Abstract
This paper empirically investigates the relationships between caregivers’ parenting skills and early cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development of children aged 6–24 months. The study is based on data from a survey conducted in 100 villages in a typical poor rural area in western China. A total of 1715 households were enrolled in the study. In the study, Parent and Family Adjustment Scales (PAFAS), Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III (BSID-III), and a socioeconomic questionnaire were used to measure caregiver’s parenting skills, child’s development outcomes, and socioeconomic characteristics in sample households, respectively. Multivariate regression was used to estimate the relationship between a caregiver’s parenting skills and the child’s development outcomes. The results show that, first, parenting skills are positively and significantly associated with children’s cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development, and the link between parenting skills and social-emotional development is the strongest; second, the correlation between parenting skills and development outcomes varies across socioeconomic characteristics and parenting skill dimensions. The results provide evidence for the relationship between parenting skills and early childhood development in rural households in western China. Our findings also suggest that interventions aimed at improving caregivers’ parenting skills during the early stages are necessary for human capital development in rural China.
Highlights
Developmental delay remains a significant problem among young children in rural areas of China.New estimates show that, in four major subpopulations of rural China, 85% of the children aged0–3 years suffer from at least one kind of developmental delay [1]
We examined the relationship between parenting skills and early childhood development in rural households in western China
Our findings suggest that more children in the household might destroy the relationships between parenting skills and cognitive development of children who have siblings, which is detrimental to their future performances
Summary
Developmental delay remains a significant problem among young children in rural areas of China.New estimates show that, in four major subpopulations of rural China, 85% of the children aged0–3 years suffer from at least one kind of developmental delay [1]. Developmental delay remains a significant problem among young children in rural areas of China. In four major subpopulations of rural China, 85% of the children aged. 0–3 years suffer from at least one kind of developmental delay [1]. Nearly half (49%) of the children exhibited cognitive delays, and 30% had motor delays, while more than half were delayed in language skills (52%) and social-emotional skills (53%) [1]. Such early delays are detrimental to adult outcomes. Empirical evidence further proves that early childhood development (ECD) is critical to one’s physical health [4,5], income in the labor market [6,7], social mobility [8], and other welfare markers in adulthood [9]
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