Rashmita S. Mistry

Economic Well-Being and Children's Social Adjustment: The Role of Family Process in an Ethnically Diverse Low-Income Sample

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, a family economic stress model that links economic well-being to child well-being in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 419 elementary school-age children was evaluated. The sample was 57% African American and 28% Hispanic, and most families were headed by single mothers. The results provided support for the position that family process is a critical mediator of the effects of economic hardship on childrens social adjustment. Lower levels of economic well-being, and the corollary elevated perceptions of economic pressure indirectly affected parenting behavior through an adverse impact on parental psychological well-being. Distressed parents reported feeling less effective and capable in disciplinary interactions with their child and were observed to be less affectionate in parent-child interactions. In turn, less than optimal parenting predicted lower teacher ratings of childrens positive social behavior and higher ratings of behavior problems. Multiple-group analyses revealed that the pathways by which economic hardship influences childrens behavior appear to operate similarly for boys and girls, and for African American and Hispanic families.

Family Income and Its Relation to Preschool Children's Adjustment for Families in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care

The current study examines relations of mean-level estimates, linear changes, and instability in income and family processes to child outcomes and addresses whether income, through its impact on family functioning, matters more for children living in poverty. Temporal changes and instability in family processes, but not income, predicted childrens adjustment. Cross-sectional mediational analyses indicated that for families living at the poverty threshold, family processes fully mediated the effect of average income over the study period on social behavior but only partially mediated its effect on cognitive-linguistic development. The strength of these associations diminished as average income exceeded the poverty threshold. That is, income had a greater impact on the family functioning and development of poor children than of nonpoor children.

Congruence of Mother and Teacher Educational Expectations and Low-Income Youth's Academic Competence.

In this study, the authors examined the independent effects of teacher and mother expectations on youth achievement outcomes, the mediating factors that explain the relationship between adult expectations and student achievement, and the effects of congruent vs. dissonant adult expectations on achievement. Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 522 low-income, urban youth (ages 9-16). Youths mothers and teachers also participated. Findings show that adult expectations exert a significant influence on youths academic competency and performance. Moreover, adult expectations matter both independently and conjointly: Comparably high mother and teacher expectations have a generative effect on youth outcomes, and comparably low mother and teacher expectations have a disruptive effect. Of particular interest are findings demonstrating the buffering effects of high mother expectations in the face of low teacher expectations.

Family Economic Stress and Academic Well-Being Among Chinese-American Youth: The Influence of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Economic Strain

This study examined the pathways by which family economic stress influenced youths educational outcomes in a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents (M ages = 13.0, 17.1 years at waves 1 and 2, respectively). Using latent variable structural equation modeling, results across two waves of data, spanning early to late adolescence, demonstrated that the influence of parent report of economic stress on youth academic achievement (i.e., GPA), school engagement, and positive attitudes about education was mediated through youths perceptions of family economic strain and self-reports of depressive symptoms. These relationships were observed to remain significant after accounting for selection bias using individual fixed-effects models. Finally, youths perceptions of family economic strain were found to more strongly predict depressive symptoms during later, as compared to earlier, adolescence; all other modeled relationships were equivalent across the two time periods. Implications for expanding theoretical tenets of the Family Economic Stress Model are discussed.

A longitudinal study of the simultaneous influence of mothers' and teachers' educational expectations on low-income youth's academic achievement.

This short-term longitudinal study investigated the simultaneous influences of adults’ (mothers and teachers) educational expectations and youth’s achievement (standardized test scores and teachers’ ratings of academic performance) across a 3-year time span on youth’s performance in school (GPA). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 426 low-income urban youth, ages 6 through 16 at T1. Results from cross-lagged and autoregressive path analyses indicated stability in adults’ expectations and youth’s standardized test scores; cross-lagged influences of teachers’, but not mothers’, expectations across time; and effects of youth’s achievement outcomes on adults’ expectations at T2, but not vice versa. Overall, the pattern of findings demonstrate that adults’ educational expectations are dynamic and responsive to how youth are faring in school and to changes in academic performance across time.

Elementary School Children's Reasoning about Social Class: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The current study examined childrens identification and reasoning about their subjective social status (SSS), their beliefs about social class groups (i.e., the poor, middle class, and rich), and the associations between the two. Study participants were 117 10- to 12-year-old children of diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds attending a laboratory elementary school in Southern California. Results indicated that childrens SSS ratings correlated with indicators of family socioeconomic status and were informed by material possessions, lifestyle characteristics, and social and societal comparisons. Children rated the poor as having fewer positive attributes and more negative attributes than the middle class, and fewer positive attributes than the rich. Lower SSS children held less positive attitudes toward the poor than children with middle SSS ratings.

Geographic variations in cost of living: associations with family and child well-being.

The effects of geographic variations in cost of living and family income on childrens academic achievement and social competence in first grade (mean age = 86.9 months) were examined, mediated through material hardship, parental investments, family stress, and school resources. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,565), higher cost of living was associated with lower academic achievement. For poor children only, higher cost of living was also detrimental to parental investments and school resources. Parental investments and school resources were more strongly associated with achievement for lower income than higher income children. Results suggest that cost of living intersects with income in meaningful ways for family and child well-being and should be accounted for in the poverty measure.

An Integrated Conceptual Framework for the Development of Asian American Children and Youth

The diversity of circumstances and developmental outcomes among Asian American children and youth poses a challenge for scholars interested in Asian American child development. This article addresses the challenge by offering an integrated conceptual framework based on three broad questions: (a) What are theory-predicated specifications of contexts that are pertinent for the development of Asian American children? (b) What are the domains of development and socialization that are particularly relevant? (c) How can culture as meaning-making processes be integrated in conceptualizations of development? The heuristic value of the conceptual model is illustrated by research on Asian American children and youth that examines the interconnected nature of specific features of context, pertinent aspects of development, and interpretive processes.

Advancing Methods in Research on Asian American Children and Youth.

Asian American children and youth constitute at the same time an immigrant group, a set of ethnic groups, and a set of cultural groups. Research on these populations can therefore take on one or more of these perspectives. This article provides guidance for research methods in three areas: (a) conceptualizing and assessing migration-related factors, (b) assessing ethnicity and national origin, and (c) using culturally and contextually relevant measures. Methodological recommendations are made for each area, with attention to small-scale studies with community samples as well as large-scale data sets. In addition, this article recommends researchers attend to within-group variations (i.e., intersections of ethnicity, generational status, gender, class, sexuality), the embeddedness of individual development in context, and specificity of developmental periods.

Taking Stock and Moving Forward: Research on Asian American Child Development

With this Special Section, the Asian Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development seeks to promote a more inclusive, expanded, and holistic developmental science that can account for the diversity of developmental trajectories among Asian Americans. The articles elucidate, in turn, historical, conceptual, and methodological issues in studying Asian American child development. Although the articles foreground Asian Americans, the ideas should help advance theoretical and empirical work for other racial and ethnic groups, thereby contributing to a more valid understanding of child development.