Family Experiences, Parenting Behaviors, and Infants' and Toddlers' Social-Emotional Skills

Supportive early relationships are critical to young children's development. Previous research has focused primarily on aspects of specific parenting practices that impact infants' and toddlers' development. However, additional research is needed for a more nuanced understanding of the relationships among family experiences, parenting behaviors, and infants' and toddlers' social-emotional outcomes. To further explore these relationships among families experiencing economic risk, we conducted a secondary data analysis using a low-income Early Head Start sample. Our sample (n = 153) consisted of mother-child dyads who were racially and ethnically diverse (46% Hispanic; 27% Black, non-Hispanic; 14% White; approximately 10% identified as another race/ethnicity). About half (51%) of the children in our sample were male and children were, on average, 21 months old. Our results suggest that certain family experiences, including parenting stress and income, were negatively associated with the social-emotional outcomes of infants and toddlers. Parent education was positively associated with parenting behaviors. Additionally, maternal sensitivity was positively associated with infants' and toddlers' social-emotional competence. However, parent engagement and parent sensitivity did not mediate the relationship between family experiences and infants' and toddlers' social-emotional development.