Anne McDonald Culp

Relation of Head Start attendance to children’s cognitive and social outcomes: moderation by family risk

Abstract The current study examined whether cumulative family risk would moderate the relation between regularity of attending Head Start and three child outcomes: receptive vocabulary, teacher ratings of social competence, and teacher ratings of following instructions. Cumulative family risk was the sum of four dichotomous measures: low income, low cognitive stimulation, intrusiveness, and depression. Participants were 94 Head Start children and their caregivers. All but 1 of the 16 classrooms attended were rated as good or better on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Analyses revealed the relation between Head Start attendance and receptive vocabulary was moderated by cumulative risk, with children from higher risk families benefiting more. Regardless of cumulative family risk, attendance predicted teacher ratings of social competence; regardless of attendance, cumulative family risk predicted teacher ratings of following instructions. Results are interpreted as supporting a compensatory model of the impact of Head Start on children’s receptive vocabulary and the use of attendance as a measure of the “value added” by Head Start. Public policy implications are discussed.

Maternal Parenting Characteristics and School Involvement: Predictors of Kindergarten Cognitive Competence Among Head Start Children

Abstract While early childhood theorists emphasize the importance of the parent-child relationship to school performance, research findings on the relationship between parenting characteristics and child cognitive competence vary in their results. Differing results are found in samples of Head Start and non-Head Start families. One hundred fourteen Head Start children and mothers participated in this study. The authors examined the contribution of four separate maternal parenting factors (warmth, punitiveness, intrusiveness, and involvement in school activities). The authors related these factors to child kindergarten competence, as measured by PPVT-R and teacher-rated childs memory of teacher instructions. Correlational analyses indicated that maternal intrusiveness consistently predicted child cognitive competence while children were in Head Start; maternal school involvement predicted cognitive competence while children were in kindergarten. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that when child gender, maternal PPVT-R scores, and child Head Start cognitive competence were controlled, maternal school involvement related positively to kindergarten child memory for instructions; and maternal punitiveness related negatively to kindergarten child PPVT-R scores. Measuring positive and negative emotional involvement separately revealed significant findings on maternal intrusiveness and punitiveness that may have been obscured had these maternal characteristics been measured on the low end of a scale of maternal warmth. Implications for involving Head Start parents in schools are discussed.

Language patterns of adolescent and older mothers and their one-year-old children: a comparison study

Adolescent mothers (15;4 years) were compared with older mothers (23;7 years) when talking to their one-year-old infants using precise coding of written transcripts. The 32 subjects were similar on demographic characteristics other than age: white, primiparous, and had no more than 12 years of education. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance indicated that, compared with older mothers, the adolescent mothers spoke significantly fewer words to their infants, fewer utterances in joint attention and in object labelling, fewer utterances of positive affective speech, and more command utterances. The infants of adolescents vocalized significantly less often than the infants of older mothers. Pearson product-moment correlations indicated a positive significant relationship between mother language variables and infant variables.

Maltreated Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Do Teachers and Parents See the Same Things?

We examined whether parent/caregivers and teacher/therapists differ in their perceptions of the behavior problems of young maltreated children. The sample consisted of 33 maltreated preschoolers (58% neglected, 24% sexually abused, 18% physically abused, 59% African American, 41% Caucasian) enrolled in a metropolitan-area treatment center providing an educational/intervention program for maltreated children and their families. Most (82%) of the participant families had an annual income of

First-time young mothers living in rural communities use corporal punishment with their toddlers

10,000 or less. Parent/caregivers and teacher/ therapists provided data about the children, employing the Colorado Child Temperament Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist, and Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. The results indicate that the teacher/therapists and the parent/caregivers perceived the same child as behaving differently. Implications concerning how teachers and parents might communicate are discussed, as well as possible reasons for the two different perceptions of the same child. Three potential reasons for the differences are that they are due to the different perspectives of parents and teachers in assessing child behaviors, to situational variation in child behavior (e.g., home versus school), or to some combination of both effects.

Undergraduate Students' Attributions of Depicted Adult–Adolescent and Adolescent–Adolescent Sexual Interactions

Forty first-time, young mothers with toddlers, living in rural counties in a southwestern state, participated in this descriptive study investigating their use of corporal punishment. Results showed mothers used corporal punishment in attempts to reduce age-appropriate behaviors, especially at mealtime and in learning situations. Prevention and early intervention programs are needed to not only teach expected child behaviors, but also to model and to provide guided practice of effective alternatives to corporal punishment.

Chickasaw Native American adolescent mothers: Implications for early intervention practices

The grayest areas of defining child sexual abuse appear to involve the age and sex of the individuals involved, resulting in a potential for different attributions regarding child sexual abuse across individuals. As a result, this study examines the responses of 262 male and female college student participants after viewing a series of hypothetical sexual abuse vignettes that depicted a 15-year-old victim that neither resisted nor encouraged the advances of a 15-, 25-, or 35-year-old perpetrators actions. Gender roles and sexual attitudes were examined as potentially important covariates. Using a series of analyses of covariance, female participants gave more pro-victim ratings than male participants, and younger perpetrators were viewed less negatively than older perpetrators. Gender roles and sexual attitudes served as significant covariates. These findings emphasized the need to educate individuals about child sexual abuse and unwanted sexual contact involving individuals under the age of consent.

The Wellbeing of Children in the United States: Evidence for a Call for Action

Twenty-four adolescent mothers completed a cultural identity questionnaire and met with an observer in their home to complete the HOME Scale. Analyses utilizing Pearson product moment correlation coefficients found a significant relationship between high identity with the Native American culture and lower scores on verbal responsivity and on provision of material goods. These findings were expected given the Chickasaw values of quietness, reservation, and few worldly possessions. This study illustrates why cultural sensitivity is important for training and in practice when providing community services, such as early intervention.

Relation of Maternal Cognitive Stimulation, Emotional Support, and Intrusive Behavior during Head Start to Children’s Kindergarten Cognitive Abilities

When we examine the status of children and families in the United States today, it is clear that the state of the wellbeing of children and families in America does not meet the standards of our leaders a decade ago. Today, our children suffer from poverty in a country of great wealth; they may lack the educational skills that will allow them to be competitive in the future job market. Many of their parents experience chronic unemployment or transience, as well as periods of family instability. The lives of many children are scarred by abuse and neglect. Many children live in homes or neighborhoods which expose them to domestic or community violence. They are involved in an educational system that does not allow them to develop their full learning potential. Still others are homeless or confront food insecurity on a daily basis. As Marian Wright Edelman states