2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

Parenting PracticesWhen surveyed in the fifth year, mothers were asked to report on three general kinds of parentingpractices: positive activities with their children in their homes and neighborhoods; negative parentingpractices, usually for disciplinary purposes; and activities that involved them with their children’s schoolor childcare. More than three-quarters of the mothers reported that they engaged in a variety of positiveparenting activities. These included praising their children; taking children on errands and outside to play;reading books and encouraging their children to read; singing songs with children and telling stories;doing household chores with children; playing with a game, puzzle, or building toy with children; andtalking to their children about television programs. For families in which husbands/partners had contactwith their children, mothers reported that at least half of husbands/partners engaged in most positiveparenting activities.Smaller percentages of mothers reported that they or their husbands/partners used negative parentingpractices. A little over half (60%) of the mothers reported that they had lost their temper with theirchildren; a quarter (25%) said they had found hitting or spanking was a good way to get their children tolisten; and a quarter (26%) said they got angrier with their children than they had intended during theprevious 3 months. No more than 18 percent said that in the past 3 months they had blamed their childrenfor something that was not their fault or punished their children for not finishing the food on their plate.Mothers whose husbands/partners had had contact with their children reported somewhat lowerpercentages of negative parenting practices for their husbands/partners than they reported for themselves.Over time, positive parenting activities increased for both mothers and husbands/partners, but most of thechanges occurred between the first and second years. The only noteworthy differences between years 4and 5 was an increase in the reported percentage of mothers and husbands/partners who told their childrenstories and took them to the library, which is consistent with the increasing age of their children. In termsof negative parenting practices, there was a significant increase in mean negative parenting scores formothers, but not those reported for husbands/partners between years 4 and 5. More specifically, moremothers said they had become angrier than intended with their children or had blamed their children forsomething that was not their fault in year 5.The most frequent parent involvement activity, among mothers with a child in school or childcare, wastalking with their child’s teachers, which was reported by three-quarters (75%) of the mothers. Almostthree-quarters of the mothers said they had helped their child with homework, and over half had attendeda parent-teacher conference during the previous 3 months; less than half reported that they hadparticipated in a field trip, and one-third reported attending a PTA or other parent meeting. The reportedChapin Hall at the University of Chicago 135