Effects of cumulative family risks on school readiness skills: A cross-cultural study between the U.S. and Korea

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which cumulative family risks at age 1 influenced children's school readiness (i.e., academic and socio-emotional skills) during the transition to school directly or indirectly through maternal parenting stress and responsive parenting behaviors at age 3, using 2 longitudinal data sets, one from the U.S. (the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study) and the other from Korea (the Panel Study on Korean Children). Overall, cumulative family risks (e.g., low family income, mothers’ poor mental health) exerted enduring direct effects on children's school readiness, especially their academic skills in both countries. Furthermore, both countries showed similar negative cascading processes by which cumulative family risks negatively influenced both domains of school readiness skills through increased maternal parenting stress. Similarly, cumulative family risks decreased maternal responsive parenting, which then led to poor academic skills in both countries. Some variations between the 2 countries were also observed; the double mediating path through maternal parenting stress and responsive parenting behaviors to academic skills were significant for Korean children only. Moreover, the direct effects of cumulative family risks and maternal responsive parenting on children's socio-emotional skills were significant for U.S. children only, suggesting culture specific processes. The finding that maternal parenting stress was a common mediator suggests that targeting mothers’ parenting stress could be an effective way to promote children's school readiness in both countries, especially for those with multiple family risks.