Checking On The Kids
Too Much of a Good Thing? Testing the Curvilinear Relationship between Parental Involvement and Student Outcomes in Elementary School
Angran Li, Simon Cheng & Todd Vachon
Social Forces, forthcoming
Abstract:
Most scholars, parents, and educators agree that parental involvement is beneficial for children’s academic and developmental outcomes. However, a small but growing body of scholarship suggests that intensive parental involvement may potentially hinder children’s development. In this study, we examine the “more is less” assumption in parental involvement research and formally test the argument of parental overinvolvement. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K), we examine whether high levels of involvement are associated with unintended negative child development in elementary school. Analyses based on curvilinear mixed effects models show that elevated parental expectations, intensive participation in extracurricular activities, and increased parental school involvement are associated with diminishing returns to children’s outcomes. The most meaningful parental overinvolvement pattern is found for internalizing problems. These patterns are generally consistent for children from all socioeconomic levels. We conclude with a discussion of the research and policy implications of these findings.
Gender Equality and Maternal Burnout: A 40-Country Study
Isabelle Roskam et al.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, February 2022, Pages 157-178
Abstract:
In Western countries, recent decades have witnessed a revolution toward gender equality. Inequalities have been greatly reduced in areas such as education or employment. Because inequalities lead to distress, this development has largely benefited women. One notable exception is the realm of parenting, which has remained rife with inequalities even in the most egalitarian countries. We hypothesized that experiencing inequality in parenting when one holds egalitarian values and raising a child in a country characterized by a high level of gender equality in other areas, increases mothers’ psychological distress in the specific area of parenting. Multilevel modeling analyses computed among 11,538 mothers from 40 countries confirmed this prediction: high egalitarian values at the individual level and high gender equality at the societal level are associated with higher burnout levels in mothers. The associations hold beyond differences in sociodemographic characteristics at the individual level and beyond economic disparities at the societal level. These findings show the importance of egalitarian values and gender equality and their paradoxical effect when inequalities are still present in specific areas as parenting. This study reveals the crucial need to act not only at the micro level but also at the macro level to promote gender equality in parenting and prevent parental burnout.
(Bio)Logics of The Family: Gender, Biological Relatedness, and Attitudes Toward Children’s Gender Nonconformity in a Vignette Experiment
Lawrence Stacey
Sociological Forum, forthcoming
Abstract:
Family is one of the most influential institutions when it comes to the production and reproduction of gender. Yet despite the prevalence of families in which children are not biologically related to parents in the U.S. today, little research has explored the role of the biological connection in parents’ beliefs about children’s gender nonconformity. Using original data collected through an online survey experiment (N = 712), I examine the extent to which parents’ beliefs toward a biological child or stepchild’s, and son or daughter’s, gender nonconformity differ. After reading a short vignette about a child acting in a gender non-normative way, respondents were asked a series of questions, ranging from whether they would be upset, supportive, and most importantly, feel accountable to others, that gauged beliefs about the child’s gender nonconformity. Results showed greater upset and heightened accountability for biological children (vs. stepchildren). Results revealed that parents overwhelmingly indicated greater upset, less support, and heightened accountability for sons (vs. daughters). These findings illustrate the mutability of accountability structures in the face of the biological connection and gender between parents and children.
What Can Conjoint Experiments Tell Us about Americans’ Abortion Attitudes?
David Doherty
American Politics Research, March 2022, Pages 147-156
Abstract:
I report findings from a pair of conjoint experiments that presented respondents with a series of profiles of pregnant women and asked whether it should be possible for each to obtain a legal abortion. The profiles varied the reason for the abortion, gestational age, and demographic characteristics of the hypothetical woman. I find little evidence that women’s demographic characteristics — including their purported ethnoracial identities — affect these judgments. In contrast, the effects of gestational age and the reason for the abortion are substantial. Notably, the effects of gestational age appear to be linear and unresponsive to trimester and viability thresholds commonly cited in elite discourse. I also find that the reason for the abortion becomes more consequential as gestational age increases. Finally, I consider whether these effects vary with respondents’ party affiliation and gender. The findings offer new insights into the contours of abortion attitudes in the United States and illustrate the strengths and limitations of conjoint designs.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on abortion care utilization and disparities by age
Isabel Fulcher et al.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, forthcoming
Study design:
Utilizing electronic medical records on all abortions at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts from May 1, 2017 through December 31, 2020 (N=35,411), we performed time series modeling to estimate monthly changes in number of abortions from expected counts during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also assessed if legal minors (<18 years) experienced delays in time to abortion, based on gestational age at procedure, and whether minors were differentially impacted by the pandemic.
Results:
There were 1725 fewer abortions than expected, corresponding to a 20% drop, from March to December 2020 (95% prediction interval: [-2025, -1394]) with 888 (20% fewer) abortions among adults, 792 (20% fewer) among young adults, and 45 (27% fewer) among minors. Adults and young adults experienced significant decreases in the number of abortions beginning in March 2020, while decreases among minors did not begin until July 2020. The rate of abortions occurring at or after 12 weeks gestational age was unchanged during the COVID-19 pandemic among minors (adjusted risk ratio (RR): 0.92; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): [0.55, 1.51]) and among adults (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: [0.78, 1.09]). Young adults had lower risk of second trimester abortion during the pandemic (RR=0.79, 95% CI: [0.66, 0.95]).
More comprehensive sex education reduced teen births: Quasi-experimental evidence
Nicholas Mark & Lawrence Wu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 22 February 2022
Abstract:
Women in the United States are much more likely to become mothers as teens than those in other rich countries. Teen births are particularly likely to be reported as unintended, leading to debate over whether better information on sex and contraception might lead to reductions in teen births. We contribute to this debate by providing causal evidence at the population level. Our causal identification strategy exploits county-level variation in the timing and receipt of federal funding for more comprehensive sex education and data on age-specific teen birth rates at the county level constructed from birth certificate natality data covering all births in the United States. Our results show that federal funding for more comprehensive sex education reduced county-level teen birth rates by more than 3%. Our findings thus complement the mixed evidence to date from randomized control trials on teen pregnancies and births by providing population-level causal evidence that federal funding for more comprehensive sex education led to reductions in teen births.
Adults’ pedagogical messages engender children's preference for self-resembling others
Ashley Jordan & Karen Wynn
Developmental Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
These studies investigate the influence of adults’ explicit attention to commonalities of appearance on children's preference for individuals resembling themselves. Three findings emerged: (1) An adult's identification of two dolls’ respective similarity to and difference from the child led 3-year-olds to prefer the similar doll (study 1, n = 32). (2) When the adult did not comment on similarity, children age 6 years but not younger preferred physically similar individuals (study 2, n = 68), suggesting that a spontaneous preference for physically similar others does not emerge before school age. (3) Four- but not 3-year-olds generalized an adult's pedagogical cues about similarity, leading them to prefer a self-resembling doll in a new context (study 3, n = 80). These findings collectively suggest that the preference for individuals resembling ourselves develops through a process of internalizing adults’ attention to, and messages about, similarities of appearance.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of the TYRO Dads Program
Young-Il Kim & Sung Joon Jang
Family Relations, forthcoming
Method:
A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a sample of 252 fathers randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Both groups completed a pretest survey and were followed up at the end of intervention (posttest) and 3 months after the intervention (follow-up). Latent growth curve models were used to estimate both intervention and dosage effects.
Results:
The intervention group fathers reported significant improvement over time in the level of satisfaction of the relationship with their child. This finding may be partly because program participants became more confident in their parenting role, had their parenting role identity enhanced, or felt better about their relationship with their child's mother. These results were more pronounced among those who attended eight out of 10 sessions.