Parent Involvement in Education as Predictors of Social–Emotional Strengths in Kindergartners

Abstract

Although more is known about how general parenting practices predict social–emotional strengths in children, less research has looked at parent involvement in education and children’s social–emotional strengths. This study examined the extent to which parent involvement, specifically home-based involvement, parent–teacher trust, and home–school communication, predicted children’s social–emotional strengths in kindergarten. The study featured both parent (n = 120) and teacher ratings (n = 156) of children’s social–emotional strengths. We examined the association between parent involvement and social emotional strengths while controlling for child age and gender, socioeconomic status, and general parenting (positive verbal discipline and harsh/inconsistent discipline). Parents’ reports of home-based involvement were a moderate to strong positive predictor of their child’s social–emotional strengths over the kindergarten year. For teacher ratings of social–emotional strengths, parents’ trust of the teacher was associated with higher social–emotional strengths. The findings may inform essential components in parenting or school-based interventions for social–emotional development, as well as differences in what parents and teachers perceive as related to social–emotional development in young children. Impact Statement Parents play an important role in children’s social–emotional development. The current study demonstrate parents perceive home-based involvement activities are associated with child social–emotional strengths, while teachers perceive a trusting relationship between home and school as most important. Results highlight ways to support schools and families working together to support social–emotional strengths.