Title:the Impact of Parenting Styles on Children's Cognitive Outcomes

Overview 

This study review the impact of single mothers’ parenting styles on children’s cognitive outcomes using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS).

Background & Purpose

Previous studies have highlighted the importance of quality parenting to children's cognitive outcome. Waldfogel and Brooks-gunn (2010) stated that children of warm and nurturing parents had better outcomes than that of parents with punitive, detached and neglectful parenting styles.

Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study which collects data of single mothers and children, this research further evaluates the relationship between maternal parenting and children’s outcomes. This evaluation i conducted by analyzing latest data from surveys on children's own perceptions of their mothers' parenting behavior. It hypothesizes that emotional closeness, time spent with mother, and frequent discipline style are positively associated with children's cognitive outcomes.

Method

The study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). The sample of about 3000 observations includes single mothers and children who participated in the ninth year of FFCWS. Children's assessment scores (PPVT and Woodcock-Johnson) are proxies for cognitive outcomes. PPVT measures receptive vocabulary, while Woodcock-Johnson subtests evaluate children's reading and problem-solving skills. The main independent variables for parenting aspects are three survey items: how close the child feels to the mother, how much time spent with mother, and how often the mother intervenes with the child to correct wrongdoings. The linear regression models control for mother’s education and income levels, race, age, children's gender and age in the ninth year. The baseline encompasses children whose mothers are white (non-Hispanic) and/or have less than high school education at the time of the latest interview.

Results

The results show that emotional closeness and time spent with mothers had positive relationship with children's cognitive outcomes as hypothesized. However, mother's use of discipline could be either positively or negatively correlated. The relationship between emotional closeness and child’s cognitive outcomes was statistically significant at the 99% confidence level. The parenting coefficients had joint statistical significance overall. Children of Black, Hispanic, and other races scored less on the assessments on average compared to White. Furthermore, children of mothers with higher education background had higher cognitive outcomes. Income was also positively correlated with children's scores, and the relationship was statistically significant at 99% confidence level. It is also interesting to notice the outcome gap across genders. Compared to boys, girls performed better in Woodcock-Johnson assessments, but they scored less in PPVT. The difference between girls' and boys' test scores, however, was statistically significant only in the Woodcock-Johnson passage comprehension subtest.

Conclusion

The findings suggest emotional closeness is crucial, while disciplinary parenting behavior should be considered more carefully and requires further research. These results have implications for programs that emphasize the essence of positive parenting among single mothers to better support their children’s cognitive outcomes.