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What Factors Shape our Beliefs and Values?

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What Factors Shape our Beliefs and Values?

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The ways in which we learn to express our love can be affected by how we expect and receive it ourselves. Not only can it be a way to show our interest, feelings and affection, it can represent what we value as people when it comes to creating fulfilling relationships.

Michelle began to realize that her mother's way of showing affection was to pour her love into the foods she cooked for her; it served as a reminder that she had remembered all of the small details that went into prepping the dish just the way she liked it. "She remembered if you liked your stews with extra broth, if you were sensitive to spice, if you hated tomatoes, if you didn't eat seafood, if you had a large appetite. She remembered which banchan side dish you emptied first so the next time you were over it'd be set with a heaping double portion, served alongside the various other preferences that made you, you." (pg.14)

It didn't stop at food alone, as she states that “once a month, huge boxes would arrive, reminders I was never far from her mind. Sweet honey puffed rice, twenty four packs of individually wrapped seasoned seaweed, microwavable rice, shrimp crackers, boxes of Pepero, and cups of Shin ramen..” (pg. 69) She even noticed her mother’s efforts in which would usually go unnoticed for the average person; but for her, she knew what kind of person her mother was. “The cowboys boots arrived in one of these packages after my parents they’d already been broken in. My mother had worn them around the house for a week, smoothing the hard edges in two pairs of her feet, wearing in the stiffness, breaking the tough aether to spare me all the discomfort.” (pg. 69) “-I remembered how when I was a child I would slip my feet between my mother’s thighs to warm them. How’d she shiver and whisper that she would always suffer to bring me comfort, that that was how you knew someone really loved you.” (pg.86) It were these small habits that made her realize that the best form of love, was to show it in ways that became apparent when really searched for.

“It was vastly different than what others around her would describe as "motherly love", as she "remembered these things clearly because that was how my mother loved you, not through white lies and constant verbal affection, but in subtle observations of what brought you joy, pocketed away to make you feel comforted and cared for without even realizing it." (pg. 14) These experiences made her realize the different ways a mother would care for her own daughter, and she began to reflect that behavior throughout her adult life. When she took care of her bedridden mother, she cooked a dish best fit for the state she was in-- gyeranjjim, a classic korean silky custard egg dish, which was light and easy to digest. For her aunt Nami and cousin Seong Young she cooked the ultimate comfort food, hearty doenjang jjigae soup, which she adjusted the flavour until it was as close as to her mom's recipe as she could get it. She soon learned that between her and her mom, food was an unspoken language, as she states that "it had come to symbolize our return to eachother, our bonding, our common ground." (pg. 98) She began to feel that the best thing she could do for the loved ones around her, was to cook them dishes that reminded them of home— where they feel safe and connected.

“Hers was tougher than tough love. It was brutal, industrial strength. A sinewy love that never gave way to an inch of weakness. It was love that saw what was best for you ten steps ahead, and didn’t care if it hurt like hell in the meantime.” “She was guilty of caring too much. I realize this now, only in retrospect. No one in this world would ever love me as much as my mother, and she would never let me forget it.” (pg. 18)

These texts show example of how love language can shape the way we choose to communicate with others, our desire to nurture and care for the people we love, and our belief that actions speak louder than words.

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young Michelle out dining with her mother at a Korean restaurant 

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Relationships, such as that of a mother and daughter, will most likely leave lasting impressions on the child’s development— whether it be life values or small habits we picked up that seem to make us differ from others.

“My mother rarely saw doctors, committed to the idea that ailments passed of their own accord. She felt that Americans were overly cautious and overly medicated and had instilled this belief in me from a young age, so much so that when Peter got food poisoning from a bad can of tuna and his mother suggested I take him to urgent care I actually had to stifle a laugh.” (pg. 41) From this segment, we can tell that pretty important values (such as medicine) have been introduced into Michelle at a young age, making her internalize her mother’s skepticism for Western medicine. She also talks about how this was a clause when discovering her mother’s cancer, never expecting a small stomachache which she hadn’t worried about, to turn out to be something so life-threatening.

Other factors such as the importance of physical appearance has been instilled into Michelle as well, which caused her much disstress over her teenage years. She was self conscious about her asian heritage and everything that came with it, from appearances to food. “Every time I ate well or bowed correctly to my elders, my relatives would say, “Aigo yeppeu.” ‘Yeppeu,” or pretty, was frequently employed as a synonym for good or well behaved, and this fusion of moral and aesthetic approval was an early introduction to the value of beauty and the rewards it had in store.” (pg. 33) “My mother was always trying to shape me into the most perfect version of myself when I was an infant, she pinched my nose because she was worried it was too flat.” “If I furrowed my brow or smiled too widely, she’d smooth my forehead with her fingers and instruct me to “stop making wrinkles.” If I walked with a slouch, she’d push a palm between my shoulder blades and command, “Ukgae pee-goo!” “Shoulders straight!” (pg. 18)

Even when she was met with the devastating news of her mother’s cancer, she had already learned to be emotionally restraint. To spare her of any extra discomfort, Michelle would withhold her tears to try to portray hope and strength, like how her mother taught her. “But instead, I felt my body stiffen, my heart harden, my feelings froze over. An internal voiced commanded, “Do not break down. If you cry, it’s acknowledging danger. If you cry, she will not stop.” So instead, I swallowed my steady voice, not just to comfort her with a white lie but to truly force myself into believing it.” (pg.91) “I swallowed the lump in my throat, slung my bag back over my shoulder, and smiled. I thought, Save your tears for when your mother dies.” (pg. 42)

This key idea can also tie into other factors as well— such as love language and the importance of cultural food.
Relationships have no restriction of exactly when they enter our lives, whether it’s from our childhood, teenage years or adulthood— which is why we are so easily influenced by those we keep around. This is why parental roles such as a mother can affect self/body image, the way we pass along our cultural and family traditions, communication methods and emotion regulation/coping mechanisms.

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Food can hold many meanings for a lot of people— more than just pure sustenance and nutrition. It has the ability to define a significant part of who we are, as it can tie back to our cultural identity, memories of our heritage, which is a definitive factor as to what we may believe and value as people.

Michelle states that when she goes in search for Korean food in an H Mart, she is looking for a taste of home, nostalgic flavours that remind her of the very place she grew up in. “—when I go to H Mart, I’m not just on the hunt for cuttlefish and three bundles of scallions for a buck; I’m searching for memories. I’m collecting the evidence that the korean half of my identity didn’t die when they did.” (pg. 11)

Her family viewed food as delicacies to indulge in instead of valuing luxuries and fine art, which allowed Michelle to try a variety of exotic dishes. From a young age, her palette was developed, enjoying a range of delicacies which would be considered “not fit for a child’s taste buds”, aeui imbas-eneun maj-ji anh-eul geos, in Korean standards. “What they lacked in high culture, they made up for by spending their hard-earned money on the finest of delicacies. My childhood was rich with flavour—blood sausage, fish intestines, caviar. They loved good food, to make it, to seek it, to share it, and I was an honary guest at their table.” (pg. 23) I find this to be relative when connecting to her belief on the value of going to an H-mart, as a grocery store filled with snacks, niche ingredients and side dishes ties back to the sole meaning of heritage to Michelle; her Korean identity, her other half. To Michelle, food is a concept imbedded with memories, something that reminders her of her home and loved ones. When she describes the flavours, they’re not just visually descriptive, but she emphasizes the sole feelings she withholds in each and every one of these dishes.

It can also be viewed as a sort of coping mechanism for Michelle, as she cooks as a replacement for her therapy sessions. “Nothing my therapist said was anything I hadn’t psychoanalyzed in myself a million times already anyway. I was paying a hundred dollar copay per session, and I began to think it would be more fulfilling to just take myself out for a fifty dollar lunch twice a week.” (pg.212)

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Childhood environment can be a very important factor when it comes to the development of our mindsets.

Michelle states that when she was little, she had a compulsion to always please her mother even if her expectations were exhausting. She would tidy and clean around the house just for a hint of acknowledgment and praise from her mother which she recognized as affection. “Her rules and expectations were exhausting, and yet if I retreated from her I was isolated and wholly responsible for entertaining myself.” “I would dust the shelves beneath and clean the glass with Windex, then try my best to reorganize them from memory, hoping my mother would return and reward me with affection. I developed this compulsion to clean as a sort of protection ritual performed when I felt even the slightest bit abandoned, an eventuality that tormented my young imagination.” (pg. 20-21) Later on as she moved out to her own place, her apartment complex was said to be a mess-- she had gotten tattoos which she knew would disappoint her mother, and pursued music even though she was told to choose a more dignified career path. It was her way of rebelling, going against her wishes for the fights she'd previously picked with her.

The importance of a parent role can tie into this factor as well, as they are the people closest to us during our childhood. Overall, the way in which our childhood is played out has a profound influence on our values, beliefs and behaviors, shaping identity and worldview that would be significant throughout later in life.

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As a person is who also of Korean heritage growing up in a foreign country, I deeply resonate with the memoir Crying in H-Mart, and I've come to realize that many of my own beliefs and values come from these factors as well.

From learning to cook and bake for my loved ones in means of showing my affection, this love language I developed was in influence from my own mother who did the same for me throughout my life. I love gifting people items carefully crafted by hand, as I find that personalizing it would show my dedication and effort. Being unfamiliar with western traditions, I was also afraid to stand out from everyone else. Hassled by varying microaggressions and the constant reminder that I, an asian kid with a bowl cut could barely speak a word of english, quickly succumbed to the standard norms of what I thought made me a "normal" person. I would constantly bother my mom, asking her to pack a lunch as something "a white person would eat", despite loving her home-cooked food made from the very roots of our culture. As of now, my point of view has definitely changed, as I’ve learned to appreciate every part of my identity.

On the topic of family, friends and spouse relationships, my mom is a huge part of my life and always will be and I feel a sense of relief that a connection of this sort is so thoroughly expressed throughout this memoir. Because I too, believe that she is the most important person in my life and is someone who made it worth believing so. She is a role model who taught me right from wrong, what to appreciate in life and supported whatever path I wanted to pursue and I’ll be forever grateful for everything she’s done for me.

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The love language Michelle displays can be expressed as “acts of service”, as she believes that doing favors big or small, can mean so much more than words. Other means of affection include: words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, receiving gifts, which are also shown through other relationships Michelle has with her family members and partner.

Peter

From agreeing to Michelle’s marriage proposal for the sake of her mother and then helping take care of her in her bedridden state, I can state that Peter most definitely values acts of service and quality time. He was always there when Michelle was experiencing extreme hardships and made an effort to connect with her as a person— as well as with her culture and family.

Her Dad

Although Michelle does not share many connections with her father, quality time seems to be a factor he values when he attempts to reconcile with her through both their grief in Chongmi’s passing. This is expressed through their travel to Vietnam in hopes of a mental health break, their time reminiscing about old times, and cooking and eating out at restaurants together.

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Discover your primary love language and how you can use it to better connect with your loved ones.

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Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices

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This article delves into how a parental role can have a deep impact on the child’s development. It states the importance of factors I have previously stated that had an affect on Michelle, such as emotional, behavioral, social and cognitive competence.

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This chapter responds to the first part of the committee's charge-to identify core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with positive parent-child interactions and the healthy development of children ages birth to 8. The chapter also describes findings from research regarding how core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices may differ by specific characteristics of children and parents, as well as by context. The chapter begins by defining desired outcomes for children that appear frequently in the research literature and inform efforts by agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to promote child health and well-being. It then reviews the knowledge, attitudes, and practices identified in the literature as core-those most strongly associated with healthy child development-drawing primarily on correlational and experimental studies. This is followed by brief discussion of the family system as a key source of additional determinants of parenting. The chapter concludes with a summary. The core knowledge, attitudes, and practices identified in this chapter serve as a foundation, along with contextual factors that affect parenting, for the committee's review of the effectiveness of strategies for strengthening parenting capacity in subsequent chapters of this report.

DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN

To determine the salient features of core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices, the committee first identified desired outcomes for children. Identifying these outcomes grounds the discussion of core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices and helps researchers, practitioners, and policy makers establish priorities for investment, develop policies that provide optimal conditions for success, advocate for the adoption and implementation of appropriate evidence-based interventions, and utilize data to assess and improve the effectiveness of specific policies and programs.

Child outcomes are interconnected within and across diverse domains of development. They result from and are enhanced by early positive and supportive interactions with parents and other caregivers. These early interactions can have a long-lasting ripple effect on development across the life course, whereby the function of one domain of development influences another domain over time. In the words of Masten and Cicchetti (2010, p. 492), "effectiveness in one domain of competence in one period of life becomes the scaffold on which later competence in newly emerging domains develops . . . competence begets competence." From the literature, the committee identified the following four outcomes as fundamental to children's well-being. While the committee focused on young children (ages 0-8), these outcomes are important for children of all ages.

Physical Health and Safety

Children need to be cared for in a way that promotes their ability to thrive and ensures their survival and protection from injury and physical and sexual maltreatment. While such safety needs are important for all children, they are especially critical for young children, who typically lack the individual resources required to avoid dangers ( National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2000). Rather, young children rely on parents and other primary caregivers, inside and outside the home, to act on their behalf to protect their safety and healthy development ( Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2015). At the most basic level, children must receive the care, as reflected in a number of emotional and physiological protections, necessary to meet normative standards for growth and physical development, such as guidelines for healthy weight and receipt of recommended vaccinations ( Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2015). Physical health and safety are fundamental for achieving all of the other outcomes described below.

Emotional and Behavioral Competence

Children need care that promotes positive emotional health and well-being and that supports their overall mental health, including a positive sense of self, as well as the ability to cope with stressful situations, temper emotional arousal, overcome fears, and accept disappointments and frustrations. Parents and other caregivers are essential resources for children in managing emotional arousal, coping, and managing behavior. They serve in this role by providing positive affirmations, conveying love and respect and engendering a sense of security. Provision of support by parents helps minimize the risk of internalizing behaviors, such as those associated with anxiety and depression, which can impair children's adjustment and ability to function well at home, at school, and in the community ( Osofsky and Fitzgerald, 2000). Such symptoms as extreme fearfulness, helplessness, hopelessness, apathy, depression, and withdrawal are indicators of emotional difficulty that have been observed among very young children who experience inadequate parental care ( Osofsky and Fitzgerald, 2000).

Social Competence

Cognitive Competence

Cognitive competence encompasses the skills and capacities needed at each age and stage of development to succeed in school and in the world at large. Children's cognitive competence is defined by skills in language and communication, as well as reading, writing, mathematics, and problem solving. Children benefit from stimulating, challenging, and supportive environments in which to develop these skills, which serve as a foundation for healthy self-regulatory practices and modes of persistence required for academic success ( Gottfried, 2013).

PARENTING KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES

The child outcomes described above provide the context for considering the range of parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices and identifying those that research supports as core. As noted in Chapter 1, the term "knowledge" for the purposes of this report refers to facts, information, and skills gained through experience or education and understanding of an issue or phenomenon. "Attitudes" refers to viewpoints, perspectives, reactions, or settled ways of thinking about aspects of parenting or child development, including parents' roles and responsibilities. Attitudes may be related to cultural beliefs founded in common experience. And "practices" refers to parenting behaviors or approaches to childrearing that can shape how a child develops. Generally speaking, knowledge relates to cognition, attitudes relate to motivation, and practices relate to ways of engaging or behavior, but all three may emanate from a common source.

These three components are reciprocal and intertwined theoretically, empirically, and bidirectionally, informing one another. For example, practices are related to knowledge and attitudes, and often involve the application of knowledge. According to behavior modification theory ( Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein et al., 2001), a person's attitude often determines whether he or she will use knowledge and transform it into practice. In short, if one does not believe in or value knowledge, one is less likely to act upon it. What parents learn through the practice of parenting can also be a source of knowledge and can shape parents' attitudes. Parenting attitudes are influenced as well by parenting self-efficacy, which has been broadly defined as the level of parents' self-belief about their ability to succeed in the parenting role ( Jones and Prinz, 2005).

Parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices are shaped not only by each other but also by a number of contextual factors, including children's characteristics (e.g., gender, temperament); parents' own experiences (e.g., those from their own childhood) and circumstances; expectations learned from others, such as family, friends, and other social networks; and cultural systems. Of particular relevance to this study, the contextual factors that influence parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices also include the supports available within the larger community and provided by institutions, as well as by policies that affect the nature and availability of supportive services.

In response to the study charge ( Box 1-2 in Chapter 1), this chapter presents the evidence on core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices separately. However, it should be noted that in the research literature, the distinctions among these concepts, especially knowledge and attitudes, are not well-delineated and that the applications of these concepts to parenting often are equally informed by professional wisdom and historical observation.

Parenting Knowledge

Parenting is multidimensional. To respond to the varied needs of their children, parents must develop both depth and breadth of knowledge, ranging from being aware of developmental milestones and norms that help in keeping children safe and healthy to understanding the role of professionals (e.g., educators, child care workers, health care providers, social workers) and social systems (e.g., institutions, laws, policies) that interact with families and support parenting. This section describes these areas of knowledge, as well as others, identified by the available empirical evidence as supporting core parenting practices and child outcomes. It is worth noting that the research base regarding the association between parental knowledge and child outcomes is much smaller than that on parenting practices and child outcomes ( Winter et al., 2012). Where data exist, they are based largely on correlational rather than experimental studies.

Knowledge of Child Development

Parent Voices

[Some parents recognized the need for education related to providing care for young children.]

"I am a new parent and even though I have a bachelor's degree from India, I do not have a particular education in child care. Just because I have a degree, it does not mean it is a degree on how to take care of a child."

-Father from Omaha, Nebraska

Parent Voices

[Some parents recognized the need for comprehensive parenting education.]

"I always prefer education for the parents, from the beginning to the end. From pregnancy, some don't know when to go to the doctor, and after birth, when to go to the hospital or the doctor. So we need education from the beginning to the end."

-Mother from Omaha, Nebraska

Stronger evidence of the role of knowledge of child development in supporting parenting outcomes comes from intervention research. Randomized controlled trial interventions have found that parents of young children showed increases in knowledge about children's development and practices pertaining to early childhood care and feeding ( Alkon et al., 2014; Yousafzai et al., 2015).

Experimental studies of parent education interventions support these associational findings. In an experimental study of parent education for first-time fathers, fathers, along with home visitors, reviewed examples of parental sensitivity and responsiveness from videos of themselves playing with their children ( Magill-Evans et al., 2007). These fathers showed a significant increase in parenting competence and skills in fostering their children's cognitive growth as well as sensitivity to infant cues 2 months after the program, compared with fathers in the control group, who discussed age-appropriate toys with the home visitor ( Magill-Evans et al., 2007). Another experimental study examined a 13-week population-level behavioral parenting program and found intervention effects on parenting knowledge for mothers and, among the highest-risk families, increased involvement in children's early learning and improved behavior management practices. Lower rates of conduct problems for boys at high risk of problem behavior also were found ( Dawson-McClure et al., 2015).

Knowledge of Parenting Practices

Still, knowledge alone may not be sufficient in some cases. For example, knowing about the importance of using car seats does not always translate into good car seat practices ( Yanchar et al., 2012, 2015), and knowledge about the advantages of vaccines may not result in parents choosing to vaccinate their children. Some findings suggest that using multiple modes of delivery is important to advancing parents' knowledge. In an experimental study, for example, Dunn and colleagues (1998) found that parents who received educational information about child vaccinations via videotape as well as in written form showed greater gains in understanding about vaccinations than parents who received the information in written form alone.

Knowledge of Supports, Services, and Systems

Little is known about parents' knowledge of various supports-such as educators, social workers, health care providers, and extended family-and the relationship between their conceptions of the roles of these supports and their use of them.

Taking another example, limited studies have looked at parental awareness of services for children with special needs. A study that utilized a survey and qualitative interviews with parents of children with autism indicated that parents' autism spectrum disorder service knowledge partially mediates the relationship between socioeconomic status and use of services for their children ( Pickard and Ingersoll, 2015).

Parenting Attitudes

Although considerable discussion has focused on attitudes and beliefs broadly, less research attention has been paid to the effects of parenting attitudes on parents' interactions with young children or on parenting practices. Few causal analyses are available to test whether parenting attitudes actually affect parenting practices, positive parent-child interaction, and child development. Even less research exists on fathers' attitudes about parenting. Given this limited evidence base, the committee drew primarily on correlational and qualitative studies in examining parenting attitudes.

Parents' attitudes toward parenting are a product of their knowledge of parenting and the values and goals (or expectations) they have for their children's development, which in turn are informed by cultural, social, and societal images, as well as parents' experiences and their overall values and goals ( Cabrera et al., 2000; Cheah and Chirkov, 2008; Iruka et al., 2015; Okagaki and Bingham, 2005; Rogoff, 2003; Rosenthal and Roer-Strier, 2006; Whiting and Whiting, 1975). People in the United States hold several universal, or near universal, beliefs about the types of parental behaviors that promote or impair child development. For example, there is general agreement that striking a child in a manner that can cause severe injury, engaging in sexual activity with a child, and failing to provide adequate food for and supervision of young children (such as leaving toddlers unattended) pose threats to children's health and safety and are unacceptable. At the same time, some studies identify differences in parents' goals for child development, which may influence attitudes regarding the roles of parents and have implications for efforts to promote particular parenting practices.

While there is variability within demographic groups in parenting attitudes and practices, some research shows differences in attitudes and practices among subpopulations. For example, qualitative research provides some evidence of variation by culture in parents' goals for their children's socialization. In one interview study, mothers who were first-generation immigrants to the United States from Central America emphasized long-term socialization goals related to proper demeanor for their children, while European American mothers emphasized self-maximization ( Leyendecker et al., 2002). In another interview study, Anglo American mothers stressed the importance of their young children developing a balance between autonomy and relatedness, whereas Puerto Rican mothers focused on appropriate levels of relatedness, including courtesy and respectful attentiveness ( Harwood et al., 1997). Other ethnographic and qualitative research shows that parents from different cultural groups select cultural values and norms from their country of origin as well as from their host country, and that their goal is for their children to adapt and succeed in the United States ( Rogoff, 2003).

Similarly, whereas the larger U.S. society has historically viewed individual freedom as an important value, some communities place more emphasis on interdependence ( Elmore and Gaylord-Harden, 2013; Sarche and Spicer, 2008). The importance of intergenerational connections (e.g., extended family members serving as primary caregivers for young children) also varies among and within cultural communities ( Bertera and Crewe, 2013; Mutchler et al., 2007). The values and traditions of cultural communities may be expressed as differences in parents' views regarding gender roles, in parents' goals for children, and in their attitudes related to childrearing.

Parent Voices

[One parent described differences between men and women in parenting roles.]

"Mothers play the main role as parents in [certain cultures]. Culturally men aren't that involved. The dad is the outer worker; the mother is the inner worker. If you are talking about the mom, they are the ones who care about the kids. They aren't typically working outside the home. But now, in the United States, the mothers are working outside the home."

-Father from Omaha, Nebraska

Although slowly changing, attitudes about the roles of men and women in the raising of young children often differ between men and women and among various communities in the United States. Longitudinal research on mothers' attitudes toward fathers' involvement in childrearing has made reference to the "gatekeeping" role of mothers of children with nonresidential fathers ( Fagan and Barnett, 2003; Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008). Research has shown that fathers of young children participate in child caregiving activities in increasing numbers ( Cabrera et al., 2011), but has not examined the specific attitudes that fathers bring to particular parenting behaviors across the life span. Parents' values and goals related to childrearing, both overall and for specific demographic groups, also may shift from one generation to the next in the United States based on changing norms and viewpoints within social networks and cultural communities, as well as parents' knowledge of and access to new research and information provided by educators, health care providers, and others who work with families.

Relatively little research has been conducted on parents' attitudes toward specific parenting-related practices. Much of the extant research focuses on practices related to promoting children's physical health and safety. Studies of varying designs indicate that parental attitudes and beliefs about the need for and safety of vaccination influence vaccination practices ( Mergler et al., 2013; Salathé and Bonhoeffer, 2008; Vannice et al., 2011; Yaqub et al., 2014). Maternal attitudes and beliefs about breastfeeding (e.g., views about breastfeeding in public, the belief that it will be uncomfortable) are associated with initiation and continuation of breastfeeding and appear to factor into differences in breastfeeding rates and practices observed across cultural and other demographic groups in cross-sectional survey and qualitative research ( Vaaler et al., 2010; Wojcicki et al., 2010). Other studies have found differences among parents (e.g., those living in rural versus urban areas) in attitudes about the importance of monitoring children's activities and whereabouts ( Armistead et al., 2002; Jones et al., 2003) and parents' beliefs about young children's literacy development ( Lynch et al., 2006).

Parental involvement in children's education has been linked to academic readiness ( Fan and Chen, 2001). However, parents differ in their attitudes about the role of parents in children's learning and education ( Hammer et al., 2007). Some see parents as having a central role, while others view the school as the primary facilitator of children's education and see parents as having less of a role ( Hammer et al., 2007). These attitudinal differences may be related to cultural expectations or parents' own education or comfort with teaching their children certain skills. Some parents, for example, may have lower involvement in their children's education because of insecurity about their own skills and past negative experiences in school ( Lareau, 1989; Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2003). And as discussed above, some parents view math skills as less important for their children relative to other types of skills and therefore are less likely to teach them in the home.

Parents within and across different communities vary in their opinions and practices with respect to the role and significance of discipline. Some of the parenting literature notes that some parents use control to discipline children, while others aim to correct but not to control children ( Nieman and Shea, 2004). In a small cross-cultural ethnographic study, Mosier and Rogoff (2003) found that some parents regard rules and punishment as inappropriate for infants and toddlers. The approach valued by these parents to help children understand what is expected of them is to cooperate with them, perhaps distracting them but not forcing their compliance. In contrast, many middle-class U.S. parents display a preference for applying the same rules to infants and toddlers that older children are expected to follow, although with some lenience ( Mosier and Rogoff, 2003). And ethnographic research provides some evidence of differences in African American and European American mothers' beliefs about spoiling and infant intentionality (whether infants can intentionally misbehave) related to the use of physical punishment with young children ( Burchinal et al., 2010).

Parents' attitudes not only toward parenting but also toward providers in societal agencies-such as educators, social service personnel, health care providers, and police-which can be shaped by a variety of factors, including discrimination, are important determinants of parents' access to and ability to obtain support. Studies show a relationship between parents' distrust of agencies and their likelihood of rejecting participation in an intervention. For example, in systematic reviews of studies of various types, parents who distrust the medical community and government health agencies are less likely to have their children vaccinated ( Brown et al., 2010; Mills et al., 2005). Racial and ethnic minority parents whose attitudes about appropriate remedies for young children vary from those of the Western medical establishment often distrust and avoid treatment by Western medical practitioners ( Hannan, 2015). While not specific to parents, studies using various methodologies show that individuals who have experienced racial and other forms of discrimination, both within and outside of health care settings, are less likely to utilize various health services or to engage in other health-promoting behaviors ( Gonzales et al., 2013; Institute of Medicine, 2003; Pascoe and Smart Richman, 2009; Shavers et al., 2012). In a survey study, African American parents' racism awareness was negatively associated with involvement in activities at their children's school ( McKay et al., 2003). Longitudinal studies, mostly involving families with older children, indicate that, like other sources of stress, parents' experience of discrimination can have a detrimental effect on parenting and the quality of the parent-child relationship ( Murray et al., 2001; Sanders-Phillips et al., 2009). Adverse outcomes for youth associated with their own experience of discrimination may be weakened by more nurturing/involved parenting ( Brody et al., 2006; Gibbons et al., 2010; Simons et al., 2006).

Parenting Practices

Parenting practices have been studied extensively, with some research showing strong associations between certain practices and positive child outcomes. This section describes parenting practices that research indicates are central to helping children achieve basic outcomes in the areas discussed at the beginning of the chapter: physical health and safety, emotional and behavioral competence, social competence, and cognitive competence. While these outcomes are used as a partial organizing framework for this section, several specific practices-contingent responsiveness of parents, organization of the home environment and the importance of routines, and behavioral discipline practices-that have been found to influence child well-being in more than one of these four outcome areas are discussed separately.

Practices to Promote Physical Health and Safety

Parents influence the health and safety of their children in many ways. However, the difficulty of using random assignment designs to examine parenting practices that promote children's health and safety has resulted in a largely observational literature. This section reviews the available evidence on a range of practices in which parents engage to ensure the health and safety of their children. It begins with breastfeeding-a subject about which there has historically been considerable discussion in light of generational shifts and commercial practices that have affected children in poor families.

Breastfeeding Breastfeeding has myriad well-established short- and long-term benefits for both babies and mothers. Breast milk bolsters babies' immunity to infectious disease, regulates healthy bacteria in the intestines, and overall is the best source of nutrients to help babies grow and develop. Breastfeeding also supports bonding between mothers and their babies. According to a meta-analysis by the WHO ( Horta and Victora, 2013), breastfeeding is associated with a small increase in performance on intelligence tests in children and adolescents, reduced risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity later in life, and a potential decreased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease. Breastfeeding may benefit mothers' health as well by lowering risk for postpartum depression, certain cancers, and chronic diseases such as diabetes ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Current guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (2012) and the WHO (2011) recommend mothers breastfeed exclusively until infants are 6 months old. Thereafter and until the child is either age 1 year ( American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012) or 2 years ( World Health Organization, 2011), it is recommended that children continue to be breastfed while slowly being introduced to other foods.

According to 2011 data from the CDC (2015a), about 80 percent of babies born in the United States are breastfed (including fed breast milk) for some duration, and about 50 percent and 27 percent are breastfed (to any extent with or without the addition of complementary liquids or solids) at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Forty percent and 19 percent are exclusively breastfed through 3 and 6 months, respectively.

Nutrition and physical activity Parents play an important role in shaping their young children's nutrition and physical activity levels ( Institute of Medicine, 2011; Sussner et al., 2006). Among toddlers and preschool-age children, parents' feeding practices are associated with their children's ability to regulate food intake, which can affect weight status ( Faith et al., 2004; Farrow et al., 2015). Parents' modeling of healthful eating habits for their children and offering of healthful foods, particularly during toddlerhood, when children are often reluctant to try new foods, may result in children being more apt to like and eat such foods ( Hill, 2002; Natale et al., 2014; Sussner et al., 2006). The extant observational research generally shows that children's dietary intake (particularly fruit and vegetable consumption) is associated with food options available in the home and at school, and that parents are important role models for their children's dietary behaviors ( Cullen et al., 2003; Pearson et al., 2009; Wolnicka et al., 2015). Conversely, the presence of less nutritious food and beverage items in the home may increase children's risk of becoming overweight. For example, Dennison and colleagues (1997) and Welsh and colleagues (2005) found positive associations between overweight in children and their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. On the other hand, there are some indications that overly strict diets may increase children's preferences for high-fat, energy-dense foods, perhaps causing an imbalance in children's self-regulation of hunger and satiety and increasing the risk that they will become overweight ( Birch and Fisher, 1998; Farrow et al., 2015).

A few cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, coupled with conventional wisdom, suggest that eating dinner together as a family is associated with increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and reduced consumption of fats and soda ( Gillman et al., 2000), as well as with reduced risk for overweight and obesity ( Gable et al., 2007; Taveras et al., 2005). However, these studies involved primarily older children and adolescents.

Vaccination Parents protect their own and other children from potentially serious diseases by making sure they receive recommended vaccines. Among children born in a given year in the United States, childhood vaccination is estimated to prevent about 42,000 deaths and 20 million cases of disease ( Zhou et al., 2014). In 2013, 82 percent of children ages 19-35 months received combined-series vaccines (for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis [DTP]; polio; measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR]; and Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib]), up from 69 percent in 1994 ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b). Vaccination rates are lower among low-income children; 71 percent of children ages 19-35 months living below the poverty level received the combined-series vaccines listed above in 2014 ( Child Trends Databank, 2015b). Although much of the media coverage on this subject has focused on middle-income parents averse to having their children vaccinated, it is in fact poverty that is thought to account for much of the disparity in vaccination rates by race and ethnicity ( Hill et al., 2015). As discussed earlier in this chapter, parental practices around vaccination may be influenced by parents' knowledge and interpretation of information on and their attitudes about vaccination.

Preconception and prenatal care The steps women take with their health care providers before becoming pregnant can promote healthy pregnancy and birth outcomes for both mothers and babies. These include initiating certain supplements (e.g., folic acid, which reduces the risk of birth defects), quitting smoking, attaining healthy weight for women who are obese, and treating preexisting physical and mental health conditions ( Aune et al., 2014; Gold and Marcus, 2008; Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2009).

During pregnancy, receipt of recommended prenatal care can help parents reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and poor birth outcomes by promoting healthy behaviors (e.g., smoking cessation, adequate rest and nutrition), as well as identifying and managing any complications that do arise. Prior to the birth of a child, health care providers also can educate parents on the importance of breastfeeding, infant injury and illness prevention, and other practices.

Injury prevention Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages 1-9 ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015c) and a leading cause of disability for both younger and older children in the United States. In addition to motor vehicle-related injuries, children sustain unintentional injuries (due, for example, to suffocation, falls, poisoning, and drowning) in the home environment. About 1,700 children under age 9 in the United States die each year from injuries in the home ( Mack et al., 2013).

Evidence that families' home safety practices affect child safety comes from intervention research. A large meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials of home safety education interventions for families ( Kendrick et al., 2013) showed that the education was generally effective in increasing the proportion of families that stored medicines and cleaning products out of reach and that had fitted stair gates, covers on unused electrical sockets, safe hot tap water temperatures, functional smoke alarms, and a fire escape system. There was also some evidence for reduced injury rates among children. As discussed in Chapter 4, helping parents reduce hazards in the home is a component of some home visiting programs.

Parents also protect their children's safety by monitoring their whereabouts and activities to prevent them from both physical and psychological harm. The type of supervision may vary based on a child's needs and age as well as parents' values and economic circumstances. For all young children, monitoring for the purposes of preventing exposure to hazards is an important practice. As children grow older, knowing their friends and where the children are when they are not at home or in school also becomes important. As noted previously, research suggests the importance of monitoring screen time to children's well-being. And monitoring of children's Internet usage may prevent them from being exposed to online predators ( Finkelhor et al., 2000).

Practices to Promote Emotional and Behavioral Competence and Social Competence

Fundamental to children's positive development is the opportunity to grow up in an environment that responds to their emotional needs ( Bretherton, 1985) and that enables them to develop skills needed to cope with basic anxieties, fears, and environmental challenges. Parents' ability to foster a sense of belonging and self-worth in their children is vital to the children's early development. In much the same way, parents contribute to children's emerging social competence by teaching them skills-such as self-control, cooperation, and taking the perspective of others-that prepare them to develop and maintain positive relationships with peers and adults. Parents can promote the learning and acquisition of social skills by establishing strong relationships with their children. The importance of early parent-child interactions for children's social competence is embedded in many theoretical frameworks, such as attachment ( Ainsworth and Bowlby, 1991), family system theories ( Cox and Paley, 1997), and ecocultural theories ( Weisner, 2002). Parents socialize their children to adopt culturally appropriate values and behaviors that enable them to be socially competent and act as members of a social group.

Another important aspect of parent-supported social development pertains to parents aiding their children in acquiring executive function skills needed to adapt to changing needs of the environment and regulate their impulses and responses to distressing situations ( Blair and Raver, 2012; Malin et al., 2014; Thompson, 1994). Evidence, primarily from correlational research, suggests that parents who help their children regulate the difficulty of tasks and who model mature performance during joint participation in activities are likely to have socially competent children ( Eisenberg et al., 1998). Parents also facilitate their children's development of friendships by engaging in positive social interaction with them and by creating opportunities for them to be social with peers ( McCollum and Ostrosky, 2008). In one correlational study, children whose parents initiated peer contacts had more playmates and more consistent play companions in their preschool peer networks ( Ladd et al., 2002). Research also shows that children who have increased opportunities for playing or interacting with children from diverse backgrounds are likely to develop less prejudice and more empathy toward others ( Bernstein et al., 2000; Perkins and Mebert, 2005; Pettigrew and Tropp, 2000).

Findings from experimental studies on parent training provide evidence of the types of parental practices that are associated with child emotional and behavioral health (i.e., fewer internalizing and externalizing problems) and social competence (i.e., relationship building skills, moral dispositions, and prosocial behaviors such as altruism). In one study for example, parent training designed to decrease the use of harsh discipline and increase supportive parenting reduced mother-reported child behavior problems in children ages 3-9 ( Bjørknes and Manger, 2013). In another randomized study, mothers who received parent training to improve their empathy toward their children became less permissive with their 2- to 3-year-olds, who became less aggressive ( Christopher et al., 2013).

These relationships have been found to hold in experimental studies involving diverse samples. Brotman and colleagues (2005) found that a program designed to reduce parents' use of negative parenting and increase their provision of stimulation for child learning increased social competence with peers in young African American and Latino children who had a sibling who had been involved in the juvenile justice system. In a European study, Berkovits and colleagues (2010) studied ethnically diverse parents participating in an abbreviated parent skills training delivered in pediatric primary care aimed at encouraging children's prosocial behavior. The findings show significant increases in effective parenting strategies and in parents' beliefs about personal controls, as well as declines in child behavior problems. Improvements in child behavior as a consequence of parent training have been found not only for programs emphasizing better and more consistent discipline and contingency management, but also for those providing training that led to parents' greater emotional support for their children ( McCarty et al., 2005). In addition, Stormshak and colleagues (2000) found that punitive interactions between parents and children were associated with higher rates of child disruptive behavior problems, and that low levels of warm involvement were characteristic of parents of children who showed oppositional behaviors.

With respect to social competence, a number of studies point to a relationship with parenting practices and suggest that parent training may have an impact on both parenting practices related to and children's development of social competence. An experimental evaluation of the Incredible Years Program (discussed further in Chapter 5), for instance, found that parent training contributed to improved parenting practices, defined as lower negative parenting and increased parental stimulation for learning ( Brotman et al., 2005), which, in turn, are related to children's social competence. Gagnon and colleagues (2014) found that preschool children with a combination of reactive temperament and authoritarian parents demonstrated low social competence (high levels of disruptive play and low levels of interactive play). In a community trial by Havighurst and colleagues (2010), training focused on helping parents tune in to their own and their children's emotions resulted in significant improvement in the parents' emotion awareness and regulation, as well as the practice of emotion coping. The intervention decreased emotionally dismissive beliefs and behaviors among parents, who also used emotion labels and discussed the causes and consequences of emotions with their children more often than was the case prior to the training. The program improved parental beliefs and relationships with their children, and these improvements were related to reductions in child behavior problems ( Havighurst et al., 2010).

Practices to Stimulate Cognitive Development

As explained in the National Research Council (2000) report How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, individuals learn by actively encountering events, objects, actions, and concepts in their environments. For an individual to become an expert in any particular knowledge or skill area, he or she must have substantial experience in that area which is usually guided ( Dweck and Leggett, 2000; National Research Council, 2000). As children's first teachers, parents play an important role in their cognitive development, including their acquisition of such competencies as language, literacy, and numerical/math skills that are related to future success in school and society more generally. Enriching and stimulating sets of experiences for children can help develop these skills.

Frequency of shared book reading by mothers and fathers is linked to young children's acquisition of skills and knowledge that affect their later success in reading, writing, and other areas ( Baker, 2014; Duursma et al., 2008; Malin et al., 2014). Studies demonstrate that through shared book reading, young children learn, among other skills, to recognize letters and words and develop understanding that print is a visual representation of spoken language, develop phonological awareness (the ability to manipulate the sounds of spoken language), begin to understand syntax and grammar, and learn concepts and story structures ( Duursma et al., 2008; Malin et al., 2014). Shared literacy activities such as book reading also expose children to new words and words they may not encounter in spoken language, stimulating vocabulary development beyond what might be obtained through toy-play or other parent-child interactions ( Isbell et al., 2004; Ninio, 1983; Whitehurst et al., 1988). Regular book reading also may play a role in establishing routines for children and shaping wake and sleep patterns, as well as provide them with knowledge about relationships and coping that can be applied in the real world ( Duursma et al., 2008).

Early numeracy and math skills also are building blocks for young children's academic achievement ( Claessens and Engel, 2013). To instill early math skills in young children, parents sometimes employ such strategies as playing with blocks, puzzles, and legos; assisting with measuring ingredients for recipes; solving riddles and number games; and playing with fake money ( Benigno and Ellis, 2008; Hensen, 2005). Such experiences may facilitate children's math-related competencies, but compared with the research on strategies to foster children's language development, the evidence base on how parenting practices promote math skills in young children is small.

A growing literature identifies general aspects of home-based parental involvement in children's early learning-such as parents' expectations and goals for their children, parent-child communication, and support for learning-that appear to be associated with greater academic achievement, including in math ( Fan and Chen, 2001; Galindo and Sonnenschein, 2015; Ginsburg et al., 2010; Jeynes, 2003, 2005). More work is needed, however, to distill specific actions parents can take to promote math-related skills in their young children. At the same time, as noted earlier, some parents appear to be reluctant to engage their children in math learning-some because they lack knowledge about early math and may engage in few math-related activities in the home relative to activities related to language, and some because they view math skills as less important than other skills for their children ( Blevins-Knabe et al., 2000; Cannon and Ginsburg, 2008; Vukovic and Lesaux, 2013). Given the demonstrated importance of early math skills for future academic achievement and the persistent gap in math knowledge related to socioeconomic status ( Galindo and Sonnenschein, 2015), additional research is needed to elucidate how parents can and do promote young children's math skills and how they can better be supported in providing their children with these skills.

Finally, there is some evidence for differences across demographic groups in the United States with respect to parents' use of practices to promote children's cognitive development. Barbarin and Jean-Baptiste (2013), for example, found that poor and African American parents employed dialogic practices less often than nonpoor and European American parents in a study that utilized in-home interviews and structured observations of parent-child interactions.

Contingent Responsiveness of Parents

Broadly defined, contingent responsiveness denotes an adult's behavior that occurs immediately after and in response to a child's behavior and is related to the child's focus of attention ( Roth, 1987). Dunst and colleagues (1990) argue that every time two or more people are together, there is a communicative exchange in which the behavior (nonverbal or verbal) affects the other person, is interpreted, and is responded to with a "discernible outcome" (p. 1). Such communication exchanges between parents and their children are considered foundational for building healthy relationships between parents and children, as well as between parents ( Cabrera et al., 2014).

As described in Chapter 1, securely attached infants develop basic trust in their caregivers and seek the caregiver's comfort and love when alarmed because they expect to receive protection and emotional support. Infants who trust their caregivers to respond to their needs in a sensitive and timely manner are able to explore and learn freely because they can return to their "safe base" if they encounter unfamiliar things and events ( Bowlby, 2008; Cassidy, 2002). In the face of the demands of daily life, with parents being unable to offer individualized responsiveness and synchronized, attuned interactions all of the time, sensitive caregiving makes it possible to manage and repair disruptions that inevitably occur in day-to-day parenting.

These and other interventions that successfully promote positive parent-child interactions, secure attachment, and healthy child development have been developed for parents of both infants ( Armstrong and Morris, 2000) and preschoolers ( Bagner and Eyberg, 2007). Some research shows that such an intervention provided first in infancy, followed by a second dose during the toddler/preschool years, is most effective at improving maternal behaviors and child outcomes ( Landry et al., 2008). However, the success of preventive interventions in improving the quality of parent-infant attachment, a parent's relationship with her or his child, and the resulting child mental and physical outcomes depends upon the quality of the intervention ( Chaffin et al., 2004), the number of sessions (a moderate number may be better than either more or less) ( Moss et al., 2011), and the degree to which other parts of the parent-child system (e.g., separation due to parental incarceration or other reasons) are considered ( Barr et al., 2011). Although much of the literature has focused on non-Hispanic white and black families, and mainly on mothers, preventive interventions with successful maternal and child outcomes have also been developed for Hispanic and Asian families ( Ho et al., 2012; McCabe and Yeh, 2009) and can be designed to include fathers ( Barr et al., 2011).

Organization of the Home Environment and the Importance of Routines

Although family routines vary widely across time and populations, studies have associated such routines with children's developmental outcomes ( Fiese et al., 2002; Spagnola and Fiese, 2007). It is particularly difficult, however, to infer causal effects of routines on child outcomes in correlational studies because of the many contextual factors (e.g., parental depression or substance abuse, erratic work schedules) or factors related to economic strain (e.g., homelessness, poverty) that may make keeping routines difficult and at the same time adversely affect child development in other ways.

In some cases, however, routines are difficult to establish because of demands on parents, such as the nonstandard work schedules some parents are forced to keep. Reviewing the cross-sectional and longitudinal literature on nonstandard work schedules, for example, Li and colleagues (2014) found that 21 of the 23 studies reviewed reported associations between nonstandard work schedules and adverse child developmental outcomes. They found that while parents working nonstandard schedules, particularly those who work night or evening shifts, may be afforded more parent-child time during the day, such schedules can lead to fatigue and stress, with detrimental effects on the parent's physical and psychological capacity to provide quality parenting.

Household chaos has strong negative associations with children's abilities to regulate attention and arousal ( Evans and Wachs, 2010). Children raised in chaotic environments may adapt to these contexts by shifting their attention away from overstimulating and unpredictable stimuli, essentially "tuning out" from their environment ( Evans, 2006). In the short term, this may be an adaptive solution to reduce overarousal. In the long term, however, it may also lessen children's exposure to important aspects of socialization and, in turn, negatively affect their cognitive and social-emotional development.

In addition, household chaos likely serves as a physiological stressor that undermines higher-order executive processes. Theoretical and empirical work indicates that direct physiological networks link the inner ear with the myelinated vagus of the 10th cranial nerve-a key regulator of parasympathetic stress response ( Porges, 1995). Very high or very low frequencies of auditory stimuli such as those present in ambient and unpredictable noise directly trigger vagal responses indicative of parasympathetic stress modulation ( Porges et al., 2013). In the same way, novel unpredictable and uncontrollable experiences can activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis ( Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004). General levels of chaos play a role in children's autonomic nervous system and HPA axis functioning ( Blair et al., 2011; Evans and English, 2002) in ways that may negatively affect executive functioning ( Berry et al., 2012; Oei et al., 2006).

Behavioral Discipline Practices

Parental guidance or discipline is an essential component of parenting. When parents discipline their children, they are not simply punishing the children's bad behavior but aiming to support and nurture them for self-control, self-direction, and their ability to care for others ( Howard, 1996). Effective discipline is thought to require a strong parent-child bond; an approach for teaching and strengthening desired behaviors; and a strategy for decreasing or eliminating undesired or ineffective behaviors ( American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998).

Effective discipline entails some of the parenting practices discussed earlier. In children's earliest years, for example, discipline includes parents' use of routines that not only teach children about the behaviors in which people typically engage but also help them feel secure in their relationship with their parent because they can anticipate those daily activities. As infants become more mobile and begin to explore, parents need to create safe environments for them. Beginning in early childhood and continuing as children get older, positive child behavior may be facilitated through parents' clear communication of expectations, modeling of desired behaviors, and positive reinforcement for positive behaviors ( American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006). Over time, children internalize the attitudes and expectations of their caregivers and learn to self-regulate their behavior.

Although physical punishment often results in immediate cessation of behavior that parents view as undesirable in young children, the longer-term consequences for child outcomes are mixed, with research showing a relationship with later behavioral problems. In a systematic review of studies using randomized controlled, longitudinal, cross-sectional, and other design types, Larzelere and Kuhn (2005) found that, compared with other disciplinary strategies, physical punishment was either the primary means of discipline or was severe was associated with less favorable child outcomes. In particular, children who were spanked regularly were more likely than children who were not to be aggressive as children as well as during adulthood.

Some have proposed that the circumstances in which physical discipline takes place (e.g., whether it is accompanied by parental warmth) may influence the meaning of the discipline for the child as well as its effects on child outcomes ( Landsford et al., 2004). Using data from a large longitudinal survey, McLoyd and Smith (2002) found that spanking was associated with an increase in problem behaviors in African American, white, and Hispanic children when mothers exhibited low levels of emotional support but not when emotional support from mothers was high.

PARENTING WITHIN FAMILY SYSTEMS

As discussed in Chapter 1, while focusing on the parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices that can help children develop successfully, the committee recognized that "human development is too complicated, nuanced, and dynamic to assert that children's parents alone determine the course and outcome of their ontogeny" ( Bornstein and Leventhal, 2015, p. 107). Parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices are embedded in various ecologies that include family composition, social class, ethnicity, and culture, all of which are related to how parents treat their children and what they believe about their children as they grow, and all of which affect child outcomes.

Family systems theory offers a useful perspective from which to view parenting behavior, to understand what shapes it, and to explain its complex relation to child outcomes. As a system, the family operates according to an evolving set of implicit rules that establish routines, regulate behavior, legitimate emotional support and expression, provide for communication, establish an organized power structure or hierarchy, and provide for negotiating and problem solving so that family tasks can be carried out effectively ( Goldenberg and Goldenberg, 2013). Families as systems also create a climate or internal environment with features that shape parenting behavior and influence child outcomes. Family climates can be characterized along various dimensions, such as cohesive-conflictual, supportive-dismissive, tightly or loosely controlled, orderly-chaotic, oriented toward academic achievement or not, expressive of positive or negative emotions, hierarchical-democratic, fostering autonomy versus dependence, promoting stereotypical gender roles or not, and fostering strong ethnic and cultural identity or not.

Roles are defined within the family system in ways that may influence parenting. Family members may operate with a division of labor based on their own personal resources, mental health, skills, and education, in which one member specializes in and is responsible for one set of functions, such as garnering economic resources needed by the family, and another takes responsibility for educating the children. When these differences work well, family members complement and compensate for one another in ways that may soften the rough edges of one and make up for the inadequacies of another.

As discussed in this chapter and throughout the report, children do best when they develop sustaining and supportive relationships with parents. Yet while attachment theory has been useful in understanding mainly how mothers form relationships with children, it has been less useful at guiding research with fathers ( Grossmann et al., 2002), and relatively little research has examined other relations of the family system and microsystems where family members spend time (e.g., school, church, work). As systems, however, families are interdependent with the broader world and thus are susceptible to influences and inputs from their environments. Actions occurring in one system can result in reactions in another. For example, children who have not developed healthy relationships with their parents may have difficulty developing positive relationships with teachers.

In short, family systems are influenced by the evolving cultural, political, economic, and geographic conditions in which they are embedded. Members of a cultural group share a common identity, heritage, and values, which also reflect the broad economic and political circumstances in which they live. An understanding of salient macrolevel societal shifts (e.g., rates of cohabitation or divorce), along with microsystem influences (e.g., attachments with multiple caregivers and shifts in attachment patterns across childhood into adulthood) that are the subject of more recent research, can be helpful for rethinking parenting processes, what influences them, and how they matter for children. This rethinking in turn highlights the need to understand how complex living systems function and how they reorganize to accommodate changes in their environments ( Wachs, 2000).

SUMMARY

The following key points emerged from the committee's examination of core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices:

Parental knowledge of child development is positively associated with quality parent-child interactions and the likelihood of parents' engagement in practices that promote their children's healthy development. Research also indicates that parents with knowledge of evidence-based parenting practices, especially those related to promoting children's physical health and safety, are more likely than those without such knowledge to engage in those practices. Although there is currently limited empirical evidence on how parents' knowledge of available services affects uptake of those services, parenting, and child outcomes, parents with this knowledge are likely better equipped to access services for their families.

As mediators of the relationship between knowledge and practice, parental attitudes about the roles of parents and others in the raising of young children, as well as about specific practices (e.g., breastfeeding, immunization), can contribute to some variation in practices and in the uptake of services among individuals and subpopulations. The committee found that empirical studies on parenting attitudes do not allow for the identification of core parenting attitudes consistently associated with positive child outcomes. However, the available evidence points to a need for taking parents' attitudes and beliefs into consideration in the design and implementation of programs and services in order to improve their reach.

The committee identified several parenting practices that are associated with improvements in the four domains introduced at the beginning of this chapter (physical health and safety, emotional and behavioral competence, social competence, and cognitive competence):

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contingent responsiveness (serve and return);

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showing warmth and sensitivity;

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routines and reduced household chaos;

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shared book reading and talking to children;

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practices related to promoting children's health and safety-in particular, receipt of prenatal care, breastfeeding, vaccination, ensuring children's adequate nutrition and physical activity, monitoring, and household/vehicle safety; and

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use of appropriate (less harsh) discipline.

Much of the existing research is focused on mothers. A lack of research exists on how parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices may differ for fathers and other caregivers (e.g., grandparents). Studies suggest some variation in parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices among racial/ethnic, cultural, and other demographic groups, but more attention is needed to whether and how these differences matter for child outcomes.

With regard to practices that promote children's cognitive skills, research to date has examined primarily the effect of parenting on children's language and literacy skills. Research on how parenting affects other cognitive domains, such as math and problem-solving skills, would deepen understanding of the relationship between parenting and children's cognitive development.

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1

The HPA axis "regulates the release of cortisol, an important hormone associated with psychological, physiological, and physical health functioning" (Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004, p. 355).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This chapter responds to the first part of the committee's charge-to identify core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with positive parent-child interactions and the healthy development of children ages birth to 8. The chapter also describes findings from research regarding how core parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices may differ by specific characteristics of children and parents, as well as by context.