Do children’s adjustment problems transact over time with parent-teacher communication?

1. This research was supported by a grant awarded to W. L. Hoglund from • the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). January 2010 Wave 1 June 2010 Wave 3 January 2010 Wave 1 March 2010 Wave 2 June 2010 Wave 3 January 2010 Wave 1 June 2010 Wave 3 March 2010 Wave 2 March 2010 Wave 2 Child Externalizing R2 = .71** Child Externalizing R2 = .71** Child Externalizing R2 = .64** Child Externalizing R2 = .64** Child Externalizing R2 = .11** Child Externalizing R2 = .11** Adjustment Problems Adjustment Problems Adjustment Problems .79** .79** .79** .79** .11t .11t Household Moves Household Moves .23** .23** Household Moves .14** .14** .15** .15** Economic Risk Economic Risk Economic Risk .15** .15** .27** .37** Material Hardship .43** .43** Material Hardship Material Hardship .12* .13** .11t Parent- Initiated Communication R2 = .04 Teacher- Initiated Communication R2 = .05 Teacher- Initiated Communication R2 = .51** Parent- Initiated Communication R2 = .56** Teacher- Initiated Communication R2 = .52** Parent- Initiated Communication R2 = .54** Parent– Teacher Communication Parent– Teacher Communication Parent– Teacher Communication Household Risk, Parent Involvement in Schooling,and Adjustment Problems in Middle ChildhoodS. R. Richards &W. L. G. Hoglund, University of Alberta • Do children’s adjustment problems transact over time with parent-teacher communication? • Yes.When children showed more externalizing and internalizing problems in January, parents initiated more communication with teachers by March (βs = .13, SE = .05, p ≤ .01; see Figure 2). • Teachers also initiated more communication with parents in response to children’s externalizing problems (see Figure 3). • When parents and teachers initiated more communication, children showed increased adjustment problems by the end of the school year (βs = .13-.17, SEs = .04-.05, p ≤ .01). • Figure 3. Associations among Household Risks, Externalizing Problems, and Teacher-Initiated Communication • Does parent-teacher relationship quality moderate the associations between adjustment and communication? • Yes. Parents initiated more communication in response to children’s adjustment problems when they shared a high (Bs = .32-.40, p ≤ .01) but not low (B = -.03, ns) quality relationship. • Teachers also initiated more communication in response to children’s externalizing when they shared a high (Bs = .22-.27, ps≤ .10-.05) but not low (Bs = .03-.06, ns) quality relationship. • Household moves also contributed to parent- and teacher-initiated communication in the context of high (Bs= .20-.23, ps≤ .05-.01) but not low (Bs = -.02-.01, ns) relationship quality. • Conclusions: • In the context of economic risk, material hardship increased risks for adjustment problems. In response, parents increased their communication with their child’s teacher, particularly when they shared a higher quality relationship. Such communication did not, however, lessen children’s adjustment problems over time. • Communication between parents and teachers may be insufficient to alter the stability in adjustment problems among low-income children if the exchanges are most often about school difficulties rather than children’s successes. • Measures: • Household Risk:parent-reported • Economic Risk (low maternal education, maternal unemployment, single-parent household, low-income) • Household Moves (frequency over the past 5 years) • Material Hardship (difficulty paying bills) • Child Adjustment Problems: teacher- and parent-rated (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) • Externalizing (27 items; aggression, hyperactivity & inattention) • Internalizing (26 items; anxiety & depression) • Parent-Teacher Communication: parent-reported (CPPRG, 1991) • Parent-Initiated (3 items; e.g., parent calls teacher) • Teacher-Initiated (2 items; e.g., teacher writes to parent) • Parent-Teacher Relationship Quality: parent-rated (CPPRG, 1991) • Relationship Quality (4 items; e.g., enjoy talking to teacher) • Data analysis: • Auto-regressive, cross-lagged path models (Mplus 6.1; Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2007) were used to assess the relations among household risks, adjustment problems, and parent-teacher communication. Multiple-group models tested whether these relations differed by parent-teacher relationship quality. • Results: • Do moves and material hardship mediate the effects of economic risk on adjustment and communication? • Partially. Frequent moves increased risks for internalizing problems at baseline (β = .12, SE = .06, p ≤ .05). • Material hardship increased risks for both externalizing and internalizing problems (βs = .23, SE = .06, p ≤ .01) but boosted parent-initiated communication (β = .13, SE = .07, p ≤ .05). • Material hardship also mediated the effects of economic risk on baseline externalizing and internalizing problems (Indirect: βs = .10, SE = .03, p ≤ .01) and parent-initiated communication (Indirect: β = .06, SE = .03, p ≤ .05). See Figure 2. • Figure 2. Associations among Household Risks, Externalizing Problems, and Parent-Initiated Communication • Introduction: • Research indicates that economic and material hardship and frequent moves can increase children’s risks for adjustment problems (Hoglund & Leadbeater, 2004;Milan et al., 2006), with moves and material hardship potentially mediating the effects of economic risk on adjustment (Gershofffet al., 2007). • These household risks may also compromise the communication between parents and teachers that can work to support children’s adjustment (Hill et al., 2004). However, the benefits of parent-teacher communication may depend on parents’ relationship quality with teachers (Pomerantzet al., 2007). • The current study tests moves and material hardship as mediators of the effects of economic risk on child adjustment and parent-teacher communication. In turn, the associations between adjustment and communication and differences in these relations by parent-teacher relationship quality is examined. See Figure 1. • Figure 1. Hypothesized Associations among Household Risks, Adjustment Problems and Parent-Teacher Communication • Research Questions: • Do household moves and material hardship mediate the effects of economic risks on initial levels of children’s adjustment problems and the communication between parents and teachers? • In turn, do children’s adjustment problems transact over time with parents’ communication with their children’s teachers? • Does the quality of parents’ relationships with teachers moderate the associations between adjustment and their communication? • Participants & Procedure: • 324 Children in Kindergarten to Grade 3 and their Parents • 51% girls, mean age = 6.8 yrs (SD = 1.2 yrs) • 88% mothers, mean age = 34.8 yrs (SD = 6.4 yrs) • 50.5% Caucasian, 49.5% ethnic minority • 31% lived in a single-parent household, 22% of mothers did not graduate high school, 40% of mothers were not employed, and 51% were below Statistics Canada’s (2009) low-income cut-off. • 6-Month, Short-Term Longitudinal Study • Data were collected on three occasions over one school term. .13* .75** .70** .67** .67**