Direct and indirect effects of socio-economic status on child development: is developmental parenting a relevant mediator?

ABSTRACT

The parent–child relationship has been presented as one of the most important contexts in the early stages of life, but not all caregivers provide an optimal environment for development. Some parental and environmental factors exert a particularly strong influence on development. Parental practices and socioeconomic status are the factors most strongly correlated with various developmental outcomes. We aimed to examine the associations between parenting, indicators of SES and developmental outcomes. The sample comprised 77 mother–child dyads and data were collected using an SES questionnaire, developmental measure (IDADI) and observation protocol for parental practices (PICCOLO). Maternal education predicted almost all IDADI scores, except for socioemotional development, which was better mediated by developmental parenting. These results indicate that whilst maternal literacy and income may be important predictors of developmental outcomes that depend on formal education, they do not predict the development of empathy, social relationships, and emotional regulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Developmental parenting
• parental practices
• child development
• maternal education
• family income

Acknowledgements

We thank the research team of the Impact of Perinatal Environment Variations on Child Health in the First Five Years of Life (IVAPSA) project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

Notes on contributors

Giovanna Nunes Cauduro

Giovanna Nunes Cauduro is a doctorate student at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She has an M.Sc. degree in in psychological assessment and child development. She is interested in psychometric assessment of parenting practices and the impact of the quality of parent–child relationships on the development of children’s socioemotional outcomes.

Euclides José de Mendonça Filho

Euclides José de Mendonça Filho is a Ph.D. candidate at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He is currently a visiting research assistant at Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal-Quebec. His research interests are related to psychometrics, psychological assessment and child development.

Nicole Pandolfo Silveira

Nicole Pandolfo Silveira is an undergraduate student at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She is interested in studying child development, the influence of parental practices on child development, and psychological assessment.

Denise Ruschel Bandeira

Denise Ruschel Bandeira is a Professor of Psychological Assessment at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and a Coordinator of the Study Group of Application and Research on Psychological Assessment. Her research focuses on translation and adaptation of psychological assessment instruments and child development.