Abstract
AbstractObjectiveThis study examined early childhood paternal incarceration (PI; birth to Age 6) effects on children's elementary reading achievement (i.e., Ages 8–10) as mediated by mothers' supportive caregiving and moderated by child gender.BackgroundExtant research on PI has primarily focused on child behavioral problems. However, less is known about specific relations between PI and academic achievement.MethodParticipants were drawn from an ongoing, longitudinal study of development using a subsample of 180 children and their maternal caregivers (51.5% female children; 48.9% Latinx; 26.7% experienced PI). Study variables were assessed using semi‐structured incarceration interviews, observational parenting tasks, and standardized achievement tests. A moderated mediation analysis evaluated the hypothesized model by child gender.ResultsPI predicted decreased maternal supportive caregiving, which, in turn, predicted lower reading achievement, even when family socioeconomic status, child ethnicity‐race, prior supportive caregiving, prior reading achievement, and maternal psychopathology were held constant. Further, a moderation analysis indicated that the relation between maternal supportive caregiving and reading achievement was moderated by child gender.ConclusionThis investigation revealed a significant and negative indirect effect of early childhood PI on children's reading achievement via changes in maternal supportive caregiving. However, this indirect effect was significant for boys only.ImplicationsThese findings highlight the potential for interventions and resources that promote supportive maternal caregiving to mitigate the deleterious effects of PI on children's reading achievement, especially for boys.
Published Version
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