Parenting Knowledge: Experiential and Sociodemographic Factors in European American Mothers of Young Children

• Published in: Developmental psychology 2010-11, Vol.46 (6), p.1677-1693
• Main Authors: Bornstein, Marc H, Cote, Linda R, Haynes, O. Maurice, Hahn, Chun-Shin, Park, Yoonjung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent mothers; Adolescents; Adoption; Adult; Adults; Age Differences; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Development; Child Rearing; Child Rearing - psychology; Child, Preschool; Childbirth; Childhood Development; Childrearing Practices; Children; Children & youth; Comparative Analysis; Couple and family; Developmental psychology; Early Parenthood; Education; Educational Attainment; Employment Level; Family Characteristics; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Information Sources; Knowledge; Knowledge Level; Male; Mothers; Mothers - education; Mothers - psychology; Parent Education; Parenthood education; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parenting Skills; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pregnancy; Pregnancy in Adolescence - psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social Environment; Social psychology; Social Status; Social Support; Toddlers; U.S.A; Well Being; Whites; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/a0020677

Knowledge of child rearing and child development is relevant to parenting and the well-being of children. Using a sociodemographically heterogeneous sample of 268 European American mothers of 2-year-olds, we assessed the state of mothers' parenting knowledge; compared parenting knowledge in groups of mothers who varied in terms of parenthood and social status; and identified principal sources of mothers' parenting knowledge in terms of social factors, parenting supports, and formal classes. On the whole, European American mothers demonstrated fair but less than complete basic parenting knowledge; age, education, and rated helpfulness of written materials each uniquely contributed to mothers' knowledge. Adult mothers scored higher than adolescent mothers, and mothers improved in their knowledge of parenting from their first to their second child (and were stable across time). No differences were found between mothers of girls and boys, mothers who varied in employment status, or birth and adoptive mothers. The implications of variation in parenting knowledge and its sources for parenting education and clinical interactions with parents are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)