The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School (Monographs in Parenting Series)

The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School is a result of a longitudinal prevention study of 100 families begun the year before their first children entered kindergarten. Each family went through an assessment and then a subset was randomly chosen for group intervention. The children in both groups were then studied as they progressed through kindergarten and first grade to assess the quality of their adaptation to the school environment.The text focuses on how parent-child relationships are only one determinant of a child's academic competence, social competence, and behavior. Rather, these relationships must be understood in the context of the role they play within the family as a system. It also addresses the recent challenges to claims about the impact of parents on their children's development.The book sheds additional light on family influences within the larger social environment as a key determinant of the quality of children's adjustment to schooling. It appeals to scientists, professionals, and parents alike. Contents......Page 8 Series Foreword: Monographs in Parenting......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 14 About the Authors......Page 16 I. INTRODUCTION AND METHOD......Page 20 1 Family Factors in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School: Introducing a Five-Domain Contextual Model......Page 22 2 Recruitment, Design, and Measures......Page 52 II. HOW THINGS CHANGE YET STAY THE SAME......Page 96 3 How Children and Parents Fare During the Transition to School......Page 98 III. THE FAMILY CONTEXT OF PARENTING......Page 136 4 Authoritative Parenting and the Encouragement of Children's Autonomy......Page 138 5 Marital Quality, Sex-Typed Parenting, and Girls' and Boys' Expression of Problem Behaviors......Page 158 6 Children's Self-Perceptions as a Link Between Family Relationship Quality and Social Adaptation to School......Page 182 7 When Parents Conflict or Disengage: Children's Perceptions of Parents' Marital Distress Predict School Adaptation......Page 208 8 Parents' Working Models of Attachment: The Intergenerational Context of Parenting and Children's Adaptation to School......Page 228 9 Parents' Work Experiences and Children's Adaptation to School......Page 256 10 Family Process and Family Structure in Children's Adaptation to School......Page 274 IV. INTERVENTIONS AS TESTS OF CAUSAL MODELS OF FAMILY INFLUENCE ON CHILDREN'S ADAPTATION TO SCHOOL......Page 294 11 Two Variations of a Preventive Intervention for Couples: Effects on Parents and Children During the Transition to School......Page 296 V. INTEGRATIONS......Page 332 12 Five-Domain Models: Putting It All Together......Page 334 13 Family Factors in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School: A Discussion and Integration......Page 354 References......Page 378 B......Page 406 C......Page 407 D......Page 408 G......Page 409 J......Page 410 L......Page 411 O......Page 412 S......Page 413 U......Page 414 Z......Page 415 A......Page 416 C......Page 419 E......Page 421 F......Page 422 H,I......Page 425 M......Page 426 O,P......Page 427 S......Page 428 W......Page 432 "The long-cherished assumption that parenting "matters" to the development of children took a round of empirical blows in the 1990s. These findings dovetailed with new emphases on school reform as the best remedy for the perceived decline in academic skills and increase in behavioral and learning problems in young students. This volume reports on the findings of a longitudinal prevention study that was designed to explore the importance and interaction of the variety of factors at play in the role of children's adaptation to elementary school." "Two themes dominate this volume: First, parent-child relationships, once thought to be the primary psychological/behavioral determinants of children's academic and social competence, as well as behavioral problems, must be understood in the context of relationships within the family as a system. Although the parent-child relationship is clearly important, it exists within a set of relationships among nuclear family members and between family members, and within larger social systems. The second theme addresses the recent challenge to claims about the impact of parents on their children's development. Through their longitudinal studies that included a randomly assigned intervention for parents as couples, the editors describe causal links between the quality of family relationships and children's school adjustment."--BOOK JACKET Publisher description: The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School is a result of a longitudinal prevention study of 100 families begun the year before their first children entered kindergarten. Each family went through an assessment and then a subset was randomly chosen for group intervention. The children in both groups were then studied as they progressed through kindergarten and first grade to assess the quality of their adaptation to the school environment. The text focuses on how parent-child relationships are only one determinant of a child's academic competence, social competence, and behavior. Rather, these relationships must be understood in the context of the role they play within the family as a system. It also addresses challenges to claims about the impact of parents on their children's development This work is a result of a longitudinal prevention study of 100 families begun the year before their first children entered kindergarten. The text focuses on how parent-child relationships are not the only determinants of a child's academic competence, social competence, and behavior