Parenting knowledge: experiential and sociodemographic factors in European American mothers of young children.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of child rearing and child development is relevant to parenting and the well-being of children. Using a sociodemographically heterogeneous sample of 268 European American mothers of 2-year-olds, we assessed the state of mothers' parenting knowledge; compared parenting knowledge in groups of mothers who varied in terms of parenthood and social status; and identified principal sources of mothers' parenting knowledge in terms of social factors, parenting supports, and formal classes. On the whole, European American mothers demonstrated fair but less than complete basic parenting knowledge; age, education, and rated helpfulness of written materials each uniquely contributed to mothers' knowledge. Adult mothers scored higher than adolescent mothers, and mothers improved in their knowl

SUBMITTER: Bornstein MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3412549 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature