Anna D. Johnson

Order in the House!: Associations among Household Chaos, the Home Literacy Environment, Maternal Reading Ability, and Children's Early Reading.

The current study examines whether associations exist between household chaos and children’s early reading skills, after controlling for a comprehensive battery of home literacy environment characteristics. Our sample included 455 kindergarten and first-grade children who are enrolled in the Western Reserve Reading Project. We go on to test whether these associations are moderated by maternal reading ability. Results suggest that the degree of household order is significantly and positively associated with the expressive vocabulary, Woodcock Reading Mastery, and phonological awareness skills of children whose mothers are above-average readers. By contrast, the number of books a child owns or brings home and how often a child amuses self alone with books are significantly associated with the expressive vocabulary, Woodcock Reading Mastery, and phonological awareness skills of children whose mothers are average-ability readers. These results suggest the potential for new approaches to encouraging literacy development in the home beyond those that depend solely on parental literacy.

Child-care subsidies: do they impact the quality of care children experience?

The federal child-care subsidy program represents one of the governments largest investments in early care and education, but little is known about whether it increases low-income childrens access to higher quality child care. This study used newly available nationally representative data on 4-year-old children (N = 750) to investigate whether subsidy receipt elevates child-care quality. Results indicate that subsidy recipients use higher quality care compared to nonrecipients who use no other publicly funded care, but lower quality care compared to nonrecipients who instead use Head Start or public pre-k. Findings suggest that subsidies may have the potential to enhance care quality but that parents who use subsidies are not accessing the highest quality care available to low-income families.

G. stanley hall's contribution to science, practice and policy : The child study, parent education, and child welfare movements

G. Stanley Hall influenced several social movements that had great implications for child wellbeing: the Child Study, Parent Education, and Child Welfare Movements. However, while Hall laid much of the foundation for the field of scientific child study and policy-relevant research, his legacy is virtually nonexistent. The current article reviews the life and contributions of G. Stanley Hall, and the dual role Hall played in history as a revered leader of the Child Study Movement and a controversial figure in the landscape of early child psychology.

Predictors of public early care and education use among children of low-income immigrants ☆

Little is known about predictors of publicly funded early care and education (ECE) use among low-income children of immigrants. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to effectively increase participation in these public programs, which promote school readiness but are underused by children of immigrants. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study attempts to identify pertinent family, child, maternal ECE preference, broader contextual, and immigrant specific characteristics predictive of ECE use among 4-year old children in a sample of low-income children of immigrants (N ≈ 1,050). Specifically, we estimate multinomial logistic regression models predicting type of ECE (Head Start, public pre-k, subsidized ECE, unsubsidized ECE, parental care) from these characteristics. Findings suggest that even in a low-income sample, correlates of disadvantage such as low maternal education and prior receipt of public benefits are important predictors of public ECE use, as are maternal preferences for certain features of care and supply-side factors such as ECE availability. Immigrant-specific factors such as English proficiency, citizenship status, availability of non-English speaking caregivers, and generosity of state policies toward immigrants emerged as particularly salient for explaining the public ECE selection patterns of low-income immigrants. Results point to future research areas and potential policy solutions aimed at increasing public ECE use for children who may stand to benefit the most.

Food Insecurity and Family Well-Being Outcomes among Households with Young Children

Objectives To investigate associations between household food insecurity and multiple family well‐being variables in an effort to illuminate previously understudied, policy‐amenable mechanisms through which food insecurity threatens healthy development. Study design Data are drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort contains longitudinal data on household food insecurity and several family well‐being factors including maternal physical and mental health, positive parenting practices and disciplinary strategies, and frequency and severity of spousal conflict. We use regression models with lagged dependent variables to estimate associations between food insecurity and family well‐being outcomes, on a subsample of low‐income families (N ≈ 2100‐4700). Results Household food insecurity was significantly associated with poorer maternal physical health; increased depressive symptoms and use of harsh discipline strategies; and greater frequency and negativity of conflict between parents. Associations were strongest and most consistent when children were preschool aged. Transitions into food insecurity between toddlerhood and preschool were also associated with significantly worse parental physical and mental health outcomes, and more family conflict, with similar though slightly weaker and less consistent associations for transitioning into food insecurity between infancy and toddlerhood. Conclusions Food insecurity is associated with significant decreases in family health and well‐being. Clinicians and other public health officials play a critical role in assessing risk for children and families, and linking families with supportive services. Screening families experiencing or at risk for food insecurity and connecting them with resources is an avenue through which public health practitioners can support family health.

Book Review: Science in the Service of Children 1893-1935

This book is an incredibly engaging and informative read for anyone interested in the history of the development of child study from the end of the 19th century through the early part of the 20th century. In the first comprehensive history of the topic, Alice Boardman Smuts presents a sweeping review of intertwined movements—both those that were social and those that were scientific—that coalesced to shape what became the field of child study. The book is thoughtfully organized into three parts, the first of which is aptly titled, “Preparing the Way, 1893-1910,” and tells the story of the people and the movements that set the stage for a science of the child to emerge. Chapter 1 sheds light on the rising importance of domesticity and the role of mothers as the popularity of parenting advice spread and female participation in organized groups grew. Through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the American Social Science Association, charitable organizations, the settlement house movement, and the use of the social survey, empirical methods and women reformers were united in early attempts to establish a field of scientific child study. In chapters 2, 3, and 4, the three major movements and key players underlying the “century of the child” are examined. Chapter 2 focuses on the child study movement and its father, G. Stanley Hall. Chapter 3 presents background on the parent education movement, and Chapter 4 explores the early child welfare movement and the reformers and scientists who shaped it. Part 2, “Creating the Models, 1910-1921,” reviews the institutions that served as models for the successful growth and perpetuation of child study and child development research. Chapter 5, possibly the most touching section of the book, tells the story of the first government agency created for the explicit purpose of promoting child well-being, and its first chief. The new federal Children’s Bureau and its leader Julia Lathrop represent what Smuts rightly refers to as “government at its best.” Through letters between Lathrop and some of the women whose lives the new bureau affected, the need for scientific information disseminated by a central agency, especially