Papers by Christy Brady-smith
... by Rebecca M. Ryan Christy Brady-Smith & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn National Center for Children ... more ... by Rebecca M. Ryan Christy Brady-Smith & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn National Center for Children and Families ... c 2.77 b 4.83 a 5.26 3.90 Father Involvement [9.71] [9.78] [8.66] [9.71] [SD] ns 13.21 13.03 12.99 13.11 Mat. Depression [1.07] [.93] [.97] [1.05] [SD] ...
Child Development, 2011
Dynamic skill theory was utilized to explain the multiple mechanisms and mediating processes infl... more Dynamic skill theory was utilized to explain the multiple mechanisms and mediating processes influencing development of self-regulatory and language skills in children at 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Relations were found between family risks, parenting-related stresses, and parent-child interactions that contribute either independently or through mediation to the child's acquisition of self-regulatory skills even when accounting for the influence of language development. Variation in impacts between control and Early Head Start (EHS) intervention samples was compared to explore the sequence of developmental mechanisms over time. Findings indicate that EHS protects parenting, child language, and self-regulatory development from the effects of demographic risks and parenting stress, and thus supports parents to raise healthy children. Dynamic Skill Theory: A Translational Model for Normative Development in Context Dynamic skill theory provides a model for understanding the intersection of social and language development embedded in the varied contexts of family risks, parental stress, and parent-child relationships. Within the dynamic skill framework, development involves an individual's construction of progressively more complex skills. Skills are the
Evaluation and Program Planning, 2001
... Especially noteworthy is the work being done by Meyers and colleagues (Meyers, Gornick ... hi... more ... Especially noteworthy is the work being done by Meyers and colleagues (Meyers, Gornick ... hierarchical cluster analysis based on 31 dimensions of state family support policies ... policy, and private responsibility enforcement), they identified five distinct policy clusters characterizing ...
The final report to Congress presents complete findings from our seven-year national evaluation o... more The final report to Congress presents complete findings from our seven-year national evaluation of Early Head Start. The findings show that the program promotes learning and the parenting that supports it within the first three years of life. Participating children perform significantly better in cognitive, language, and social-emotional development than their peers who do not participate. The program also has
Parenting, 2013
ABSTRACT Objective . To examine patterns of supportive parenting during the first three years of ... more ABSTRACT Objective . To examine patterns of supportive parenting during the first three years of life in low-income families from three ethnic backgrounds and document associations between these patterns and measures of children's development. Design . Mothers' supportiveness was longitudinally assessed from videotaped parent–child play interactions at 1, 2, and 3 years of age in 1,095 low-income European American, African American, and Latin American mothers and their children who participated in Early Head Start. Links between mothering and 5-year-olds' outcomes were examined. Results . Cluster analysis performed separately for the three ethnic groups identified four patterns of supportiveness over time: High Stable, Low Stable, Increasing, and Decreasing. Similar proportions of mothers in each ethnic group displayed each pattern. Ethnic differences in mean levels of supportiveness within each pattern were found, and different correlates for each group emerged. Conclusions . The same four patterns were identified in all three ethnic groups, but the percentages and mean levels differed, such that fewer African Americans and Latin Americans would have been designated as high stable if analyses had been done for the total sample. The benefits of the high stable pattern for 5-year-olds would have been underestimated for these two groups as well, suggesting the advisability of examining mothering by ethnicity.
Parenting, 2013
ABSTRACT Objective . This article identifies patterns of mothering in low-income families from th... more ABSTRACT Objective . This article identifies patterns of mothering in low-income families from three ethnic groups and explores whether those patterns yield similar associations with child outcomes. Design . A person-centered within-group approach was used to examine observed patterns of mothering among European American (n = 740), African American (n = 604), and Mexican American (n = 322) low-income mothers and their 1-year-olds who were participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Cluster analytic techniques were employed using four dimensions of mothering coded from videotapes: supportiveness, directiveness/intrusiveness, negative regard, and detachment. Results . Three similar mothering patterns were seen within each ethnic group: Supportive (48%–52%), Directive (29%–30%), and Detached (14%–19%). Although the patterns of mothering were similar, mean scores on discrete mothering behaviors differed across ethnic groups. A fourth pattern—Harsh—was found among European American and African American mothers and was characterized by high levels of negativity (5%–7%). Associations between mothering patterns and three child outcomes at ages 2 and 3 years (cognitive test score, emotional regulation, and engagement of mother) validated cluster solutions and revealed some variation in prediction across ethnic groups. However, Supportive mothering was optimal in all three ethnic groups. Conclusions . Within-group analyses permitted identification of ethnically meaningful mothering patterns. Across the ethnic groups, within-group structures of mothering were similar with comparable predictive power for child outcomes despite group differences in the magnitudes of mean scores for constructs such as supportiveness and directiveness.
Journal of Marriage and Family, 2005
Infant Mental Health Journal, 2002
ABSTRACT: Teenage parents are commonly characterized as poor, minority, single mothers with low l... more ABSTRACT: Teenage parents are commonly characterized as poor, minority, single mothers with low levels of education and problematic parenting behaviors. The role of teenage childbearing per se in mothers' parenting behaviors, however, is not well understood. This study ...
Developmental Psychology, 2005
Early Head Start, a federal program begun in 1995 for low-income pregnant women and families with... more Early Head Start, a federal program begun in 1995 for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, was evaluated through a randomized trial of 3,001 families in 17 programs. Interviews with primary caregivers, child assessments, and observations of parent-child interactions were completed when children were 3 years old. Caregivers were diverse in race-ethnicity, language, and other characteristics. Regression-adjusted impact analyses showed that 3-year-old program children performed better than did control children in cognitive and language development, displayed higher emotional engagement of the parent and sustained attention with play objects, and were lower in aggressive behavior. Compared with controls, Early Head Start parents were more emotionally supportive, provided more language and learning stimulation, read to their children more, and spanked less. The strongest and most numerous impacts were for programs that offered a mix of home-visiting and center-based services and that fully implemented the performance standards early.
Child Development, 2009
This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in... more This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race/ethnicity. Child fussiness at age 1 predicted spanking and verbal punishment at all three ages. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated that spanking (but not verbal punishment) at age 1 predicted child aggressive behavior problems at age 2 and lower Bayley mental development scores at age 3. Neither child aggressive behavior problems nor Bayley scores predicted later spanking or verbal punishment. In some instances, maternal race/ethnicity and/or emotional responsiveness moderated the effects of spanking and verbal punishment on child outcomes.
Child Development, 2003
Three studies examined associations between early child care and child outcomes among families di... more Three studies examined associations between early child care and child outcomes among families diff erent from those in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network study. Results suggest that quality is an important infl uence on children's development and may be an important moderator of the amount of time in care. Thus, the generalizability of the NICHD fi ndings may hinge on the context in which those results were obtained. These studies, conducted in three national contexts, with diff erent regulatory climates, ranges of child care quality, and a diversity of family characteristics, suggest a need for more complete estimates of how both quality and quantity of child care may infl uence a range of young children's developmental outcomes.
US Department of …, 2004
In 1994, the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddle... more In 1994, the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers set forth a vision for Early Head Start programs in declaring that all child care settings used by Early Head Start families, whether or not the program provides the care directly, must ...
Evaluation and Program Planning, 2001
We explore the implications of the rapid influx of low-income mothers into the workforce and PRWO... more We explore the implications of the rapid influx of low-income mothers into the workforce and PRWORA work requirements during the middle to late 1990s for the well-being of young children. Our premise is that some families with young children will be better off, while others will be worse off than low-income cohorts from a decade ago. We focus on six
Uploads
Papers by Christy Brady-smith