This study aimed to identify whether appetitive traits predict exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) duration for the first 6 months of life and to assess other predictors of its duration. 186 six- month-old term infants were included. Appetitive traits were assessed at 3-4 months of age. EBF duration, feeding practices, sex, maternal age and education,…

Objective: This study investigated the effects of motor affordances in the home environment on fine- and gross motor skills of young children aged of 18-42 months. Methodology: Homes were assessed using the Persian translation of the "Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Self-Report," while motor skill behaviour was…

This study investigated women's perceptions of caring and control in their fathers versus their mothers in relation to specific ways in which they interacted with their infants during freeplay. Participants were 73 mothers and their 6 month-old infants. Results revealed that women's perceptions about their mothers compared to their fathers in the…

Surprisingly little research has considered whether parent-child activities facilitate social-emotional development and whether these associations differ for boys and girls. To address this gap, this study leveraged the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (2006-2008) to examine the extent to which story reading, storytelling and…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate fine- and gross-motor development and basic cognitive skills in 3-18 month-olds in relation to home factors, age and weight. Three hundred and seventy mother-child dyads were recruited. For age, two groups were analyzed: 3-11 months and 12-18 months. Motor and basic cognitive skills were assessed using the…

The first year of a child's life has been considered important in shaping their cognitive development. The research literature has identified area-based socio-economic disadvantage as a possible risk factor for cognitive development but has suggested that various factors may facilitate children's resilience to socio-economic disadvantage. This…

Sixty-five parent--infant dyads were observed reading an unfamiliar book at home. Parents' use of language-stimulating and emotionally rich reading styles was measured via a specially developed Book Sharing Scale for Infants. Aspects of child temperament were assessed by the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire [Bates, J. E., Freeland, C. A. B.,…

An enduring challenge in visual-spatial research has been to identify the factors contributing to individual differences in ability. This research investigated the overall, verbal, and nonverbal visual-spatial ability of 61 (34 boys) three- to five-year-olds (M[subscript age] = 57.3 months; SD = 7.9) and the following factors known to be related…

PreschoolThis study investigated the nature of parent involvement and parent-educator communication in prior-to-school early childhood settings and school, to explore relations to social capital variables and consistencies and changes in practices over time. Parent interview and teacher questionnaire data from two waves of the Longitudinal Study…

International research indicates that children with disabilities are more exposed to negative parenting than their non-disabled peers. The mechanisms behind this increased risk are likely operating at the levels of the individual child, the family and the broader social context. The present study investigated harsh parenting practices using…

This study focuses on the associations between family variables and academic and social school readiness in low-income Black children. Analyses drew from the National Institute for Child Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development dataset. The participants included 122 children and their mothers. Data collection occurred…

Children from different backgrounds have disparate access to cultural capital, which may influence their academic success. The purpose of this study was to examine the links between family background, home literacy experiences, and emergent literacy skills among preschoolers enrolled in Head Start programmes. The background characteristics studied…

Most research on parental bookreading has focused on mothers reading to their children. This study examined bookreading practices among approximately 800 fathers and mothers in low-income families. We looked at differences and similarities between families where both parents read frequently compared to families where only mothers read frequently.…

Using play-material scales, SES, age, and sex as predictor variables, this study employed regression against the subvariables of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities of verbal, perceptual-performance, quantitative, memory, and motor abilities. Findings suggest that SES is predictive of verbal, quantitative, memory, and motor, while age is…

Investigates whether the Piagetian forms of sensorimotor, symbolic, and constructional play--together with controlled demographics such as socioeconomic status, age, and sex--predict social-emotional variables on the Devereux Child Behavior Rating Scale. (RH)