TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of Healthy Steps on discipline strategies of parents of young children
AU - O'Brien Caughy, Margaret
AU - Miller, Therese L.
AU - Genevro, Janice L.
AU - Huang, Keng Yen
AU - Nautiyal, Charu
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the William T. Grant Foundation, The Amarillo Area Foundation, The Duke Endowment, The Hogg Foundation, and The McLeod Foundation for their generous support of this study. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders. We also wish to thank Kathryn McLearn at The Commonwealth Fund and members of the National Evaluation team at Johns Hopkins University for their review and comments. Finally, we are particularly grateful to the families and providers of the Healthy Steps Program as this study would not have been possible without them.
PY - 2003/10
Y1 - 2003/10
N2 - The Healthy Steps Initiative is a national demonstration project to provide support for parents of young children through the pediatrician's office. We report data from 432 families who were visited in their homes when the target child was between the ages of 16 and 18 months (Time 1), and 34 and 37 months (Time 2). Parents reported on their discipline strategies for the month prior to the interview. The program showed significant effects in increasing inductive/authoritative forms of discipline when the target child was a toddler. By the time of the pre-school-age assessment, the effect of Healthy Steps participation on the use of inductive/authoritative discipline strategies was moderated by maternal race/ethnicity. White mothers who participated in Healthy Steps reported higher use of inductive/authoritative discipline strategies than white mothers who were in the control group, whereas black mothers and Hispanic mothers reported lower use of inductive/authoritative discipline than their control group counterparts. We also found that treatment effects were moderated by birth order as well as family socioeconomic status. By the time the children were pre-school-age, the effects of Healthy Steps on the use of inductive/authoritative discipline were more dramatic for families living near or below poverty than for families in more secure economic circumstances. For the families with first born children, Healthy Steps participation was associated with lower use of inductive/authoritative discipline at preschool age, with an inverse association seen for families of later born children.
AB - The Healthy Steps Initiative is a national demonstration project to provide support for parents of young children through the pediatrician's office. We report data from 432 families who were visited in their homes when the target child was between the ages of 16 and 18 months (Time 1), and 34 and 37 months (Time 2). Parents reported on their discipline strategies for the month prior to the interview. The program showed significant effects in increasing inductive/authoritative forms of discipline when the target child was a toddler. By the time of the pre-school-age assessment, the effect of Healthy Steps participation on the use of inductive/authoritative discipline strategies was moderated by maternal race/ethnicity. White mothers who participated in Healthy Steps reported higher use of inductive/authoritative discipline strategies than white mothers who were in the control group, whereas black mothers and Hispanic mothers reported lower use of inductive/authoritative discipline than their control group counterparts. We also found that treatment effects were moderated by birth order as well as family socioeconomic status. By the time the children were pre-school-age, the effects of Healthy Steps on the use of inductive/authoritative discipline were more dramatic for families living near or below poverty than for families in more secure economic circumstances. For the families with first born children, Healthy Steps participation was associated with lower use of inductive/authoritative discipline at preschool age, with an inverse association seen for families of later born children.
KW - Birth order
KW - Discipline strategies
KW - Healthy Steps Initiative
KW - Maternal race and ethnicity
KW - Pediatric care
KW - Socioeconomic status
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U2 - 10.1016/j.appdev.2003.08.004
DO - 10.1016/j.appdev.2003.08.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0141836684
SN - 0193-3973
VL - 24
SP - 517
EP - 534
JO - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
IS - 5
ER -