highlights the dyadic-level construct of emotional connection for understanding early parent-child relational health. The development of the Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) 160 reflects an effort to provide practitioners with a rapid and valid screening tool for parent-child relational health from birth to 5 years. The WECS considers the presence or absence of 4 mutual behaviors that may serve to promote and maintain emotional connection within a parent-child dyad: attraction, facial responsiveness, vocal responsiveness, and sensitivity/reciprocity. Based on the overall interaction, a score of EC+ (connected) or EC− (not connected) is assigned to the dyad.

The WECS developed out of work with the Family Nurture Intervention, which seeks to support the development of emotional connection and coregulation via the provision of calming sessions that focus on the sensory experiences of touch, vocal soothing, and skin-to-skin contact. 161 - 163 Results from an RCT study indicated that mothers and infants participating in the Family Nurture Intervention showed improvements in face-to-face dyadic interaction, including increased frequency and quality of mothers’ touch and for boys, infant’s vocal affect and gaze. 164

Emotional connection, as assessed by the WECS in infancy, has been associated with healthier autonomic responding among infants born prematurely 165 as well as with fewer internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in a full-term, longitudinal sample. 166 Thus, emerging evidence suggests that the WECS holds promise for screening, anticipatory guidance, and referral of early parent-child relationships that may benefit from support and intervention to promote healthy regulatory functioning and decrease risk for later child behavior problems. Efforts are under way to train a range of professionals—from pediatric residents to infant mental health practitioners and home visitors—to be reliable raters of parent-child relational health using the WECS.

In families with elevated risk for maltreatment, the automated self-report survey, the CARTS (Computerized Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen), reflects a relational approach to the assessment of trauma in childhood. 167 , 168 The CARTS considers what trauma occurred and assesses caregivers’ emotional availability, along with responses to the reported maltreatment. In contrast, the SEEK program (Safe Environment for Every Kid) focuses on risk factors related to child maltreatment, including parental depression, stress, and substance abuse. 168 , 169 Thus, the SEEK program may benefit pediatric primary care professionals through its focus on psychosocial stress within families, which if addressed early, may prevent child maltreatment.

Notably, SEEK embodies a relational health perspective by acknowledging the parent’s love for the child as a pathway to healthy outcomes for both parent and child as well as by acknowledging the relationships between health professionals and parents as protective factors for parents and children. 169 , 170 For example, part of the SEEK program is the SEEK Parent Questionnaire, which begins by empathetically validating the sometimes challenging everyday experience of being a parent while simultaneously offering support to parents dealing with concerning circumstances. SEEK also aims to support relational health through the REAP approach, which encourages health care providers to Reflect-Empathize-Assess-and Plan with parents.

Intervention approaches that incorporate mindfulness practices, such as the 9-week Mindful Parenting course tested in the Netherlands, also hold promise for supporting relational health within families. Mindful Parenting aims to increase awareness, decrease parental stress, and improve coparenting. 171 Both parents participating in the program and their children report reductions in internalizing/externalizing symptomology. The interpersonal focus of mindfulness-based interventions supports healthy parent-child relationships through increased awareness of parent-child interactions as well as positive changes in both child and parent functioning. 172

Summary and Conclusions

Beyond attachment theory, which emphasizes parental sensitivity and responsivity as a primary determinant of attachment security, a relational health science approach offers a wider lens for understanding how parent-child relationships may affect children’s development. A relational health approach recognizes both partners’ contributions to the establishment and maintenance of relational processes and highlights the potential value of the health care provider as a relational partner for parents and children. Our focus here was on socioemotional development; future work will consider how a relational health framework can be applied to a range of parent-child health decisions from vaccinations and sleep behaviors, to physical activity, and medication use.

Although we view primary care as a valuable context for supporting relational health, continued development and validation of screening tools for relational health that are suitable for clinical and applied contexts remain an important goal along with more widespread availability of effective interventions. Moreover, given the existing demands on health care providers, we recognize that a relational health perspective on development may create additional demands on providers. Perhaps a necessary first step is a shift in perspective, more than a shift in practice. By viewing the parent-child relationship as part of the “patient” and, therefore, part of health promotion, the long-term gains may be worth the initial investment.

By networking with community resources, health care providers can build a pipeline of referrals for parents as a component of pediatric and primary care. Offering parent-friendly pamphlets, information sheets, and face-to-face communication that reflects a relational health view on development may help parents see themselves as partners in relational health, rather than as the cause of their child’s mental health, behavioral, or developmental problems. Such negative attributions may contribute to feelings of shame and guilt—feelings that may undermine parenting self-efficacy and parents’ engagement in children’s wellness and treatment. The AAP’s recent call for pediatricians to partner with parents in supporting healthy outcomes through the sharing of information regarding child development and parenting 155 reflects the promise of a relational health approach.

Returning to the opening quote from Bowlby, we suggest that health care providers are in a strong position to serve children by valuing their parents and viewing child development through the lens of relational health. Perhaps by uncovering who that person is—the one who is “irrationally crazy” about the child, as Bronfenbrenner advised—professionals can help cultivate and reinforce that connection. And in its absence, we can seek to identify ways to build a web of relational health for the child and for the parent, a web that can support each partner in service to the relationship.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ariana Shahinfar, Robert Ludwig, and Mark Lopez for feedback on an earlier version of this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethical Approval: Not applicable, because this article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

Informed Consent: Not applicable, because this article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

Trial Registration: Not applicable, because this article does not contain any clinical trials.

Parents’ Influence on a Child Essay: How Parents Affect Behavior and Development

Do you wonder how parents influence their child? Read our parents’ influence on a child essay example and learn about the parental impact on behavior and development.

Introduction

• Financial Resources
• Education Level

Unemployed Parents

• Involvement of Parents
• Support from Parents
• Understanding of the Child’s Future
• Motivation from Parents
• Parental Goal-Setting
• The Importance of Discipline

Parents are means of structuring their child’s future. They have a very crucial role to play in their child’s growth and his/her conduct. During the days when schooling was considered to be accessible only to the children of the opulent, those who were not privileged enough to go to school, remained at home and helped their parents in daily chores.

Such children used to emulate their parents in their deeds and conduct. “In large part, we as children are shaped by what we see our parents do and how we see them act. I know that I have tried to model after my parents in many ways because I think they have done many things right” (Enotes, 2010).

But during the years, owing to the numerous opportunities available, parents have started devoting more time towards their work. Moreover, education has been simplified and has easy access. Children have started going to schools and as such, both parents and their children don’t have enough time to spend with each other. But still there are parents who devote time towards their children and try and teach them.

It has been observed that children, who have their parents’ guidance and participation in their school activities, achieve more in life as compared to those who totally depend on their schools. “…is that when parents get involved in their children’s education, they offer not only information specific to the classroom, but likely help in giving children a broader level of academic information” (Jeynes, 2011).

There are a few factors related to parents that have a major role to play in the child’s upbringing and education. These are:

Financial resources of parents

Financial resources mean the income of the parents. If the income of parents is good, they can afford to provide extra study material to their child at home. There is a lot of referencing material required by children and as such parents earning better can provide their child with books, periodicals, magazines, etc. Technological devices like the computer play an important role in a child’s standard of education. Parents earning handsomely can provide their child with a computer at home so that he/she can complete online projects. “Poverty takes a toll on students’ school performance. Poor children are twice as likely as their more affluent counterparts to repeat a grade; to be suspended, expelled, or drop out of high school; and to be placed in special education classes” (Education).

Education level of the parents

If the parents are well educated, they ought to understand the importance of education and will encourage their child to study better and up to high levels. Uneducated or less educated parents will not be able to understand the importance of moulding their child’s career from the early school days. On the contrary, well educated parents will understand that for achieving success and objectives, the foundation of their child should be strong.

Unemployed parents are disgruntled and as such the atmosphere at home is not conducive for a child to study. Children find it suffocating at home and as such can’t concentrate on their studies even at their schools. Nicole Biedinger remarked that “…it is hypothesized that the home environment and family background are very important for the cognitive abilities and for their improvement” (Biedinger 2011). He further continues that “Previous research has shown that there exist developmental differences of children from different social classes” (Biedinger, 2011).

Involvement of parents

It will not be contradictory to state that parents and schools have an equal effect on the development of children. Both have an important role to play and are links to a child’s future. Even if one of the links is missing, it will have a negative impact on the child. Parents can get involved in their child’s upbringing by keeping a constant vigil on his/her school work. They can also visit his/her school on occasions such as parent-teacher meetings, annual days, sport events, social get-togethers, etc. All this will help in developing confidence in the child and also a sense of safety and protection.

Once a child is grown up, the parents can still contribute towards building their child’s confidence and identifying his/her qualities by talking to him/her on various career related issues.

Support from parents

Even if parents are not able to contribute financially by providing the essential tools for education, they can at least act as moral boosters for their child. They can inculcate, in their child, the habit of studying hard in order to attain success in life. Such children can defy all odds and prove to fulfil their parents’ aspirations. Alison Rich emphasized that “A cognitively stimulating home need not be one that is rich in material resources. Parents can simply discuss issues of importance with their children, talk to them about what they are doing in school, or spend time doing activities that will develop their skills and abilities” (Rich, 2000).

Parents’ understanding of their child’s future

Simply by getting involved in their child’s school activities, parents cannot guarantee their child’s success. Parents should be well acquainted with the ongoing educational process and various courses available. Information on when to go for any particular course is very crucial. As for example, parents must be aware of any courses that their child might require before going to the college. There are various pre-college courses that improve the grasping power of students. Further, a child will not be able to tell as to what he/she wants to achieve in life. But parents, by knowing his/her interests, can assess their child’s inclination and can further encourage him/her to pursue those interests.

Motivation from parents

Usually, parents tell bed-time stories to their children. These stories have a great impact on the way a child thinks and are instrumental to quite some extent in moulding his/her behaviour and conduct. So parents should tell such stories that have some moral values. The child will get inspired from them and behave accordingly. Stories of heroes and successful people will encourage the child to be like one of them. Parents can also motivate their children by doing good acts themselves.

Parents to set goals for their child

Achieving one’s goals in life is a very important factor of success. Success comes to those who achieve their aims and objectives. Even though there are no fixed parameters for achieving success, it solely depends on the hard work, enthusiasm and motivation of a person. These qualities don’t come instantly but have to be nurtured since childhood. So parents, who want their child to succeed, should start giving him/her small targets to be completed in a given time-frame. Gradually, the child will be habituated to achieve targets and this will be helpful to a great extent in his/her future life, may it be his/her education or career.

Inculcating the importance of discipline

Being disciplined is one of the most critical requirements of being successful. Similar to the habit of achieving targets, discipline also doesn’t come instantly. It has to be inculcated since childhood.

Parents can teach discipline to their child by following certain rules. They can have strict time frames for different activities of their child at home such as study hours, watching the television programmes, having supper and other meals, and going to bed. A sense of responsibility can also be imposed on the child by allocating to him/her certain house-hold tasks.

Having mentioned all the above factors, it can be concluded that parents have an ever-lasting impact on their child’s education. It has been observed that in cases where parents have involvement in their children’s education, the children portray the following virtues: better grades at school, better rates of graduation, fewer absentees from school, better inspiration and confidence, abstaining from drugs, smoking, alcohol and other sedatives, transparency, and being responsible.

Both parents and the school have to work in mutual co-operation to enhance the educational experience of a child and to mould his/her career. In fact, schools encourage parents to be more involved in their children’s activities because the school authorities know that parents’ involvement can bring about great positive changes in the students. That’s the reason schools invite parents to attend various school activities and functions.

Biedinger, N. (2011). The influence of education and home environment on the cognitive outcomes of preschool children in Germany . Web.

Education. (n.d.). Out-of-school influences and academic success-background, parental influence, family economic status, preparing for school, physical and mental health . Web.

Enotes. (2010). How do parents influence children in life? Web.

Jeynes, W. (2011). Parental involvement and academic success . New York: Routledge.

Rich, A. (2000). Beyond the classroom: How parents influence their children’s education . Web.

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Bibliography

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• Work and Good Health of the Employed and the Unemployed
• Being Unemployed and the Impact of Unemployment as a Broad Issue
• Loss Aversion in Unemployed People
• Responsibility of Educated People to the Society
• Unemployment Effects on Lithuania Individuals
• Children Learning Activities and Parental Involvement
• Unemployed Insurance in Social Security
• Well-Educated Person and Their Characteristics
• Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the MENA
• School Uniform and Maintenance of Discipline
• Teaching Philosophy in Early Childhood
• Assessment and Evaluation
• Plan of Assessing Learner Performances
• Changing the Structure of the Class Grading System
• Influence of Cultural Identity the Way Middle School Students Learn

Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (2016)

Chapter: 1 introduction, 1 introduction.

Parents are among the most important people in the lives of young children. 1 From birth, children are learning and rely on mothers and fathers, as well as other caregivers acting in the parenting role, to protect and care for them and to chart a trajectory that promotes their overall well-being. While parents generally are filled with anticipation about their children’s unfolding personalities, many also lack knowledge about how best to provide for them. Becoming a parent is usually a welcomed event, but in some cases, parents’ lives are fraught with problems and uncertainty regarding their ability to ensure their child’s physical, emotional, or economic well-being.

At the same time, this study was fundamentally informed by recognition that the task of ensuring children’s healthy development does not rest solely with parents or families. It lies as well with governments and organizations at the local/community, state, and national levels that provide programs and services to support parents and families. Society benefits socially and economically from providing current and future generations of parents with the support they need to raise healthy and thriving children ( Karoly et al., 2005 ; Lee et al., 2015 ). In short, when parents and other caregivers are able to support young children, children’s lives are enriched, and society is advantaged by their contributions.

To ensure positive experiences for their children, parents draw on the resources of which they are aware or that are at their immediate disposal.

___________________

1 In this report, “parents” refers to the primary caregivers of young children in the home. In addition to biological and adoptive parents, main caregivers may include kinship (e.g., grandparents), foster, and other types of caregivers.

However, these resources may vary in number, availability, and quality at best, and at worst may be offered sporadically or not at all. Resources may be close at hand (e.g., family members), or they may be remote (e.g., government programs). They may be too expensive to access, or they may be substantively inadequate. Whether located in early childhood programs, school-based classrooms, well-child clinics, or family networks, support for parents of young children is critical to enhancing healthy early childhood experiences, promoting positive outcomes for children, and helping parents build strong relationships with their children (see Box 1-1 ).

The parent-child relationship that the parent described in Box 1-1 sought and continues to work toward is central to children’s growth and

development—to their social-emotional and cognitive functioning, school success, and mental and physical health. Experiences during early childhood affect children’s well-being over the course of their lives. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when children’s brains are developing rapidly and when nearly all of their experiences are created and shaped by their parents and by the positive or difficult circumstances in which the parents find themselves. Parents play a significant role in helping children build and refine their knowledge and skills, as well as their learning expectations, beliefs, goals, and coping strategies. Parents introduce children to the social world where they develop understandings of themselves and their place and value in society, understandings that influence their choices and experiences over the life course.

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

Over the past several decades, researchers have identified parenting-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with improved developmental outcomes for children and around which parenting-related programs, policies, and messaging initiatives can be designed. However, consensus is lacking on the elements of parenting that are most important to promoting child well-being, and what is known about effective parenting has not always been adequately integrated across different service sectors to give all parents the information and support they need. Moreover, knowledge about effective parenting has not been effectively incorporated into policy, which has resulted in a lack of coordinated and targeted efforts aimed at supporting parents.

Several challenges to the implementation of effective parenting practices exist as well. One concerns the scope and complexity of hardships that influence parents’ use of knowledge, about effective parenting, including their ability to translate that knowledge into effective parenting practices and their access to and participation in evidence-based parenting-related programs and services. Many families in the United States are affected by such hardships, which include poverty, parental mental illness and substance use, and violence in the home. A second challenge is inadequate attention to identifying effective strategies for engaging and utilizing the strengths of fathers, discussed later in this chapter and elsewhere in this report. Even more limited is the understanding of how mothers, fathers, and other caregivers together promote their children’s development and analysis of the effects of fathers’ parenting on child outcomes. A third challenge is limited knowledge of exactly how culture and the direct effects of racial discrimination influence childrearing beliefs and practices or children’s development ( National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2000 ). Despite acknowledgment of and attention to the importance of culture in

the field of developmental science, few studies have explored differences in parenting among demographic communities that vary in race and ethnicity, culture, and immigrant experience, among other factors, and the implications for children’s development.

In addition, the issue of poverty persists, with low-income working families being particularly vulnerable to policy and economic shifts. Although these families have benefited in recent years from the expansion of programs and policies aimed at supporting them (discussed further below), the number of children living in deep poverty has increased ( Sherman and Trisi, 2014 ). 2 Moreover, the portrait of America’s parents and children has changed over the past 50 years as a result of shifts in the numbers and origins of immigrants to the United States and in the nation’s racial, ethnic, and cultural composition ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ; Migration Policy Institute, 2016 ). Family structure also has grown increasingly diverse across class, race, and ethnicity, with fewer children now being raised in households with two married parents; more living with same-sex parents; and more living with kinship caregivers, such as grandparents, and in other household arrangements ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ). Lastly, parenting increasingly is being shaped by technology and greater access to information about parenting, some of which is not based in evidence and much of which is only now being studied closely.

The above changes in the nation’s demographic, economic, and technological landscape, discussed in greater detail below, have created new opportunities and challenges with respect to supporting parents of young children. Indeed, funding has increased for some programs designed to support children and families. At the state and federal levels, policy makers recently have funded new initiatives aimed at expanding early childhood education ( Barnett et al., 2015 ). Over the past several years, the number of states offering some form of publicly funded prekindergarten program has risen to 39, and after slight dips during the Great Recession of 2008, within-state funding of these programs has been increasing ( Barnett et al., 2015 ). Furthermore, the 2016 federal budget allocates about $750 million for state-based preschool development grants focused on improved access and better quality of care and an additional $1 billion for Head Start programs ( U.S. Department of Education, 2015 ; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015 ). The federal budget also includes additional funding for the expansion of early childhood home visiting programs ($15 billion over the next 10 years) and increased access to child care for low-income working families ($28 billion over 10 years) ( U.S. Department

2 Deep poverty is defined as household income that is 50 percent or more below the federal poverty level (FPL). In 2015, the FPL for a four-person household was $24,250 ( Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2015 ).

of Health and Human Services, 2015 ). Low-income children and families have been aided as well in recent years by increased economic support from government in the form of both cash benefits (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit) and noncash benefits (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and millions of children and their families have moved out of poverty as a result ( Sherman and Trisi, 2014 ).

It is against this backdrop of need and opportunity that the Administration for Children and Families, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, the Foundation for Child Development, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine empanel a committee to conduct a study to examine the state of the science with respect to parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices tied to positive parent-child interactions and child outcomes and strategies for supporting them among parents of young children ages 0-8. The purpose of this study was to provide a roadmap for the future of parenting and family support policies, practices, and research in the United States.

The statement of task for the Committee on Supporting the Parents of Young Children is presented in Box 1-2 . The committee was tasked with describing barriers to and facilitators for strengthening parenting capacity and parents’ participation and retention in salient programs and services. The committee was asked to assess the evidence and then make recommendations whose implementation would promote wide-scale adoption of effective strategies for enabling the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Given the multi- and interdisciplinary nature of the study task, the 18-member committee comprised individuals with an array of expertise, including child development, early childhood education, developmental and educational psychology, child psychiatry, social work, family engagement research, pediatric medicine, public and health policy, health communications, implementation science, law, and economics (see Appendix D for biosketches of the committee members).

WHAT IS PARENTING?

Conceptions of who parents are and what constitute the best conditions for raising children vary widely. From classic anthropological and human development perspectives, parenting often is defined as a primary mechanism of socialization, that is, a primary means of training and preparing children to meet the demands of their environments and take advantage

of opportunities within those environments. As Bornstein (1991, p. 6) explains, the “particular and continuing task of parents and other caregivers is to enculturate children . . . to prepare them for socially accepted physical, economic, and psychological situations that are characteristic of the culture in which they are to survive and thrive.”

Attachment security is a central aspect of development that has been

defined as a child’s sense of confidence that the caregiver is there to meet his or her needs ( Main and Cassidy, 1988 ). All children develop attachments with their parents, but how parents interact with their young children, including the extent to which they respond appropriately and consistently to their children’s needs, particularly in times of distress, influences whether the attachment relationship that develops is secure or insecure. Young chil-

dren who are securely attached to their parents are provided a solid foundation for healthy development, including the establishment of strong peer relationships and the ability to empathize with others ( Bowlby, 1978 ; Chen et al., 2012 ; Holmes, 2006 ; Main and Cassidy, 1988 ; Murphy and Laible, 2013 ). Conversely, young children who do not become securely attached with a primary caregiver (e.g., as a result of maltreatment or separation) may develop insecure behaviors in childhood and potentially suffer other adverse outcomes over the life course, such as mental health disorders and disruption in other social and emotional domains ( Ainsworth and Bell, 1970 ; Bowlby, 2008 ; Schore, 2005 ).

More recently, developmental psychologists and economists have described parents as investing resources in their children in anticipation of promoting the children’s social, economic, and psychological well-being. Kalil and DeLeire (2004) characterize this promotion of children’s healthy development as taking two forms: (1) material, monetary, social, and psychological resources and (2) provision of support, guidance, warmth, and love. Bradley and Corwyn (2004) characterize the goals of these investments as helping children successfully regulate biological, cognitive, and social-emotional functioning.

Parents possess different levels and quality of access to knowledge that can guide the formation of their parenting attitudes and practices. As discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2 , the parenting practices in which parents engage are influenced and informed by their knowledge, including facts and other information relevant to parenting, as well as skills gained through experience or education. Parenting practices also are influenced by attitudes, which in this context refer to parents’ viewpoints, perspectives, reactions, or settled ways of thinking with respect to the roles and importance of parents and parenting in children’s development, as well as parents’ responsibilities. Attitudes may be part of a set of beliefs shared within a cultural group and founded in common experiences, and they often direct the transformation of knowledge into practice.

Parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices are shaped, in part, by parents’ own experiences (including those from their own childhood) and circumstances; expectations and practices learned from others, such as family, friends, and other social networks; and beliefs transferred through cultural and social systems. Parenting also is shaped by the availability of supports within the larger community and provided by institutions, as well as by policies that affect the availability of supportive services.

Along with the multiple sources of parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices and their diversity among parents, it is important to acknowledge the diverse influences on the lives of children. While parents are central to children’ development, other influences, such as relatives, close family friends, teachers, community members, peers, and social institutions, also

contribute to children’s growth and development. Children themselves are perhaps the most essential contributors to their own development. Thus, the science of parenting is framed within the theoretical perspective that parenting unfolds in particular contexts; is embedded in a network of relationships within and outside of the family; and is fluid and continuous, changing over time as children and parents grow and develop.

In addition, it is important to recognize that parenting affects not only children but also parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents’ lives; generate stress or calm; compete for time with work or leisure; and create combinations of any number of emotions, including happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger.

STUDY CONTEXT

As attention to early childhood development has increased over the past 20 years, so, too, has attention to those who care for young children. A recent Institute of Medicine and National Research Council report on the early childhood workforce ( Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2015 ) illustrates the heightened focus not only on whether young children have opportunities to be exposed to healthy environments and supports but also on the people who provide those supports. Indeed, an important responsibility of parents is identifying those who will care for their children in their absence. Those individuals may include family members and others in parents’ immediate circle, but they increasingly include non-family members who provide care and education in formal and informal settings outside the home, such as schools and home daycare centers.

Throughout its deliberations, the committee considered several questions relevant to its charge: What knowledge and attitudes do parents of young children bring to the task of parenting? How are parents engaged with their young children, and how do the circumstances and behaviors of both parents and children influence the parent-child relationship? What types of support further enhance the natural resources and skills that parents bring to the parenting role? How do parents function and make use of their familial and community resources? What policies and resources at the local, state, and federal levels assist parents? What practices do they expect those resources to reinforce, and from what knowledge and attitudes are those practices derived? On whom or what do they rely in the absence of those resources? What serves as an incentive for participation in parenting programs? How are the issues of parenting different or the same across culture and race? What factors constrain parents’ positive relationships with their children, and what research is needed to advance agendas that can help parents sustain such relationships?

The committee also considered research in the field of neuroscience,

which further supports the foundational role of early experiences in healthy development, with effects across the life course ( Center on the Developing Child, 2007 ; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009 ; World Health Organization, 2015 ). During early childhood, the brain undergoes a rapid development that lays the foundation for a child’s lifelong learning capacity and emotional and behavioral health (see Figure 1-1 ). This research has provided a more nuanced understanding of the importance of investments in early childhood and parenting. Moreover, advances in analyses of epigenetic effects on early brain development demonstrate consequences of parenting for neural development at the level of DNA, and suggest indirect consequences of family conditions such as poverty that operate on early child development, in part, through the epigenetic consequences of parenting ( Lipinia and Segretin, 2015 ).

This report comes at a time of flux in public policies aimed at supporting parents and their young children. The cost to parents of supporting their children’s healthy development (e.g., the cost of housing, health care, child care, and education) has increased at rates that in many cases have offset the improvements and increases provided for by public policies. As noted above, for example, the number of children living in deep poverty has grown since the mid-1990s ( Sherman and Trisi, 2014 ). While children represent approximately one-quarter of the country’s population, they make up 32 percent of all the country’s citizens who live in poverty ( Child Trends Databank, 2015a ). About one in every five children in the United States is now growing up in families with incomes below the poverty line, and 9 percent of children live in deep poverty (families with incomes below 50%

of the poverty line) ( Child Trends Databank, 2015a ). The risk of growing up poor continues to be particularly high for children in female-headed households; in 2013, approximately 55 percent of children under age 6 in such households lived at or below the poverty threshold, compared with 10 percent of children in married couple families ( DeNavas-Walt and Proctor, 2014 ). Black and Hispanic children are more likely to live in deep poverty (18 and 13%, respectively) compared with Asian and white children (5% each) ( Child Trends Databank, 2015a ). Also noteworthy is that child care policy, including the recent increases in funding for low-income families, ties child care subsidies to employment. Unemployed parents out of school are not eligible, and job loss results in subsidy loss and, in turn, instability in child care arrangements for young children ( Ha et al., 2012 ).

As noted earlier, this report also comes at a time of rapid change in the demographic composition of the country. This change necessitates new understandings of the norms and values within and among groups, the ways in which recent immigrants transition to life in the United States, and the approaches used by diverse cultural and ethnic communities to engage their children during early childhood and utilize institutions that offer them support in carrying out that role. The United States now has the largest absolute number of immigrants in its history ( Grieco et al., 2012 ; Passel and Cohn, 2012 ; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 ), and the proportion of foreign-born residents today (13.1%) is nearly as high as it was at the turn of the 20th century ( National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015 ). As of 2014, 25 percent of children ages 0-5 in the United States had at least one immigrant parent, compared with 13.5 percent in 1990 ( Migration Policy Institute, 2016 ). 3 In many urban centers, such as Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City, the majority of the student body of public schools is first- or second-generation immigrant children ( Suárez-Orozco et al., 2008 ).

Immigrants to the United States vary in their countries of origin, their reception in different communities, and the resources available to them. Researchers increasingly have called attention to the wide variation not only among but also within immigrant groups, including varying premigration histories, familiarity with U.S. institutions and culture, and childrearing

3 Shifting demographics in the United States have resulted in increased pressure for service providers to meet the needs of all children and families in a culturally sensitive manner. In many cases, community-level changes have overwhelmed the capacity of local child care providers and health service workers to respond to the language barriers and cultural parenting practices of the newly arriving immigrant groups, particularly if they have endured trauma. For example, many U.S. communities have worked to address the needs of the growing Hispanic population, but it has been documented that in some cases, eligible Latinos are “less likely to access available social services than other populations” ( Helms et al., 2015 ; Wildsmith et al., 2016 ).

strategies ( Crosnoe, 2006 ; Fuller and García Coll, 2010 ; Galindo and Fuller, 2010 ; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2010 ; Takanishi, 2004 ). Immigrants often bring valuable social and human capital to the United States, including unique competencies and sociocultural strengths. Indeed, many young immigrant children display health and learning outcomes better than those of children of native-born parents in similar socioeconomic positions ( Crosnoe, 2013 ). At the same time, however, children with immigrant parents are more likely than children in native-born families to grow up poor ( Hernandez et al., 2008 , 2012 ; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015 ; Raphael and Smolensky, 2009 ). Immigrant parents’ efforts to raise healthy children also can be thwarted by barriers to integration that include language, documentation, and discrimination ( Hernandez et al., 2012 ; Yoshikawa, 2011 ).

The increase in the nation’s racial and ethnic diversity over the past several decades, related in part to immigration, is a trend that is expected to continue ( Colby and Ortman, 2015 ; Taylor, 2014 ). Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of Americans identifying as black, Hispanic, Asian, or “other” increased from 15 percent to 36 percent of the population ( U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 ). Over this same time, the percentage of non-Hispanic white children under age 10 declined from 60 percent to 52 percent, while the percentage of Hispanic ethnicity (of any race) grew from about 19 percent to 25 percent ( U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 ); the percentages of black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian children under age 10 remained relatively steady (at about 15%, 1%, and 4-5%, respectively); and the percentages of children in this age group identifying as two or more races increased from 3 percent to 5 percent ( U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 ).

The above-noted shifts in the demographic landscape with regard to family structure, including increases in divorce rates and cohabitation, new types of parental relationships, and the involvement of grandparents and other relatives in the raising of children ( Cancian and Reed, 2008 ; Fremstad and Boteach, 2015 ), have implications for how best to support families. Between 1960 and 2014, the percentage of children under age 18 who lived with two married parents (biological, nonbiological, or adoptive) decreased from approximately 85 percent to 64 percent. In 1960, 8 percent of children lived in households headed by single mothers; by 2014, that figure had tripled to about 24 percent ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ; U.S. Census Bureau, 2016 ). Meanwhile, the proportions of children living with only their fathers or with neither parent (with either relatives or non-relatives) have remained relatively steady since the mid-1980s, at about 4 percent (see Figure 1-2 ). Black children are significantly more likely to live in households headed by single mothers and also are more likely to live in households where neither parent is present. In 2014, 34 percent of black

children lived with two parents, compared with 58 percent of Hispanic children, 75 percent of white children, and 85 percent of Asian children ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ).

From 1996 to 2015, the number of cohabiting couples with children rose from 1.2 million to 3.3 million ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ). Moreover, data from the National Health Interview Survey show that in 2013, 30,000 children under age 18 had married same-sex parents and 170,000 had unmarried same-sex parents, and between 1.1 and 2.0 million were being raised by a parent who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual but was not part of a couple ( Gates, 2014 ).

More families than in years past rely on kinship care (full-time care of children by family members other than parents or other adults with whom children have a family-like relationship). When parents are unable to care for their children because of illness, military deployment, incarceration, child abuse, or other reasons, kinship care can help cultivate familial and community bonds, as well as provide children with a sense of stability and belonging ( Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012 ; Winokur et al., 2014 ). It is estimated that the number of children in kinship care grew six times the rate of the number of children in the general population over the past decade ( Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012 ). In 2014, 7 percent of children lived in households headed by grandparents, as compared with 3 percent in 1970 ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b ), and as of 2012, about 10 percent of American children lived in a household where a grandparent was present ( Ellis and Simmons, 2014 ). Black children are twice as likely as the overall population of children to live in kinship arrangements, with about 20 percent of black children spending time in kinship care at some point

during their childhood ( Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012 ). Beyond kinship care, about 400,000 U.S. children under age 18 are in foster care with about one-quarter of these children living with relatives ( Child Trends Databank, 2015c ). Of the total number of children in foster care, 7 percent are under age 1, 33 percent are ages 1-5, and 23 percent are ages 6-10 ( Child Trends Databank, 2015c ). Other information about the structure of American families is more difficult to come by. For example, there is a lack of data with which to assess trends in the number of children who are raised by extended family members through informal arrangements as opposed to through the foster care system.

As noted earlier, fathers, including biological fathers and other male caregivers, have historically been underrepresented in parenting research despite their essential role in the development of young children. Young children with involved and nurturing fathers develop better linguistic and cognitive skills and capacities, including academic readiness, and are more emotionally secure and have better social connections with peers as they get older ( Cabrera and Tamis-LeMonda, 2013 ; Harris and Marmer, 1996 ; Lamb, 2004 ; Pruett, 2000 ; Rosenberg and Wilcox, 2006 ; Yeung et al., 2000 ). Conversely, children with disengaged fathers have been found to be more likely to develop behavioral problems ( Amato and Rivera, 1999 ; Ramchandani et al., 2013 ). With both societal shifts in gender roles and increased attention to fathers’ involvement in childrearing in recent years, fathers have assumed greater roles in the daily activities associated with raising young children, such as preparing and eating meals with them, reading to and playing and talking with them, and helping them with homework ( Bianchi et al., 2007 ; Cabrera et al., 2011 ; Jones and Mosher, 2013 ; Livingston and Parker, 2011 ). In two-parent families, 16 percent of fathers were stay-at-home parents in 2012, compared with 10 percent in 1989; 21 percent of these fathers stayed home specifically to care for their home or family, up from 5 percent in 1989 ( Livingston, 2014 ). At the same time, however, fewer fathers now live with their biological children because of increases in nonmarital childbearing (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015).

In addition, as alluded to earlier, parents of young children face trans-formative changes in technology that can have a strong impact on parenting and family life ( Collier, 2014 ). Research conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that, relative to other household configurations, married parents with children under age 18 use the Internet and cell phones, own computers, and adopt broadband at higher rates ( Duggan and Lenhart, 2015 ). Other types of households, however, such as single-parent and unmarried multiadult households, also show high usage of technology, particularly text messaging and social media ( Smith, 2015 ). Research by the Pew Research Center (2014) shows that many parents—25 percent in

one survey ( Duggan et al., 2015 )—view social media as a useful source of parenting information.

At the same time, however, parents also are saturated with information and faced with the difficulty of distinguishing valid information from fallacies and myths about raising children ( Aubrun and Grady, 2003 ; Center on Media and Human Development, 2014 ; Dworkin et al., 2013 ; Future of Children, 2008 ). Given the number and magnitude of innovations in media and communications technologies, parents may struggle with understanding the optimal use of technology in the lives of their children.

Despite engagement with Internet resources, parents still report turning to family, friends, and physicians more often than to online sources such as Websites, blogs, and social network sites for parenting advice ( Center on Media and Human Development, 2014 ). Although many reports allude to the potentially harmful effects of media and technology, parents generally do not report having many concerns or family conflicts regarding their children’s media use. On the other hand, studies have confirmed parents’ fears about an association between children’s exposure to violence in media and increased anxiety ( Funk, 2005 ), desensitization to violence ( Engelhardt et al., 2011 ), and aggression ( Willoughby et al., 2012 ). And although the relationship between media use and childhood obesity is challenging to disentangle, studies have found that children who spend more time with media are more likely to be overweight than children who do not (see Chapter 2 ) ( Bickham et al., 2013 ; Institute of Medicine, 2011 ; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004 ).

The benefits of the information age have included reduced barriers to knowledge for both socially advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Yet despite rapidly decreasing costs of many technologies (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and computers), parents of lower socioeconomic position and from racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely to have access to and take advantage of these resources ( Center on Media and Human Development, 2014 ; File and Ryan, 2014 ; Institute of Medicine, 2006 ; Perrin and Duggan, 2015 ; Smith, 2015 ; Viswanath et al., 2012 ). A digital divide also exists between single-parent and two-parent households, as the cost of a computer and monthly Internet service can be more of a financial burden for the former families, which on average have lower household incomes ( Allen and Rainie, 2002 ; Dworkin et al., 2013 ).

STUDY APPROACH

The committee’s approach to its charge consisted of a review of the evidence in the scientific literature and several other information-gathering activities.

Evidence Review

The committee conducted an extensive review of the scientific literature pertaining to the questions raised in its statement of task ( Box 1-2 ). It did not undertake a full review of all parenting-related studies because it was tasked with providing a targeted report that would direct stakeholders to best practices and succinctly capture the state of the science. The committee’s literature review entailed English-language searches of databases including, but not limited to, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Medline, the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Additional literature and other resources were identified by committee members and project staff using traditional academic research methods and online searches. The committee focused its review on research published in peer-reviewed journals and books (including individual studies, review articles, and meta-analyses), as well as reports issued by government agencies and other organizations. The committee’s review was concentrated primarily, although not entirely, on research conducted in the United States, occasionally drawing on research from other Western countries (e.g., Germany and Australia), and rarely on research from other countries.

In reviewing the literature and formulating its conclusions and recommendations, the committee considered several, sometimes competing, dimensions of empirical work: internal validity, external validity, practical significance, and issues of implementation, such as scale-up with fidelity ( Duncan et al., 2007 ; McCartney and Rosenthal, 2000 ; Rosenthal and Rosnow, 2007 ).

With regard to internal validity , the committee viewed random-assignment experiments as the primary model for establishing cause- and-effect relationships between variables with manipulable causes (e.g., Rosenthal and Rosnow, 2007 ; Shadish et al., 2001 ). Given the relatively limited body of evidence from experimental studies in the parenting literature, however, the committee also considered findings from quasi-experimental studies (including those using regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, and difference-in-difference techniques based on natural experiments) ( Duncan et al., 2007 ; Foster, 2010 ; McCartney et al., 2006 ) and from observational studies, a method that can be used to test logical propositions inherent to causal inference, rule out potential sources of bias, and assess the sensitivity of results to assumptions regarding study design and measurement. These include longitudinal studies and limited cross-sectional studies. Although quasi- and nonexperimental studies may fail to meet the “gold standard” of randomized controlled trials for causal inference, studies with a variety of internal validity strengths and weaknesses can collectively provide useful evidence on causal influences ( Duncan et al., 2014 ).

When there are different sources of evidence, often with some differences in estimates of the strength of the evidence, the committee used its collective experience to integrate the information and draw reasoned conclusions.

With regard to external validity , the committee attempted to take into account the extent to which findings can be generalized across population groups and situations. This entailed considering the demographic, socioeconomic, and other characteristics of study participants; whether variables were assessed in the real-world contexts in which parents and children live (e.g., in the home, school, community); whether study findings build the knowledge base with regard to both efficacy (i.e., internal validity in highly controlled settings) and effectiveness (i.e., positive net treatment effects in ecologically valid settings); and issues of cultural competence ( Bracht and Glass, 1968 ; Bronfenbrenner, 2009 ; Cook and Campbell, 1979 ; Harrison and List, 2004 ; Lerner et al., 2000 ; Rosenthal and Rosnow, 2007 ; Whaley and Davis, 2007 ). However, the research literature is limited in the extent to which generalizations across population groups and situations are examined.

With regard to practical significance , the committee considered the magnitude of likely causal impacts within both an empirical context (i.e., measurement, design, and method) and an economic context (i.e., benefits relative to costs), and with attention to the salience of outcomes (e.g., how important an outcome is for promoting child well-being) ( Duncan et al., 2007 ; McCartney and Rosenthal, 2000 ). As discussed elsewhere in this report, however, the committee found limited economic evidence with which to draw conclusions about investing in interventions at scale or to weigh the costs and benefits of interventions. (See the discussion of other information-gathering activities below.) Also with respect to practical significance, the committee considered the manipulability of the variables under consideration in real-world contexts, given that the practical significance of study results depend on whether the variables examined are represented or experienced commonly or uncommonly among particular families ( Fabes et al., 2000 ).

Finally, the committee took into account issues of implementation , such as whether interventions can be brought to and sustained at scale ( Durlak and DuPre, 2008 ; Halle et al., 2013 ). Experts in the field of implementation science emphasize not only the evidence behind programs but also the fundamental roles of scale-up, dissemination planning, and program monitoring and evaluation. Scale-up in turn requires attending to the ability to implement adaptive program practices in response to heterogeneous, real-world contexts, while also ensuring fidelity for the potent levers of change or prevention ( Franks and Schroeder, 2013 ). Thus, the committee relied on both evidence on scale-up, dissemination, and sustainability from empirically based programs and practices that have been implemented and

evaluated, and more general principles of implementation science, including considerations of capacity and readiness for scale-up and sustainability at the macro (e.g., current national politics) and micro (e.g., community resources) levels.

The review of the evidence conducted for this study, especially pertaining to strategies that work at the universal, targeted, and intensive levels to strengthen parenting capacity (questions 2 and 3 from the committee’s statement of task [ Box 1-2 ]), also entailed searches of several databases that, applying principles similar to those described above, assess the strength of the evidence for parenting-related programs and practices: the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP), supported by SAMHSA; the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which is funded by the state of California; and Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, which has multiple funding sources. Although each of these databases is unique with respect to its history, sponsors, and objectives (NREPP covers mental health and substance abuse interventions, CEBC is focused on evidence relevant to child welfare, and Blueprints describes programs designed to promote the health and well-being of children), all are recognized nationally and internationally and undergo a rigorous review process.

The basic principles of evaluation and classification and the processes for classification of evidence-based practices are common across NREPP, CEBC, and Blueprints. Each has two top categories—optimal and promising—for programs and practices (see Appendix B ; see also Burkhardt et al., 2015 ; Means et al., 2015 ; Mihalic and Elliot, 2015 ; Soydan et al., 2010 ). Given the relatively modest investment in research on programs for parents and young children, however, the array of programs that are highly rated remains modest. For this reason, the committee considered as programs with the most robust evidence not only those included in the top two categories of Blueprints and CEBC but also those with an average rating of 3 or higher in NREPP. The committee’s literature searches also captured well-supported programs that are excluded from these databases (e.g., because they are recent and/or have not been submitted for review) but have sound theoretical underpinnings and rely on well-recognized intervention and implementation mechanisms.

Other reputable information sources used in producing specific portions of this report were What Works for Health (within the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps Program, a joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin); the What Works Clearinghouse of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Services; and HHS’s Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) review.

In addition, the committee chose to consider findings from research using methodological approaches that are emerging as a source of innovation and improvement. These approaches are gaining momentum in parent-

ing research and are being developed and funded by the federal government and private philanthropy. Examples are breakthrough series collaborative approaches, such as the Home Visiting Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network to Reduce Infant Mortality, and designs such as factorial experiments that have been used to address topics relevant to this study.

Other Information-Gathering Activities

The committee held two open public information-gathering sessions to hear from researchers, practitioners, parents, and other stakeholders on topics germane to this study and to supplement the expertise of the committee members (see Appendix A for the agendas of these open sessions). Material from these open sessions is referenced in this report where relevant.

As noted above, the committee’s task included making recommendations related to promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective strategies for supporting parents and the salient knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Cost is an important consideration for the implementation of parenting programs at scale. Therefore, the committee commissioned a paper reviewing the available economic evidence for investing in parenting programs at scale to inform its deliberations on this portion of its charge. Findings and excerpts from this paper are integrated throughout Chapters 3 through 6 . The committee also commissioned a second paper summarizing evidence-based strategies used by health care systems and providers to help parents acquire and sustain knowledge, attitudes, and practices that promote healthy child development. The committee drew heavily on this paper in developing sections of the report on universal/preventive and targeted interventions for parents in health care settings. Lastly, a commissioned paper on evidence-based strategies to support parents of children with mental illness formed the basis for a report section on this population. 4

In addition, the committee conducted two sets of group and individual semistructured interviews with parents participating in family support programs at community-based organizations in Omaha, Nebraska, and Washington, D.C. Parents provided feedback on the strengths they bring to parenting, challenges they face, how services for parents can be improved, and ways they prefer to receive parenting information, among other topics. Excerpts from these interviews are presented throughout this report as “Parent Voices” to provide real-world examples of parents’ experiences and to supplement the discussion of particular concepts and the committee’s findings.

4 The papers commissioned by the committee are in the public access file for the study and can be requested at https://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/ManageRequest.aspx?key=49669 [October 2016].

TERMINOLOGY AND STUDY PARAMETERS

As specified in the statement of task for this study ( Box 1-2 ), the term “parents” refers in this report to those individuals who are the primary caregivers of young children in the home. Therefore, the committee reviewed studies that involved not only biolofical and adoptive parents but also relative/kinship providers (e.g., grandparents), stepparents, foster parents, and other types of caregivers, although research is sparse on unique issues related to nontraditional caregivers. The terms “knowledge,” “attitudes,” and “practices” and the relationships among them were discussed earlier in this chapter, and further detail can be found in Chapter 2 ).

The committee recognized that to a certain degree, ideas about what is considered effective parenting vary across cultures and ecological conditions, including economies, social structures, religious beliefs, and moral values ( Cushman, 1995 ). To address this variation, and in accordance with its charge, the committee examined research on how core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices differ by specific characteristics of children, parents, and contexts. However, because the research on parenting has traditionally underrepresented several populations (e.g., caregivers other than mothers), the evidence on which the committee could draw to make these comparisons was limited.

The committee interpreted “evidence-based/informed strategies” very broadly as ranging from teaching a specific parenting skill, to manualized parenting programs, to policies that may affect parenting. The term “interventions” is generally used in this report to refer to all types of strategies, while more specific terms (e.g., “program,” “well-child care”) are used to refer to particular types or sets of interventions. Also, recognizing that nearly every facet of society has a role to play in supporting parents and ensuring that children realize their full potential, the committee reviewed not only strategies designed expressly for parents (e.g., parenting skills training) but also, though to a lesser degree, programs and policies not designed specifically for parents that may nevertheless affect an individual’s capacity to parent (e.g., food assistance and housing programs, health care policies).

As noted earlier in this chapter, this report was informed by a life-course perspective on parenting, given evidence from neuroscience and a range of related research that the early years are a critical period in shaping how individuals fare throughout their lives. The committee also aimed to take a strengths/assets-based approach (e.g., to identify strategies that build upon the existing assets of parents), although the extent to which this approach could be applied was limited by the paucity of research examining parenting from this perspective.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

A number of principles guided this study. First, following the ideas of Dunst and Espe-Sherwindt (2016) , the distinction between two types of family-centered practices—relational and participatory—informed the committee’s thinking. Relational practices are those focused primarily on intervening with families using compassion, active and reflective listening, empathy, and other techniques. Participatory practices are those that actively engage families in decision making and aim to improve families’ capabilities. In addition, family-centered practices focused on the context of successful parenting are a key third form of support for parenting. A premise of the committee is that many interventions with the most troubled families and children will require all these types of services—often delivered concurrently over a lengthy period of time.

Second, many programs are designed to serve families at particular risk for problems related to cognitive and social-emotional development, health, and well-being. Early Head Start and Head Start, for example, are means tested and designed for low-income families most of whom are known to face not just one risk factor (low income) but also others that often cluster together (e.g., living in dangerous neighborhoods, exposure to trauma, social isolation, unfamiliarity with the dominant culture or language). Special populations addressed in this report typically are at very high risk because of this exposure to multiple risk factors. Research has shown that children in such families have the poorest outcomes, in some instances reaching a level of toxic stress that seriously impairs their developmental functioning ( Shonkoff and Garner, 2012 ). Of course, in addition to characterizing developmental risk, it is essential to understand the corresponding adaptive processes and protective factors, as it is the balance of risk and protective factors that determines outcomes. In many ways, supporting parents is one way to attempt to change that balance.

From an intervention point of view, several principles are central. First, intervention strategies need to be designed to have measurable effects over time and to be sustainable. Second, it is necessary to focus on the needs of individual families and to tailor interventions to achieve desired outcomes. The importance of personalized approaches is widely acknowledged in medicine, education, and other areas. An observation perhaps best illustrated in the section on parents of children with developmental disabilities in Chapter 5 , although the committee believes this approach applies to many of the programs described in this report. A corresponding core principle of intervention is viewing parents as equal partners, experts in what both they and their children need. It is important as well that multiple kinds of services for families be integrated and coordinated. As illustrated earlier

in Box 1-1 , families may be receiving interventions from multiple sources delivered in different places, making coordination all the more important.

A useful framework for thinking about interventions is described in the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2009) report Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders among Young People . Prevention interventions encompass mental health promotion: universal prevention, defined as interventions that are valuable for all children; selected prevention, aimed at populations at high risk (such as children whose parents have mental illness); and indicated prevention, focused on children already manifesting symptoms. Treatment interventions include case identification, standard treatment for known disorders, accordance of long-term treatment with the goal of reduction in relapse or occurrence, and aftercare and rehabilitation ( National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009 ).

The committee recognizes that engaging and retaining children and families in parenting interventions are critical challenges. A key to promoting such engagement may be cultural relevance. Families representing America’s diverse array of cultures, languages, and experiences are likely to derive the greatest benefit from interventions designed and implemented to allow for flexibility.

Finally, the question of widespread implementation and dissemination of parenting interventions is critically important. Given the cost of testing evidence-based parenting programs, the development of additional programs needs to be built on the work that has been done before. Collectively, interventions also are more likely to achieve a significant level of impact if they incorporate some of the elements of prior interventions. In any case, a focus on the principles of implementation and dissemination clearly is needed. As is discussed in this report, the committee calls for more study and experience with respect to taking programs to scale.

REPORT ORGANIZATION

This report is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 2 examines desired outcomes for children and reviews the existing research on parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices that support positive parent-child interactions and child outcomes. Based on the available research, this chapter identifies a set of core knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Chapter 3 provides a brief overview of some of the major federally funded programs and policies that support parents in the United States. Chapters 4 and 5 describe evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies for supporting parents and enabling the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices, including universal and widely used interventions ( Chapter 4 ) and interventions targeted to parents of children with special needs and parents who themselves face adversities

( Chapter 5 ). Chapter 6 reviews elements of effective programs for strengthening parenting capacity and parents’ participation and retention in effective programs and systems. Chapter 7 describes a national framework for supporting parents of young children. Finally, Chapter 8 presents the committee’s conclusions and recommendations for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective intervention strategies and parenting practices linked to healthy child outcomes, as well as areas for future research.

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Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the family—which includes all primary caregivers—are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger.

Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting.

Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

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The science behind how parents affect child development

• relationships
• personal growth
• personality

The Importance of Parenting in Influencing the Lives of Children

• First Online: 07 December 2018

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• Matthew R. Sanders 3 &
• Karen M. T. Turner 3  

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The quality of parenting children receive during childhood and adolescence plays a major role in influencing their developmental competence and ultimately their life course trajectories. The parent–child relationship has a pervasive impact on children, and affects many different areas of development including language and communication, executive function and self-regulation, sibling and peer relationships, academic attainment, and mental and physical health. This chapter provides an overview of evidence showing how parenting influences children’s development. In addition, we explore how the broader ecological contexts of parents’ lives influence parenting practices and family relationships. Proximal determinants of parenting (e.g., the parent–child relationship) and more distal factors (e.g., cultural and community context) combine to influence the quality of parenting children receive. We argue that evidence-based parenting support that is delivered at a whole of community level and is attuned to the broader ecological context of modern parenting is needed to promote competent parenting and to reduce the adverse effects of poor parenting on children. Policy-based investments in evidence-based parenting programs have great potential to enhance life course outcomes for both children and parents that can have major economic benefits to the entire community.

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Sanders, M.R., Turner, K.M.T. (2018). The Importance of Parenting in Influencing the Lives of Children. In: Sanders, M., Morawska, A. (eds) Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_1

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PARENTAL INFLUENCE: DIRECT INTERACTIONS

Emotional identification, family stories, indicators of family relevance, other influences on child development, the role of parents in children's psychological development.

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Jerome Kagan; The Role of Parents in Children's Psychological Development. Pediatrics July 1999; 104 (Supplement_1): 164–167. 10.1542/peds.104.S1.164

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This article reviews the three major ways parents influence children: direct interaction, identification, and transmission of family stories. This essay summarizes some of the relevant empiric data in support of this claim and describes the operation of other mechanisms that also contribute to the child's development.

The profile of cognitive abilities, beliefs, ethical values, coping defenses, and salient emotional moods that characterizes each child at each developmental stage is the result of diverse influences operating in complex ways. Most students of human development agree that the most important determinants of the different profiles include 1) the inherited physiologic patterns that are called temperamental qualities, 2) parental practices and personality, 3) quality of schools attended, 4) relationships with peers, 5) ordinal position in the family, and, finally, 6) the historical era in which late childhood and early adolescence are spent. 1   Each of these factors exerts its major influence on only some components of the psychological profile and is usually most effective during particular age periods. For example, the quality of social relations with peers affects primarily the child's beliefs about his/her acceptability to others and has its major effect after school entrance. 2   By contrast, parental conversations with the child, and especially naming unfamiliar objects, affect the child's future verbal talents and have maximal effect during the first 6 years of life. 3  

Current discussions of the consequences of parental practices, whether in the media or in professional journals, favor one of two positions. One awards seminal power to parental factors; the other minimizes the family. The advocates of attachment theory, for example, propose that the relationships established between an infant and its caretakers during the first 2 years of life have a permanent effect on the child's future. 4   But Harris's recent book, The Nurture Assumption , makes the opposite claim by arguing that parents have little or no permanent influence on their child's future personality. 5   Although the attachment theorists take too strong a position, I side with a majority of developmental scholars who, in disagreement with Harris, believe that parents do affect their child's psychological growth. This article summarizes what most developmental scientists believe to be the major effects of parents on children.

It is important to appreciate, however, that some of these effects are difficult to quantify and, as a result, scholars working in this domain are caught between two opposing imperatives. On the one hand, they recognize that conclusions must be based on empiric evidence; if one does not have valid measurements, one should be cautious. On the other hand, investigators also recognize the error of awarding significance only to statements that rest on objective measurements. Because the current Zeitgeist is more positivistic than it was a half-century earlier, contemporary scientists usually have ignored important causative conditions that are subtle in their expression.

Parents can affect their children through at least three different mechanisms. The most obvious, and the one easiest both to imagine and to measure, involves the consequences of direct interactions with the child that could be recorded on film. For example, a mother praises a 3-year-old for eating properly, a father threatens the loss of a privilege because a child refuses to go to bed, a parent names an unfamiliar animal in a picture book. These everyday events that involve the rewarding of desirable actions, the punishment of undesired ones, and the transfer of knowledge from parent to child have a cumulative effect. Failure to discipline acts of disobedience and/or aggression is correlated with children's asocial behavior. 6   Display of interest in a young child's activities is correlated with greater levels of responsivity in the child. 7  

However, these first-order effects can have second-order consequences that appear later in life. A 7-year-old with a more extensive vocabulary than her peers, because her parents encouraged language development 5 years earlier, will master the tasks of the elementary grades more easily and, as a result, perceive herself as more competent than her peers. This belief is likely to embolden her to resist domination by others and, perhaps, motivate the initiation of unusually challenging tasks. The 7-year-old who was not chastised for aggressive behavior earlier or who had abusive or overly intrusive parents is likely to be aggressive with peers. As a result, these children provoke peer rejection and eventually come to question their acceptability to others. 8–10  

An emotional identification with either or both parents represents a second, quite different way in which the family affects children. By age 4 to 5 years, children believe, unconsciously, that some of the attributes of their parents are part of their own repertoire, even although this belief might have no objective basis. 11   A girl whose mother is afraid of storms and large animals is tempted to assume that she, too, is afraid of these dangerous events; a girl with a relatively fearless mother will come to the opposite conclusion. In addition, children share vicariously in some of the experiences that occur to the parents with whom they are identified. A boy whose father is popular with friends and relatives, for example, will find it easier to conclude that he, too, has qualities that make him acceptable to others.

The more distinctive the features shared between child and parent, the stronger the identification of the former with the latter. A father who is tall, thin, and has red hair and freckles will, other things equal, engender a stronger identification in a son with these four features than in a son who is short, chubby, brown-haired, and has no freckles. 1   That is why many members of minority groups that possess distinctive features have a strong identification; for example, whites in South Africa are more strongly identified with their ethnic group than whites in the United States.

Children also can identify with the class, ethnic, or religious group to which their family belongs and often feel an imperative to honor the identification. To fail to do so is to violate a principle of cognitive consistency between an ethical standard and an action and, as a result, to feel uncertain. Some adolescents for whom the group identification generates anxiety may attempt to minimize bases for the perceived similarity; hence, some Jews change their last name, some Mexicans try to lighten their skin, and some African-Americans straighten their hair.

The importance of identification for personality development means that the parents' personality, talents, and character, as they are perceived by the child, are of significance. When the content of parental rewards and punishments is in accord with the adult's persona as a role model, the content of adult socialization is potentiated. A child praised for her intellectual competence by parents who read books and display a curiosity about the world is more likely to value intellectual pursuits than one whose parents praise academic success but do not display any interest in intellectual competence in their personal lives. Children tend to honor what parents do rather than what they say.

The power of identification can be seen in the robust relation between the educational level of the parents, which is a good index of the social class of the family, and many psychological outcomes, including level of school achievement, frequency of aggressive behavior, and attitude toward authority. 12   The psychological differences between young adults born to college graduates, compared with those born to parents who never graduated from high school, cannot be explained completely as a result of direct interactions between parents and children. These psychological products also involve the child's identification with the family's social class. The features that define social class, as distinct from ethnicity, include place of residence, nature of the neighborhood, and material possessions. But because most parents do not remind their children of their social class and signs of family's social class position can be subtle, a child's discovery of the family's class is conceptually more difficult than discovery of his/her gender or ethnicity and usually is not articulated before 7 years of age.

The proportion of economically stressed families in a particular region will affect the strength of a child's identification. An awareness of those who are affluent and those who are not is most distinctive in societies like our own, where there is considerable variation in material wealth. No uniform psychological outcomes flow from absolute poverty, but many predictable outcomes flow from the belief that one's family is either advantaged or disadvantaged relative to others. Because many Americans believe that persistent hard work and intelligence are all that are needed to gain the wealth that has become, in this century, a defining feature of personal worth, class has a greater potential for shame in America than it does in many countries of the world. Ten-year-olds who identify with their relatively poor families are vulnerable to feelings of shame or psychological impotence if they wonder whether their family's status is attributable to the fact that their parents were either lazy or incompetent. The literary critic Frank Kermode, born to poor parents, once admitted to feeling like an outsider, “Looking the part while not being equal to it seems to be something I do rather well.” 13   Because identification with a poor family can generate anxiety, shame, or anger, it can represent a chronic psychological stress that might contribute to the generally poorer health of the economically disadvantaged. 14  

It has proven difficult to gather the objective evidence needed to affirm beyond doubt the truth of these statements about identification because of insufficiently sensitive procedures. However, some evidence does support this claim. In one unpublished study from my laboratory, white high school students, all with good grades, who came from either upper-middle or working-class families in the Boston area, came to a laboratory at Harvard University to be interviewed and evaluated for autonomic functioning. The working-class adolescents were more subdued in their interaction with the female examiner. In addition, the working-class youth had greater power in the lower-frequency band of the cardiac spectrum. This second fact implies greater sympathetic tone on the baroreceptor reflex, perhaps attributable to greater apprehension in a context that was symbolic of affluence and privilege.

A third mechanism of family influence is related to identification, but is more symbolic. Some parents tell their children stories about relatives —uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins—who were, or are, especially accomplished in some domain. Perhaps an uncle made an important discovery, accumulated wealth, performed a courageous act, was a talented athlete or writer, or a respected public official. The child is likely to feel pride on hearing these stories because of the implication that if he or she is biologically related to this important family member, the child, too, must also possess some admirable characteristics. George Homans, an influential Harvard sociologist, noted in a memoir written shortly before his death that he coped with his childhood anxiety over poor school grades and unpopularity with peers by reminding himself that he could trace his pedigree back to John Adams. 15   Charles Darwin's description of his father glows with awe for his father's intelligence, sympathy, kindness, and business sense. 16   Darwin knew about the inheritance of psychological features through his acquaintance with animal breeders and may have felt that his cognitive talents were inevitable given his family's eminence.

Direct interactions, identification, and knowledge of the accomplishments of family members are three important ways in which families influence children. The first mechanism has its greatest effect on intellectual development and character traits, especially the control of aggression and motivation for achievement. The second and third mechanisms, identification and family myths, have a greater influence on the child's confidence or doubt about his/her talent and, therefore, on the child's expectation of future success or failure.

A persuasive source of support for the significance of family experience is found in follow-up studies of young children who suffered serious privation, usually the result of war, and were later adopted by nurturant families. Many of the orphans produced by World War II and the Korean conflict, who had extremely fragile bonds to any caretaker in their early years, appeared to develop well after adoption by loving foster parents. 17   ,18   More recently, a group of children who had spent the first year in depriving orphanages in Romania were adopted by nurturant British parents. When they arrived in London, they were emaciated and psychologically retarded, as one would expect, given their harsh experience. However, when they were evaluated several years later, after adoption by middle-class parents, a majority, although not all, were similar in their intellectual profile to the average British child (Michael Rutter, personal communication, 1998).

A study of 13 624 families living in 10 different cities provides a particularly persuasive demonstration of the importance of the family. The children, who were observed as infants and again at 3 years of age, had experienced varied forms of early care. Some were in day care centers, some were in family day care, and some were raised only at home. The form of care outside the home had little effect on the prevalence of problems with self-control, compliance, and asocial behavior; variation among the families was a critical determinant of differences in these psychological traits. 19  

Although empiric data affirm that parental behaviors and personality traits influence the child's talents, motivation, academic performance, and social behavior, 20   their influence is part of a larger web of conditions that includes inherited temperamental biases, ordinal position, social class, ethnicity, quality of peer friendships, and the historical era in which adolescence is spent. The importance of temperament is seen in a longitudinal study of a large group of healthy children. Approximately 20% of these healthy infants inherited a temperament that was revealed at 4 months of age in vigorous levels of motor activity and irritability to unfamiliar stimulation. 21   Approximately one third of these infants, called high reactive, were shy and fearful to unfamiliar people and settings during the preschool years, and approximately one fourth were likely to develop anxious symptoms when they were 7 years old. 22   Although only 20% of the high reactive infants were consistently shy and fearful from 14 months to 8 years of age, it was rare for a high reactive infant to become a consistently bold, extroverted child.

The influence of ordinal position is affirmed by the fact that, controlling for social class, first-born children obtain better grades and are more often high school valedictorians than later born children. 23  

The influence of historical era is revealed in a study of the cohort of Americans that was between 10 and 20 years of age during the economic Depression in America from 1930 to 1940. A large proportion of these American adolescents, who are now in their 7th decade, saved more money than the generation before or after and conducted their lives with a gnawing concern over financial loss. 24  

The protest against the Vietnam War at the end of the 1960s also affected large numbers of privileged adolescents who turned against the values of established authority. College students seized administration buildings or shared sexual partners in unheated communal homes. High school youth defiantly left their classrooms to protest the war, and they got away with it. It is heady for a 16-year-old to defy the rules of authority and escape punishment. For many youth, such experiences eroded a tendency to worry about coming to work at 10:00 in the morning instead of 9 and leaving at 4 instead of 5. Many of these middle-class youth thumbed their noses at authority because they happened to be born during a brief period when segments of American society were uncertain as to which actions were legitimate. When history tears a hole in the fabric of consensual assumptions, the mind flies through it into a space free of hoary myth to invent a new conception of self, ethics, and society.

The influence of these extrafamilial factors suggests that it is more accurate to state that parental qualities contribute to a child's psychological profile, rather than to conclude that family conditions determine a particular outcome. An infant's secure attachment to a parent does not guarantee a benevolent outcome or protect a child against psychological problems later in life, but the secure attachment probably constrains the likelihood of producing an adult who is homeless. Physicians are familiar with this form of restrained conclusion. Chronic middle ear infection during the first 2 years of life does not always lead to language delay, but it can make a small contribution to that phenomenon.

Eleanor Maccoby, a colleague and a distinguished developmental psychologist, wrote that the contribution of parental practices to children's personality cannot be viewed in isolation. Each parental behavior or parental personality trait is part of a complex system that in some respects is unique to each parent–child relationship. 25  

This conclusion is not different in substance from most generalizations about complex natural phenomena, including the appearance or extinction of a species or the duration of an infectious epidemic. The proper conceptual posture is restraint on shrill dogma that claims either that the family is without significance or that it represents the only conditions that matter.

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2018 Theses Doctoral

Essays on the Role of Parents in Educational Outcomes and Inequality

Chan, Eric Wai Kin

Parents have been shown to be a crucial driver in a child's educational outcomes in both the economics and education literature. However, researchers have yet to understand the roles that educational interventions, information, and policies might have on parental behavior and engagement toward their child's education and, in turn, how to effectively promote parental engagement for the benefits of children. In my dissertation, I examine how educational interventions and policies can impact the behavior and decision-making of parents and in turn affect student achievement. Specifically, I add to the scholarly literature evidence on (a) how being identified as gifted student affect parental levels of engagement and time investments, (b) how timely information about academic progress might change parental behaviors and improve educational outcomes, and (c) how immigrant mothers react to an expansion of pre-K specifically targeted at their children. Chapter one examines the short-term and long-term effects of an elementary school gifted education program in California that clusters 6-8 gifted students in classrooms. While I examine the academic effects of the program, I emphasize the analysis on the role of parent engagement and time investments in the lives of gifted children. While the gifted education literature has studied the causal effects of programs, there is limited evidence on how parent engagement might change as a result of these programs and its potential as a mechanism for achievement effects. Therefore, this study contributes to the economic debate of whether parent engagement is a complement or substitute to education quality. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach, I primarily find small to no evidence on short-term academic effects, but stronger effects on longer-term course-taking and college outcomes. On the parent side, I find that while most parents are not more engaged overall, parents of minority gifted children and low-socioeconomic students are. The implication is that there is heterogeneity in the manner by which parents react behaviorally to students that are identified as gifted. In Chapter two, a joint paper with Peter Bergman, we run a randomized controlled trial in West Virginia examining the effects of a high-frequency academic information intervention on middle and high school student' academic outcomes. In this field experiment, we send out three types of alerts to parents - weekly missing assignments, weekly class absences, and monthly low grade average - during the 2015-16 school year. We find that the intervention reduces course failures by 38%, increases class attendance by 17%, and increases retention. We find no evidence that test scores improve, but find that there are significant improvements on in-class exam scores. The evidence of improvement in test scores show that there are information frictions between parent and child, and thus parents may have inaccurate beliefs about their child's abilities due to a lack of complete information. Chapter three examines the maternal labor supply and pre-K enrollment effects of a bilingual pre-K policy implemented in Illinois during the 2010-11 school year, which came after the implementation of a statewide universal pre-K program in 2007. Research has shown the importance of quality preschool in the development of a child, with minorities particularly sensitive to the prevalence of quality early childhood education. In this study, I exploit variation in a policy mandating that any school with at least twenty identified English Language Learner student of a particular language is required to open up a bilingual classroom for those students. Using multiple control groups and various difference-in-differences specifications, I find that there is little to no change in maternal labor supply among Hispanics and recent immigrants, including the probability of being in the labor force, hours worked per week, and wage and salary income. However, I also find a significant and robust increase of 18-20 percentage points in the enrollment of 3- and 4-year old children into pre-K programs in Illinois. This result shows that, even in a state where there is universal access to pre-K, the design of such policies might not have sufficient reach to high-need parents. Taken together, this dissertation helps deepen our understanding of the various roles parents might affect educational outcomes and inequality. As my results demonstrate, there are various ways which help and incentivize parents to react in a manner that will improve childhood and long-term outcomes. Whether by programs, information, or public policy, the tools are many, yet it is crucial that scholarly work continues to dive deeper into how parents, children, and other stakeholders react.

• Education and state
• School management and organization
• Educational equalization
• Education--Parent participation

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The Effect of Parenting on Child and Adolescence Development

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Families and parents have the most central and enduring influence on children’s lives. Of all the modifiable factors that influence child and adolescent development and life course outcomes, the important role of parenting arouses the interest of many researchers. Exploring the effect of parenting on their ...

Keywords : Parenting, Co-parenting, Child and Adolescence Development, intervention programs, Interaction

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Parenting Matters

Supporting parents of children ages 0-8.

Parents are among the most important people in the lives of young children. Parents include mothers and fathers, as well as other caregivers who act as parents. From birth, children rely on parents to provide them with the care they need to be happy and healthy, and to grow and develop well. But parents sometimes lack information and the support that they need for good parenting.

The Centers for Disease and Prevention and other government agencies asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to review published information on parenting. The NASEM recently reported on what they found out about effective parenting practices and on how best to support parents .  Read the report  Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8.

Effective Parenting Practices

Parenting takes many different forms, but some parenting practices work well across diverse families and settings. The committee’s report looked at the evidence in the scientific literature and found these key ways parents can support their child’s healthy development:

• Following the child’s lead and responding in a predictable way
• Showing warmth and sensitivity
• Having routines and household rules
• Sharing books and talking with children
• Supporting health and safety
• Using appropriate discipline without harshness

Based on the information in the published studies, parents who use these practices can help their child stay healthy, be safe, and be successful in many areas—emotional, behavioral, cognitive , and social.

Elements of Effective Interventions

Parents need support. Intervention programs and services can help, although they need to be based on approaches that have been rigorously tested and shown to work. The committee’s report looked at the evidence backing up various intervention programs and services, and identified the features and practices of effective parenting interventions. These intervention programs help parents by using practices that make it easier for parents to attend and participate. Parents have diverse needs; no single approach is right for all parents. But the committee found several factors that have been successful among a wide range of intervention programs and services:

• Treating parents as equal partners when figuring out which services most benefit them and their children
• Making sure that programs meet the specific needs of families
• Making sure that families with multiple service needs receive coordinated services
• Creating opportunities for parents to connect with and receive support from other parents with similar circumstances
• Addressing trauma in order to prevent it from interfering with parenting and healthy child development
• Making sure that programs are well suited for the diverse cultures of families
• Enhancing efforts to involve fathers

The report found that more research is needed, particularly about what works best for different parents. More information is also needed to understand how effective services can become more widely available.  The committee created recommendations for next steps to fill various gaps in research and information. Read the report, including the findings and recommendations.

The report was sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, Bezos Family Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Foundation for Child Development, Health Resources and Services Administration, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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Writing Task 2: Parents have great influences on children’s development

Write about the following topic:

Some people think that family life and parents have great influences on children’s development, while others consider that external influences play a more important role in children’s life.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

You should write at least  250  words.

Sample Answer: Influences of parents and family have great importance to the development of a child, according to many, while others opine that children’s behaviour is influenced more by outside factors like friends, teachers and the environment. This essay will discuss both views, but, in my opinion, influences of parents, and family life are essential for the proper growth of a child, but environmental and external influences are more useful for them to confront life ad become successful. To commence with, parents have extraordinary impacts on their children’s growth, especially to shape a good childhood. The sense of family, relationship, responsibility, and punctuality are instilled in a child by parents and it plays an influential role in their maturity. Love and attention from parents develop a strong character in a child while the lack of proper parenting often ruins it, according to many psychologists. Furthermore, children mostly mimic their parents and become more like them. Undoubtedly, this single fact proves how important it is for a child to have a family and good parenting. Conversely, to become successful and face life, we need to study in a school, interact with teachers and neighbours, have friends, face challenges, learn from our environment, gain social experiences, and all those factors have crucial roles to play in a child’s life. Parents keep their offspring safe from dangers while their real-life experiences teach them how to deal with those obstacles. Outside the home, children encounter different situations that teach them how to solve their own problems. Furthermore, children learn invaluable skills in schools which help them develop a sense of community to have a normal life beyond their family borders. To conclude, while parents have a huge impact on children’s attitude and growth, social interactions and external factors are imperative and cannot be ignored for a child’s overall development, and in my opinion, more important.

[ By  Prisca Oktaviani Samosir ]

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A Parent’s Role in Children’s Growth and Development

Becoming a parent can be a wonderful experience that allows you to add fulfillment to your life. Most parents consider it a blessing to start a family. However, it comes with responsibilities that could disrupt your career and every other part of your life. You will have to provide 24/7 support, supervision, and care to ensure that they live a healthy life.

However, they must grow and develop as they grow up. It is the parent’s responsibility to have access to as many tools, resources, and experiences as to ensure that they can fend for themselves in the future. First-time parents might encounter difficulties in their child’s growth and development, but you can break them down into different parts.

Here are some that you will have to prioritize to create an efficient guide to successful parenting:

Primary Providers

There is no question that the parent’s primary role is to provide a kid with everything needed for growth and development. Necessities like food and shelter should never be in doubt, as well as clothes and medicine. While you might try to get all of those at least one at a time, you will find that the responsibilities will become a part of your life for the next two decades or so.

As the primary provider, you will have to ensure that your kid has access to everything needed. The problem is that your child will not be the one to remind you of the things he or she requires. It will be up to you to decide what’s best for growth and development. You can ask a few of your friends that already have experience as parents.

Online parenting guides will also be reliable when you have doubts. You will notice that your financial management will be the aspect most attached to the responsibility, making it critical to practice how to maintain a stable and consistent budget that includes your child’s necessities.

First Educators and Role Models

Being a provider can be enough to ensure that your kids are living healthy and progressive lives. However, you will find that growth and development cater to their intellectual and social aspects as well. Fortunately, educators and role models will be present in different stages of your kid’s life, which means that you will not suffer from a lack of support. However, children will be spending more time with their parents than teachers, doctors, and influences.

It will be necessary to become their first educator and role model, which means your lifestyle and behavior require changes. Your child will not fully develop their intellectual situation. He or she might have difficulty understanding some of the topics at school, a problem you can step in and resolve. Since you spend most of the time together, kids can adapt their mannerisms, behaviors, and gestures. It can be challenging to become a good role model when you still have a lot of stuff to figure out for yourself in life, but you will have to ensure that your child sees the most appropriate behavior to prepare them for society.

Disciplinary methods will also be a factor in a kid’s development. You will have to be careful when scolding your child because it might lead to strained relationships or unwanted grudges. People often judge a kid’s growth and development through social and behavioral cues. If you ensure that your child is well-mannered and disciplined in public spaces, you can say that you managed to successfully nail the role as educator and role model.

Established Motivators

Despite your best efforts, your kid will also be responsible for self-growth. Education will always be valuable, but it is up to them to decide whether they want to pursue something for their careers and lives. As a parent, you will have to take on the role of motivator. If you notice that your kid shows signs of interest in an activity or a skill, you should try to mold them to become better at it. You can sign him or her up to take piano lessons or singing classes or voice lessons for kids . If your offspring shows signs of interest in sports, you can take him to summer classes.

Educational workshops are also available if the child is showing promise in a specific subject. You will have to ensure that your kid can grow and develop in the path they want to pursue. Even though it might not be evident, you will have to pay attention to them to figure out how you can motivate them to grow and develop.

First-time parents will experience struggles in helping their kids grow and develop if they do not have a guide to follow. It will be vital to determine their roles first, which starts with these specific areas.

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The Parents Role in Their Child’s Education

By: Author Dr. Patrick Capriola

Posted on Published: February 23, 2019

The parent’s role in their child’s education is more complex than ever. Standardization has placed increasing pressure on students and the advent of social media and online learning platforms have created a vastly different educational experience for today’s kids than prior generations. It is important for parents to be involved in their child’s education so they can help them navigate this increasingly complex landscape.

What is the role of the parent in their child’s education? The parent’s role is to ensure the child’s basic needs are met every day and to help them develop the academic, social, and emotional skills necessary to succeed. Parents should nurture their ability to take on responsibility, engage with peers, work towards goals and pursue their interests.

The parent is the most influential person in the child’s life and has an unmatched power to direct and motivate. Parents who seek to support their child’s academic success should focus on whole child strategies that are considerate of where the child is in every area of their development. You and your child will benefit greatly if you have a vision for fulfilling your role in your child’s education that examines the supports that need to be in place to ensure they get the most out of their formal and informal educational experiences.

Make Sure the Basics are Covered

From the beginning, the parent’s primary role is to make sure the child’s basic needs are met. As they grow older these things are still your job, but how you go about making sure they get done should change. For example, until a child is 7 or 8 you may need to be in the bathroom with them when they brush their teeth. If they won’t do it, you will have to get in there and do it for them. It may be a hassle (I know my 3-year-old gives me a battle every night), but the benefits far outweigh the costs. You don’t want to look at your teenager suffering 10 years from now with their mouth full of cavities. You also don’t want to pay the bills to get them fixed.

21st-century life has presented parents with this decision more than ever before – pay the price now or pay a higher price later. Each time you are presented with this choice you have the power to teach your child good habits. The lessons they learn from you about responsibility, attentiveness, and care will carry over into other areas of their lives – including education.

Each day parents must have age appropriate expectations for what the child needs to do for themselves. Parents should also have a plan in place for how they will monitor whether those responsibilities are met and to the degree of quality with which it is carried out. Each morning the parent needs to ensure the child has:

• Done their Homework the Night Before
• Had a full night’s sleep
• Had a healthy breakfast
• Cared for Themselves and Maintained their Environment
• Arrived at School on Time

It’s a lot to get done every day, but the payoff is worth it in the end. The skills your child will learn as they practice doing their homework, taking a shower, getting to bed on time, making their bed in the morning, brushing their teeth, and grooming themselves in a neat and presentable manner will stay with them for life.

As a young adult, they will undoubtedly have a few days where they don’t make their bed, eat well, or care for themselves. They will intuitively know that it’s wrong because it won’t feel like the right thing to do. Something will be out of place. They will sense this because you made sure they knew how to care for themselves properly.

Remember, what you teac them today will stay with them forever. There is no place where this is more apparent than self-care, which is the first step on the path to personal responsibility.

Make the Home a Great Place to Learn

The child’s home shapes their perception of what a safe and relaxing environment should be and it is where they learn habits that they carry with them for the rest of their lives. As the parent, you decide how they will experience their home. When I think about how my kids experience our home, I break it down into two parts; physically and psychologically.

The home should be neat and clean. If your child experiences organization as they grow up it will help them appreciate its importance later in life. Everything should have a place, and that includes opportunities for learning.

Do they have a space they can call their own? If you can, make sure they do. Are their toys in the playroom educational or purely for entertainment? Make sure there is a balance of both. Do they have access to a lot of screens? Screen time should be limited and the child should not view them as a part of their daily lives.

Do they have a desk anywhere? Is it in a place where they feel comfortable learning and is free of distractions? Can they go there to just chill out and play? Make sure they have some kind of work station that they can go to do homework or play constructively.

Psychologically

The way the child feels about the home will be a big factor in determining how comfortable they are learning while there. The home should be a place where the child is expected to learn, and they should intuitively understand the importance of this expectation.

You won’t be able to instill a belief in education in them through words alone. It must come through action. Establish a routine where they sit down in a quiet area and study, read or work on an intellectual hobby at least 3 times a week. Make it a priority.

As you are getting your child established in their new routine make sure you are considerate of how they feel about the experience. Although you don’t want to place all of your emphasis on whether they like working and studying all the time (they won’t), you do want to try to make sure they are comfortable enough to get into their zone so they can work productively. That is the feeling that you will work to build on.

When your child is able to consistently tune in to what they are working on they will experience more success over time. Give them the opportunity to experience that success by making sure they understand what their goals are for the day. If they are working on a huge Lego set they should not be attempting to finish it each day. Help them set a smaller goal that they can work toward, so they can see how success builds upon itself. With that, confidence will follow.

Understand Your Child’s Learning Style

If you are able to understand your child strengths you will be much more likely to help them as they work through the struggles that come along with discovering themselves. There is currently no way to put everything about their learning style into a category that will help you know exactly what to do and when, but there are some helpful frameworks and ideas based on research that should assist you in developing a better understanding of how your child learns.

The most discussed framework is known as learning modalities, and there are four:

• Kinesthetic

Visual Learners

• Benefit from demonstrations
• Have well-developed imaginations
• Easily distracted by movement or action
• Use lists to stay organized
• Easily learn through descriptions
• Remember faces but forget names

Auditory Learners

• Enjoy discussion and plays
• Solve problems by talking them out
• Can be distracted by noise
• Prefer verbal instructions from the teacher
• Remember names but forget faces

Kinesthetic Learners

• Thrive when they are active
• Learn while moving and doing (manipulatives help)
• Prefer action over watching or listening
• Struggle sitting down and concentrating
• High energy

Tactile Learners

• Enjoy hands-on activities like projects or labs
• Learn while taking notes
• Likes to draw to remember

You will probably find that your child does not fit firmly into any one of these categories, but instead favors one over the other. Almost all kids learn through each of the learning modalities, and this framework is used to determine which they favor more. Take some time to observe how your child learns now that you’ve read these over. Think about how you can modify learning at home so your child can engage in activities that are more responsive to their preferences and needs.

There is more to understanding a child’s learning style than just their modality. Learning d ispositions provide another helpful framework that can be an important indicator of what they will respond to. These are the habits of mind that are built up over time. If you understand where your child is in the learning disposition framework, you can better understand how they respond to the learning process. There are five learning dispositions to consider:

Persistence

Agility and Flexibility

• Motivation and drive to learn

Metacognition

Problem-Solving and Questioning

Persistent learners are willing to stick with a task and see it through completion. They won’t easily give up and will work to analyze a problem and develop a strategy to solve it. Children who learn persistence develop resilience over time through their frequent contact with intellectual adversity.

Learners who are agile and flexible are able to change their minds when they receive new information. They don’t get stuck in the trap of assuming things need to be the way they were originally presented. They understand how new variables being introduced to a situation can completely reshape that scenario.

Motivation and Drive to Learn

Learners who are motivated and driven are enthusiastic about and engaged in the learning process. They seek out learning experiences and are driven by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors.

Children who think about their own thinking are able to plan a strategy for producing the information that they need, are aware of their own learning process and can reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of their thinking. Metacognition is important for the motivated learner to guide themselves as they plot new courses for their own learning.

Problem solvers are adept at asking questions so they can fill in the gaps between what they know and what they need to know. They are also able to analyze scenarios from different points of view to see other perspectives that may have an impact on the outcome of the situation.

Model Active Learning

You are your child’s most significant role model. Growing up, they will look to you first to learn the skills and traits that will make them successful in life. In few areas will this be more important than learning. Through hard work, dedication, and daily modeling you have the opportunity to instill in them a passion for learning and a willingness to put the work in necessary to be successful.

Over the years your kids will hear you tell them about the importance of learning. The degree to which they take those words seriously will be determined in large part by the action they see you taking as a learner yourself. Make reading a priority, and ensure they see it is a priority.

If your children are younger read with them every single day for at least 15 minutes (if they are really little) to a ½ hour. If they are older, try starting your own family book club so you can read stories together and share the meaning of those stories with each other.

Another great way to demonstrate to your kids that you are a lifelong learner is through the work that you do around the house. Running a household comes with a lot of responsibility, and nobody knows it all. You undoubtedly have had to look things up to figure them out at some point. Involve your kids in this process.

Perhaps the drain under your sink was clogged and you realized that it’s not that difficult to release the plug and remove the debris manually. Or, maybe have a draft coming in from the windows and want to use some silicone to seal it up. Both are great opportunities to engage them in learning and application of knowledge.

Make sure they participate in the entire process with you. If you learn and apply the information together they will understand the process behind learning information then acting on it, which is something they don’t always get in school. It’s a great way to make learning real and relevant while creating a bonding experience for the family.

This will require more patience from you and your project may not get completed the right way the first time, but if you prioritize the opportunity to connect with your child you will see the lasting benefits of reusing this strategy for years to come.

Support the Child in their Learning

Children who have parents who support their learning are more likely to succeed in school. You can help your child by modeling the interest and excitement about learning necessary to create a passion in them for learning that will stay with them for life.

Help Them Learn to be Responsible for their Own Learning

Children need to be responsible for their own learning at an early age (in an age-appropriate manner). In a lot of ways, it’s easier when they are little because they are more eager to learn and to please their parents. Use that energy wisely. Make sure they are exposed to engaging learning experiences that make them want to come back for more.

There are many places on the web that already do a great job listing out ideas and activities that you can use with your child to keep them engaged in the learning process. Here’s the one I like best.

Engage with the School You Chose

Parents who view their school of choice as partners in their child’s learning are typically more engaged in the educational process. They know that it’s the parent who is most responsible for the child’s education, not the school.

As such, they choose their child’s school carefully and closely monitor what is going on at the school to ensure the school is living up to their expectations of what should be provided to their child. If the school messes things up, they are not afraid to make a move to a new school.

Of course, that’s not the first option anyone wants to take. Once you have chosen a school that you think is a great fit for your child you want to engage them intentionally and frequently to ensure that lines of communication are open and high expectations are being met for your child.

Make sure that you receive information from your child’s teacher about their behavior and academic performance as frequently as you think will keep you well informed. Get involved with the parent-teacher association so you can be more aware of what is going on at the school.

Get to know and be friendly with the principal’s secretary (they typically know what’s going on at the school). Build relationships in the school community that get you beyond the messaging of the district and administration and to the core of what is really happening at the school.

Understand Your Child’s Intellectual Interests (Beyond School)

Schooling itself is not a goal. It is a vehicle to develop students into stronger critical thinkers so they can contribute to society meaningfully later in life. You can help them each step of the way by paying attention to what they are really interested in and give them the time to pursue those interests.

The liberal education that is provided to students in western countries is great for creating well-rounded thinkers that are versed in the arts and sciences. However, the general curriculum does not typically allow for too much deviation from prescribed standards.

So, if a child has other interests they want to pursue they don’t always have the options to do so. That’s a great opportunity for you to shape your child’s free time with hobbies instead of downtime (or screen time).

Give your child the chance to develop their interests by ensuring they have the time and resources needed to learn about their topic. Let’ say they are interested in engineering. Help them learn more by joining a local rocket club.

When they join the club they will be introduced to the concept of rocketry in a thoughtful way. Engage with them as much as you can and become part of the learning process if it is something you want to share together.

Make connections with other parents so it will be easier for your child to meet up with other kids who share their interest in rocketry. Watch them as they practice. Make sure quality learning is taking place. When it comes time to buy them their own rocket, you will be more comfortable knowing they have been taught the proper way to use it because they were taught by trained adults and practiced with proficient peers.

No matter what their interest turns out to be, it will be important for you to support with the time, resources, and encouragement they need to progress through the learning process. Your involvement can be a great addition to ensuring they succeed.

They don’t have to be the next great engineer, they just have to stick with it long enough to figure out if it really is something they want to pursue. Once they have given it the time it deserves, they can choose to stick with it or move on to something else.

Turn Off Devices

I write frequently about this topic . Avoid devices as much as possible. In my home, they are not permitted (including T.V.) during the week and we try to avoid them as much as possible on the weekends. When we do allow the T.V. to be on, we try to ensure the kids are watching something that has a legitimate storyline and plot.

Tablets and phones are avoided as much as possible as well. Devices create a distraction for kids with little to show for their time. They are one of those things that you probably want to put off for as long as possible and then minimize time exposed when you finally have to give in and purchase your child one of their own.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to remember that the parent is the primary driver behind the child’s education, not the school. If a child has a strong parent who is engaged throughout the learning process they will rely less on other role models for learning.

That’s important in a day and age where U.S. schools are still performing below international standards. It’s up to you to ensure they get what they can from the education system and they get the rest of what they need from somewhere else. Where that is will be up to you.

It will probably be a combination of strategies that will help you find success. Remember that this is a marathon. Make your connection with your child the priority above everything thing else that goes into parenting and you will have a solid foundation for success.

Related Questions

Why is it important for parents to be involved in their child’s education.

Parents who are involved in their child’s education are more likely to have kids who develop socially, academically, and behaviorally in a healthy way. Children with involved parents benefit from lower drop-out rates, higher grades, better social skills and greater engagement in all that schools have to offer. As a result, they are more likely to enroll in and complete college, setting them up for their career of choice.

How Do I Help My Child Find Their Passion?

Make sure you are frequently introducing them to new things. When something sticks, write it down. Continue this process, noting their interests along the way. As you compile a list of their interests you can work with your child to decide which ones they will pursue. Give them the freedom and support they need to explore each one. For the most part it should be driven by the child’s desire, but remember every kid needs a nudge once in a while.

Essay on Parents Role in Our Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on Parents Role in Our Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Parents Role in Our Life

The importance of parents.

Parents play a crucial role in our lives. They are our first teachers, guiding us through the early stages of life. They teach us values, morals, and skills, shaping our character and personality.

Our Support System

Parents provide emotional and financial support. They encourage us when we face challenges and celebrate our achievements. Their unconditional love and care are irreplaceable.

Role Models

Parents are our first role models. We learn how to interact with others, handle difficulties, and make decisions by observing them. Their actions and behavior influence our growth and development.

In conclusion, parents play an essential role in our life. Their love, support, and guidance shape us into who we are.

250 Words Essay on Parents Role in Our Life

Introduction.

Parents play a pivotal role in shaping our lives. They are not just the biological entities who give birth to us, but the guiding lights that help us navigate the complex journey of life.

The Foundation of Character

Parents lay the foundation of our character. From teaching us basic etiquettes to instilling moral values, they prepare us for the real world. They influence our behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, thereby molding our personality and identity.

Support System

Parents are our primary support system. They provide emotional stability, helping us to cope with life’s ups and downs. Their unconditional love and care foster a sense of security and confidence in us, enabling us to face challenges with courage.

Educational Role

Parents are our first teachers. They introduce us to the world of knowledge and continue to contribute to our learning process. Their active participation in our educational journey significantly impacts our academic success and intellectual development.

Parents serve as role models, influencing our aspirations and ambitions. Observing them, we learn the importance of hard work, perseverance, and resilience. Their life lessons guide us in making informed decisions and pursuing our goals.

In essence, parents play an indispensable role in our lives. Their immense contribution is beyond quantification. They shape us into responsible individuals, preparing us for life’s challenges and opportunities. Therefore, it is imperative to acknowledge and appreciate their role in our lives.

500 Words Essay on Parents Role in Our Life

The quintessential influence of parents.

Parents play a pivotal role in shaping our lives, a role that extends far beyond mere biological or legal obligations. They are the architects of our character, the nurturers of our dreams, and the pillars of our resilience.

Parents as Role Models

Parents are our first role models. From a young age, we observe and imitate their behavior, attitudes, and responses to various situations. This process of modeling is intrinsic to human nature and is a key method through which we learn about the world and our place in it. Parents’ actions, therefore, leave indelible imprints on our psyches, influencing our values, ethics, and interpersonal skills.

Parents as Nurturers of Dreams

Parents also play a significant role in nurturing our dreams and aspirations. They provide the necessary resources, guidance, and emotional support that enable us to explore our interests and cultivate our talents. Whether it’s a mother staying up late to help her child with a science project or a father sacrificing his leisure time to coach his child’s sports team, parents’ contributions are instrumental in our journey towards realizing our potential.

Parents as Pillars of Resilience

Life is a roller coaster ride filled with ups and downs. In this tumultuous journey, parents act as our pillars of resilience. They teach us how to cope with failures, manage stress, and navigate through life’s challenges. Their unconditional love and support provide a safety net that cushions the impact of life’s adversities, fostering resilience and emotional strength in us.

Parents as Guides in Decision Making

As we mature and begin to make important life decisions, parents serve as our guides. They share their wisdom and experiences, helping us evaluate our options and make informed choices. By doing so, they equip us with the tools necessary for independent thought and action, thereby preparing us for the future.

Parents as Emotional Anchors

Parents also serve as our emotional anchors. They are our confidants, our cheerleaders, and our comforters. They celebrate our victories, empathize with our struggles, and provide reassurance during our moments of self-doubt. This emotional support is crucial for our mental well-being and self-esteem.

The Lasting Impact of Parents

In conclusion, parents play a multifaceted role in our lives. They shape our character, nurture our dreams, fortify our resilience, guide our decision-making, and provide emotional support. Their influence is profound and enduring, leaving a lasting impact on our lives. As we navigate through the different stages of life, let us remember to appreciate the invaluable role our parents play in shaping our lives.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Life Without Newspaper
• Essay on Life of Soldiers
• Essay on Life Is Beautiful

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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Ielts essay 1136 - parents have great influences on children’s development, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, some people think that family life and parents have great influences on children’s development, while others consider that external influences play a more important role in children’s life..

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