Child Care and Early Education Research Connections

Skip to main content

Parenting gains in Head Start as a function of initial parenting skill

Description:
Using data from the Head Start Impact Study (n = 3,696), this article examines whether one year of Head Start differentially benefited parents as a function of their initial parenting behaviors. Four outcomes are examined, namely, parents' rates of engaging in cognitive stimulation, reading to their child, and spanking, as well as their depressive symptoms. In general, most parents demonstrated improvements in their reading practices and cognitive stimulation regardless of their parenting behaviors at baseline. However, depressive symptoms and spanking behavior showed improvements only among parents who began the Head Start program with the most depressive symptoms and the most frequent spanking, respectively. These findings suggest that treatment-induced changes in parenting can vary by parents' incoming attributes and that heterogeneity of effects should be considered. Implications for Head Start and other parenting interventions are discussed. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States

Related resources include summaries, versions, measures (instruments), or other resources in which the current document plays a part. Research products funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation are related to their project records.

- You May Also Like

These resources share similarities with the current selection.

Parent Gauge report: Head Start Pandemic Survey

Fact Sheets & Briefs

Summary of teen parents served within Head Start

Fact Sheets & Briefs

The Head Start advantage: Success in parent advancement

Fact Sheets & Briefs
Release: 'v1.58.0' | Built: 2024-04-08 08:44:34 EDT