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Journal Article
We identify multiple predictors of five types of father involvement in 167 low- to moderate-income two-parent Mexican American families with fifth-grade children. Analyses show that fathers' egalitarian gender attitudes and mothers' education are associated with higher levels of father involvement. Fathers are more involved in monitoring and interacting with children when families place more emphasis on family rituals, they are more involved in supervising children when mothers are employed more hours, and they perform more housework when mothers earn more and the family is under economic…
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Journal Article
A study involving 116 American Indian fathers found income was not a significant predictor of father involvement among American Indian fathers and fathers of other races/ethnicities with the exception of White fathers. Relationship status was the strongest predictor of father involvement for all fathers, and higher education was found to be a significant positive predictor for American Indian father involvement. 4 tables and 48 references.
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Journal Article
The aim of the present study was to investigate the pathways through which fathers’ warmth influences adolescents’ grades. We investigated the positive beliefs of optimism and academic self-efficacy, and the motivational construct of determination, as possible mediators. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 183 sixth-graders (78 male, 105 female) from low-income families: 133 Mexican Americans, 36 African Americans, 11 European Americans, and 3 other ethnicity. Multigroup SEM path analysis was used to test two path models and investigate variations in these models by adolescents…
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Father involvement is a salient predictor of children’s cognitive development and recent studies suggest that African American and Hispanic fathers, who are highly involved, have children who enter school more poised to succeed. Little is known, however, about contextual barriers to positive father involvement in ethnic minority families. This study examined prospective relations between fathers’ work characteristics (i.e., total work hours per week, job satisfaction, and work shift) and children’s cognitive development in preschool (i.e., reading and math scores). A total of 2,340 children…
This fact sheet focuses on the implementation of the Head Start program in South Dakota. It begins by explaining the establishment of the South Dakota Head Start State Collaboration, the history of Head Start, and the beliefs and goals of Head Start related to school readiness. Head Start program options are reviewed, as well as an early learning framework and the racial characteristics of children enrolled in Head Start in South Dakota in 2012/2013. It is reported that in 2013-2014 a total of 3,990 families participated in Head Start, 22% of the parents had less than a high school diploma,…
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Journal Article
This study examines the efficacy of ParentCorps among 4-year-old children (N = 171) enrolled in prekindergarten in schools in a large urban school district. ParentCorps includes a series of 13 group sessions for parents and children held at the school during early evening hours and facilitated by teachers and mental health professionals. ParentCorps resulted in significant benefits on effective parenting practices and teacher ratings of child behavior problems in school. Intervention effects were of similar magnitude for families at different levels of risk and for Black and Latino…
Understanding the culture and values of your audience is of utmost importance. Culture is defined as a person's belief system, language, behaviors and values. Understanding how a person's culture frames his or her worldview and relationships, while not passing judgment, is cultural sensitivity. Because of the strong relationship between culture and marriage, it is important that marriage and relationship education programs are culturally relevant. This tip sheet offers program operators or marriage educators ways to appropriately adapt their program or curriculum to connect with their…
There are a number of areas that marriage and relationship education program providers must address when designing and implementing a program for Native American communities. There have been a number of lessons learned from Native American cultural experts and program practitioners who have developed culturally relevant marriage education programs. These services can be effective for Native Americans living on reservations and for those who are not.There is great diversity within the Native American community. The various tribes have distinct traditions, customs and languages. This Tip Sheet…
This fact sheet focuses on the implementation of the Early Head Start program in South Dakota. It begins by explaining the history of the Early Head Start program, the establishment of 8 Early Head Starts in South Dakota, and the goal of Early Head Start programs to prepare children to be ready for school. It is reported that in 2013-2014 a total of 868 families participated in Head Start, 18% of the parents had less than a high school diploma, and 53% were single parent families. Data on parental employment, racial characteristics of children enrolled in Early Head Start, pregnant women in…
There is a strong correlation between family stability and the family's social and economic well-being. Two-parent, married families are touted as the ideal environment for raising children. Research shows that stable, two parent married households are connected to various positive outcomes for child well-being.In addition, there are various positive psychological, emotional and economic outcomes for adults who are in healthy marriages. This is true across various racial and cultural groups. Despite the decline in marriage among African Americans, marriage has historically been and continues…
