The Moderating Role of the Home Environment and Parenting Beliefs on The Early Achievement Outcomes of Children With Difficult Temperaments

Authors

Kenji R. Madison, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 5-2016

Document Type

Article

Citation

Madison, K. R. (2016) The Moderating Role of the Home Environment and Parenting Beliefs on the Early Achievement Outcomes of Children With Difficult Temperaments (Master’s Thesis).

Comments

A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Masters of Arts, Major: Educational Psychology, Under the Supervision of Professor Kathleen Moritz Rudasill. Lincoln, Nebraska: May, 2016

Copyright (c) 2016 Kenji Rashaan Madison

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of children’s temperamental attention and activity (at 4-and-a-half years old) and proximal processes (parenting beliefs) and home environment in relation to children’s achievement outcomes. Emphasis was placed on the moderating role of the home environment and parenting beliefs on the relationship between children’s temperament (activity and attention level) and their academic achievement. The use of regression analyses specified that children’s activity and attention were associated with achievement in reading and mathematics at 4-and-a-half years and reading, mathematics, and phonics achievement in the 1^st grade. Analyses also depicted home environment and parenting as associated with the children’s reading and mathematics achievement at 4-and-a-half years and reading, mathematics, and phonics achievement in the 1^st grade. Conversely, home environment, and parenting beliefs did not significantly moderate the relationship between difficult temperament and achievement outcomes, such that the interaction between temperament and home environment and temperament and parenting beliefs did not significantly impact achievement outcomes at 4-and-a-half years or in the 1^st grade. The findings presented signify the importance of understanding how the home environment and parenting beliefs work in concert with children’s temperament to promote or inhibit their academic achievement outcomes.

Advisor: Kathleen M. Rudasill