Mike A. Assel

Does early responsive parenting have a special importance for children's development or is consistency across early childhood necessary?

The role of early versus ongoing maternal responsiveness in predicting cognitive and social development was examined in home visits for mothers, full-term children (n = 103), and medically low-risk (n = 102) and high-risk (n = 77) preterm children at 5 ages. There were 4 maternal clusters based on warm and contingent responsiveness behaviors observed early (at 6, 12, and 24 months) and late (at 3 and 4 years): high early, high late; high early, low late; low early, moderate late; and low early, low late. Children, especially preterm children, showed faster cognitive growth when mothers were consistently responsive. Social growth was similar in the consistently responsive (high-high) and the early-responsive inconsistent (high-low) clusters, but greater deceleration at 4 years among children with mothers in the inconsistent cluster refuted the notion of a unique role for early responsiveness. The importance of consistent responsiveness, defined by an affective-emotional construct, was evident even when a broader constellation of parenting behaviors was considered.

Early maternal warm responsiveness as a predictor of child social skills: Direct and indirect paths of influence over time

Abstract This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of early maternal warm responsiveness on later child social skills, investigating the roles of maternal discipline and child language as possible intervening and reciprocal influences. Mother–child dyads ( n =252) were assessed when the children were at 12, 24, 40, and 54 months of age. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results indicated that early maternal warm responsiveness has a direct effect on later child social skills above and beyond concurrent effects and indirect effects through other variables, emphasizing the far-reaching influence of maternal warm responsiveness early in the childs life. Additionally, maternal disciplinary preferences were found to play a mediating role between early maternal warm responsiveness and later child social skills. Child language did not play a mediating role, though reciprocal relationships between maternal and child variables were found.

Parenting Predictors of Cognitive Skills and Emotion Knowledge in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Preschoolers

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations of parental responsiveness and inferential language input with cognitive skills and emotion knowledge among socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. Parents and 2- to 4-year-old children (mean age=3.21 years, N=284) participated in a parent-child free play session, and children completed cognitive (language, early literacy, early mathematics) and emotion knowledge assessments. Approximately 1 year later, children completed the same assessment battery. Parental responsiveness was coded from the videotaped parent-child free play sessions, and parental inferential language input was coded from transcripts of a subset of 127 of these sessions. All analyses controlled for child age, gender, and parental education, and longitudinal analyses controlled for initial skill level. Parental responsiveness significantly predicted all concurrent cognitive skills as well as literacy, math, and emotion knowledge 1 year later. Parental inferential language input was significantly positively associated with childrens concurrent emotion knowledge. In longitudinal analyses, an interaction was found such that for children with stronger initial language skills, higher levels of parental inferential language input facilitated greater vocabulary development, whereas for children with weaker initial language skills, there was no association between parental inferential language input and change in childrens vocabulary skills. These findings further our understanding of the roles of parental responsiveness and inferential language input in promoting childrens school readiness skills.

An assessment of risk understanding in hispanic genetic counseling patients

This study sought to identify if differences existed in risk comprehension and risk format understanding between genetic counseling patients of Hispanic and Caucasian ethnicity. A total of 107 questionnaires were collected, 56 from Hispanic patients, and 51 from Caucasian controls. Of the total population 41.1% (44/107) could not demonstrate sufficient risk understanding, which was 71.4% (40/56) of Hispanics and 7.8% (4/51) of Caucasians. Fractions were the best-understood format for all participants. However, both Hispanics and Caucasians had difficulties with the percentage risk format. Discrepancies were also noted in qualitative word format understanding. Awareness of differences in risk comprehension may affect the selection of counseling techniques and strategies utilized by genetic counselors when educating patients about risk related information.

Impacts of a Comprehensive School Readiness Curriculum for Preschool Children at Risk for Educational Difficulties.

This article reports findings from a cluster-randomized study of an integrated literacy- and math-focused preschool curriculum, comparing versions with and without an explicit socioemotional lesson component to a business-as-usual condition. Participants included 110 classroom teachers from randomized classrooms and approximately eight students from each classroom (N = 760) who averaged 4.48 (SD = 0.44) years of age at the start of the school year. There were positive impacts of the two versions of the curriculum on language, phonological awareness, math, and socioemotional outcomes, but there were no added benefits to academic or socioemotional outcomes for the children receiving explicit socioemotional instruction. Results are discussed with relevance to early childhood theory, policy, and goals of closing the school readiness gap.

Factor Structure of the DIAL-3 A Test of the Theory-Driven Conceptualization Versus an Empirically Driven Conceptualization in a Nationally Representative Sample

Using data from the standardization sample of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning—Third Edition (DIAL-3), this study compared the usefulness of an empirically derived factor structure introduced by Anthony, Assel, and Williams with the authors theoretical conceptualization. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted on three age groups of children (i.e., 831 3- and 4-year-olds, 729 5- and 6-year-olds, and 1,560 3- to 6-year-olds). Both models explained the younger group of childrens performances reasonably well (e.g., Comparative Fit Indices [CFIs] = .93) and yielded equivalent standardized fits. The two models explained the older childrens performances reasonably well (e.g., CFIs = .93), and their fits were also equivalent. Finally, the two models characterized performances of the standardization sample quite well (e.g., CFIs = .96), and their fits were also equivalent. Results are discussed in terms of how assessments are standardized and validated and how this is relevant for clinicians and consumers.

A First Look at the Validity of the DIAL-3 Spanish Version

To examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales on the Spanish version of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning—Third Edition (DIAL-3), exploratory factor analysis is performed on data from 648 children who are native speakers of Spanish and who attend Head Start. Three factors, labeled Verbal Ability , Nonverbal Ability, and Achievement, collectively account for 56% of the variance in childrens performances. Confirmatory factor analysis evaluate this empirically-derived model and the conceptually-derived model of the authors of the DIAL-3 in a separate sample of 588 Spanish-speaking Head Start children. The empirically-derived model characterized childrens performances better than the conceptually-derived model. The discussion highlights potential uses of the new factors, ideas for consideration during revision of the Spanish DIAL-3, and the need for additional validity research on the measure.