Abstract
Using Future of Families and Child Wellbeing data (N = 4488, waves collected between 2001 and 2010), the current study examined mothers’ and fathers’ trajectories of engagement in learning activities (e.g., reading, storytelling, playing with toys) from infancy to age 5, predictors of the trajectories (family poverty, coresidence, child temperament), whether those trajectories predicted children’s academic skills (vocabulary knowledge, reading, and math ability) at age 9, and moderators of the trajectories. Mothers’ and fathers’ learning activities decreased significantly over time as children got older, and rates of decline were greater when families experienced poverty and were nonresident. Children’s academic skills were significantly lower when mothers and fathers reported higher rates of decline in learning activities during early childhood; effect sizes were small.
Highlights
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Examined both mothers’ and fathers’ learning activity trajectories from infancy to age 5.
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Found that mothers’ and fathers’ engagement in learning activities decreased significantly from infancy to age 5.
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Children’s academic skills were significantly lower when mothers and fathers reported higher rates of decline in learning activities during early childhood; effect sizes were small.
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Acknowledgements
The data necessary to reproduce the analyses presented here are publicly accessible. Data for this study are available from Princeton University at https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu. The analytic code necessary to reproduce the analyses is also publicly accessible at https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/documentation. The materials necessary to attempt to replicate the findings presented here are publicly accessible and can be obtained from the first author. The analyses presented here were not preregistered. There has not been any prior dissemination of the findings of this study. The authors of this paper have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing sample. Data for this study are available from Princeton University at https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu. The work associated with this paper has not been preregistered.
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Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HD078547 to the second author.
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Fagan, J., Cabrera, N. & Iglesias, A. Trajectories of Low-income Mothers’ and Fathers’ Engagement in Learning Activities and Child Academic Skills. J Child Fam Stud 33, 805–821 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02682-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02682-1