Effects of parenting practices and socioeconomic status on child development

Forty two-parent families with a child 4 to 6 years old participated in this study on the effects of the family environment. Parents completed the Family Environment Questionnaire (FEQ) while children were administered the Development and Maturity Inventory for Preschool Children (DMIP). The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) was also administered to each family. Children from a more advantaged milieu, according to the FEQ, where the home environment was more stimulating, according to the HOME, received higher scores in the four developmental domains (motor, social, language and cognitive) of the DMIP in comparison with children from a less advantaged milieu. It was also shown that mothers have a significant influence on the child's language and cognitive development while the influence of fathers is more evident on the child's motor and social development. However, mothers have in general more influence than fathers on child development. The differences observed in the performance of children on the DMIP were interpreted in terms of the influence of each parent and of proximal variables (e.g., attitudes and parenting practices) and distal variables (e.g., education and socioeconomic status). A multiple regression analysis showed proximal variables to be the better predictors of child development as compared with distal variables. Finally, among children from a more advantaged milieu, girls outperformed boys in the areas of social and language development, a phenomenon which was related to the mothers' high professional status.