Objective: This study examined the efficacy of the Parent and Child Enhancement (PACE) program on child learning, child behavior problems, and parental stress, using randomized controlled trial design, in social services centers. Methods: Eligibility criteria were (1) children aged 2 years at program commencement, (2) low-income, new immigrant, or…

Nine percent of young U.S. children live in deep poverty, with state rates ranging from 17 percent in Mississippi to 4 percent in Utah. The families of these children have incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty line, or less than $10,289 for a family of one parent and two children. Understanding more about the early health and development…

African American youth from single mother homes are at greater risk for internalizing and externalizing problems relative to their peers from two-parent homes. Although the predominance of psychosocial research on these youth has focused on maternal parenting and mother-child relationship quality, far less attention has been devoted to the quality…

This study investigated moderators of change in an empirically supported family-centered intervention (the Family Check-Up) for problem behavior in early childhood. Participants were 731 2- to 3-year-olds (49% girls; 28% African American, 50% European American, 13% biracial) from low-income families and had been screened for risk of family stress…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an in-home parent management program for toddlers with behavior problems and developmental delays by comparing outcomes for a group of toddlers with developmental delays (n = 27) and a group of toddlers without developmental delays (n = 27). The majority of children lived in single…

Students who are not motivated and do not try to do well are unlikely to achieve consistent with their abilities. This research assesses the relationships over time between school engagement and parenting practices and peer affiliation among sixth to ninth graders using latent growth models. Participants included 2,453 students recruited from…

We investigated age-based changes in mothers' complaints about offspring behavioral opposition, and offspring reports of opposition in a prospective longitudinal design (N = 821). Maternal complaints declined from pre-adolescence to early adulthood, but more slowly in low socioeconomic status (SES) and single-parent families. Mothers complained…

The consequences of poverty are enormous, and they begin with the birth of children to unprepared mothers. High risk leads to more high risk, and the cycle of poverty continues. Trying to change the attitudes or behaviors of adolescents is difficult. Successful interventions must begin before the birth of the child, concentrating on teenage girls…