Associate Professor Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Overview: This study examined the effects of early childcare arrangements and parenting practices on Asian-American children's social-emotional developmental outcomes based on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-K: 2011 (n=1,543). children cared by Informal care had lower social-emotional skills than formal center-based care. Frequent child-parent daily interactions were positively associated with social-emotional skills.Proposal text: Purpose: Asian American children face a number of socio-emotional challenges. Compared to their peers, Asian American children are more likely to report feelings of depression, fear, and sadness and lower self-esteem. Asian American children are less likely to present with externalizing behaviors, their internalizing behaviors may go overlooked. The current study examined the predictors for Asian-American children’s social-emotional developmental outcomes based on early experiences: early childcare arrangement and parenting practices. First, parents can choose various types of early childcare for their children such as parental or non-parental care including formal or informal care. Many Asians utilize a strategy of having family members assist in childcare as well as various preschool programs. Formal/informal childcare is influential on children’s mental health, as caretakers hold important roles in the child’s life. Second, compared to White American parents, Asian American parents are reported to have different parenting practices. The ways in which parents engage with their children on a daily basis is influential for their development. One study notes that 78% of Asian-American parents read to their children, 57% sing songs, 46% did art, 56% participated in sports. Understanding the associations between parenting practices on a daily basis and children’s socio-emotional development is important. METHOD This study used the longitudinal study of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-K: 2011 (n=1,543). Children’s socio-emotional scores were self-control, interpersonal skills, externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, approach to learn, closeness, and conflicts reported by teacher. Parental expectation, parents teaching and investment on children, and types of childcare arrangements such as Head Start, School-based public and private funded pre-K, informal care and parental care and various baseline variables were included in the study.
Results: Children cared by informal care have lower approach to learning and lower child-teacher closeness scores. Children enrolled private funded care had fewer external problem and lower child-teacher conflict scores. Those attended school-based care had fewer child-teacher conflict scores. Children of parents who read books to their children and who tell a story to their children, and who play a game with their children frequently had higher child-teacher closeness scores, lower child-teacher conflict, and positive approach to learning scores. Fathers’s education was positively associated with social-emotional scores. Food insecurity and lower family income had adverse impact on children’s social-emotional scores. IMPLICATIONS Despite the positive impacts of formal childcare on positive social-emotional outcomes among Asian-American children, significant number of Asian-American young children were not enrolled in formal center-based care. Outreach should be done particularly focused on low-income Asian American families in order to reach children who are less likely to be enrolled in center-based care. This may require making sure that this information is available in different languages and addressing concerns like managing costs, transportation to and from care, and accessibility. Asian American children who were federally eligible for subsidies through the Child Care and Development Block Grant were less likely to use this benefit. Asian American parents should be informed on how they can support their children’s socioemotional development on a daily child and parent interactions.
Learning Objectives:
To identify for risk factors for Asian-American Families with young children
To access the need for young children in low income families
To practice cultural competent practice and policy
