Brooks-Gunn Jeanne, Markman Lisa B
Teachers College, Columbia University, USA.
Future Child. 2005 Spring;15(1):139-68. doi: 10.1353/foc.2005.0001.
The authors describe various parenting behaviors, such as nurturance, discipline, teaching, and language use, and explain how researchers measure them. They note racial and ethnic variations in several behaviors. Most striking are differences in language use. Black and Hispanic mothers talk less with their young children than do white mothers and are less likely to read to them daily. They also note some differences in harshness. When researchers measuring school readiness gaps control for parenting differences, the racial and ethnic gaps narrow by 25-50 percent. And it is possible to alter parenting behavior to improve readiness. The authors examine programs that serve poor families-and thus disproportionately serve minority families--and find that home- and center-based programs with a parenting component improve parental nurturance and discipline. Programs that target families with children with behavior problems improve parents' skills in dealing with such children. And certain family literacy programs improve parents' skills in talking with their children. Several interventions have significantly reduced gaps in the parenting behavior of black and white mothers. Not all improvements in parenting translate to improved school readiness. Home-based programs affect the mother but do not appear to affect the child, at least in the short term. But center-based programs with a parenting component enhance both parenting and school readiness. And some family literacy programs also improve readiness. Because these successful interventions serve a greater share of minority than nonminority families and have more positive effects for blacks than for whites, they offer promise for closing the ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness.
作者描述了各种育儿行为，如养育、管教、教导和语言使用，并解释了研究人员如何对这些行为进行衡量。他们指出了几种行为在种族和民族方面的差异。最显著的是语言使用方面的差异。与白人母亲相比，黑人和西班牙裔母亲与年幼子女交谈较少，且不太可能每天给他们读书。他们还指出了在严厉程度上的一些差异。当研究人员在衡量入学准备差距时控制了育儿差异后，种族和民族差距缩小了25%至50%。而且改变育儿行为以提高入学准备是有可能的。作者研究了为贫困家庭服务的项目——因此这类项目中少数族裔家庭的比例过高——并发现有育儿内容的家庭项目和中心项目能改善父母的养育和管教方式。针对有行为问题儿童的家庭的项目能提高父母应对这类儿童的技能。某些家庭扫盲项目能提高父母与孩子交谈的技能。一些干预措施显著缩小了黑人和白人母亲在育儿行为上的差距。并非所有育儿方面的改善都能转化为更好的入学准备。家庭项目会影响母亲，但至少在短期内似乎不会影响孩子。但有育儿内容的中心项目既能改善育儿方式，又能提高入学准备。一些家庭扫盲项目也能提高入学准备。由于这些成功的干预措施服务的少数族裔家庭比例高于非少数族裔家庭，且对黑人的积极影响大于白人，它们有望缩小入学准备方面的种族和民族差距。
