「家庭社經地位」與母親教養效能、幼兒適應行為及詞彙理解能力之關係

Relationship Among Family Socioeconomic Status and Maternal Parenting Efficacy, Preschoolers' Adjustment, and Receptive Vocabulary Ability

許多研究顯示家庭社經地位與幼兒的發展有所關連，而母親教養效能則似乎會調節這些關聯，故，本研究的目的在於了解家庭社經地位與母親之教養效能（母職效能及教養因素）、幼兒適應行為與詞彙理解之概況及變項間的關係。研究對象是就讀於台北市及台東縣幼兒園的3-5歲幼兒們，研究以分層隨機抽樣方式蒐集資料，共計有效樣本為511份之幼兒及其母親和老師的資料。母親填寫家庭背景、母職效能量表及母親教養因素量表；幼兒母親及老師填寫幼兒適應行為量表，並由助理對各別幼兒進行畢保德圖畫詞彙測驗以評估幼兒詞彙理解能力。統計方法為：描述性統計、皮爾森積差相關及迴歸取向之路徑分析。研究結果為：家庭社經地位較高、母親有工作者、家中孩童數較少、母職效能較佳、教養多以反應層面者，其幼兒之適應行為（母評）及詞彙理解能力較佳。在控制了本模型的所有變項後，家庭社經地位對幼兒之詞彙理解能力有直接的正向影響，且教養之反應及要求之共同層面下對幼兒詞彙理解能力亦有正向影響。另外，家庭社經地位對幼兒適應行為問題並沒有直接影響，但是，卻是透過母職效能之中介而對幼兒適應行為問題有負向影響，而教養－要求層面者，則與幼兒適應行為問題有正向影響（母評）。總結來說，家庭社經地位對於母職效能、教養因素、幼兒適應行為及詞彙理解能力透過不同的過程均有影響。本研究之結果可作為其他研究母親教養效能、教養因素、幼兒適應行為及詞彙理解能力之參考。

Numerous studies have shown that a family's SES is related to young children's development, and mothers' parenting effectiveness may mediate this relationship. This current study was part of the National Science Council (NSC) project, The Study of Mother's Parenting Self-Efficacy, Parenting Practices, and Child's Social-Emotional Behaviors (I) (II) (NSC 102410-H-158-008-MY2), managed by Dr. Teresa Yin Ping Teng as the principal investigator and sponsored by The Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan. To examine the concurrent relationship among SES, maternal parenting efficacy (e.g., maternal self-efficacy [MSE] and parenting factor), preschoolers' adjustment, and their receptive vocabulary ability. This study targeted children, aged 3-5 years, enrolled in the preschools of Taipei City and Taitung County. The sample population comprised 511 preschoolers, their mothers, and teachers, and data collection was performed through stratified cluster random sampling. Mothers reported their family characteristics and MSE, when responding to the parenting factor questionnaire. Mothers and teachers rated preschoolers' adjustment. Each preschooler's receptive vocabulary ability was evaluated by the research assistant individually. The research investigation was conducted through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and path analysis of regression. Discussion: (1) The study showed that in families with higher SES, mothers of young children were mostly employed, had nuclear families, mostly lived in cities (Taipei), and raised fewer children. This result was consistent with the 2018 survey conducted by the National Statistics, R.O.C. Among married women with different educational levels, those with a college degree and above raised fewer children than married women with an elementary school diploma or below did. These women mainly came from nuclear families. Compared with mothers from lower SES families, mothers from higher SES families had nuclear families, raised fewer children, and exhibited higher maternal parenting efficacy. Moreover, employed mothers exhibited more responsiveness in their parenting style. However, mothers from lower SES families exhibited more demandingness when interacting with their children, suggesting that families' economic problems may have a negative impact on parents and children, which was consistent with the Family Stress Model. Economic pressure can cause parents to exhibit problematic emotions and behaviors, causing parenting troubles and poor parenting efficiency. The parenting of mothers from higher SES families was characterized by responsiveness, that is, they showed love when interacting with children. Interestingly, employed mothers exhibited high demandingness and responsiveness, as they followed what Maccoby and Martin (1983) defined as the democratic-authoritative parenting style, characterized by high responsiveness and high demandingness. Mother being employed was regarded as the main cause of conflicts between work and family. Work-family conflicts were also observed in the current study, indicating that mothers have to juggle conflicting family and work roles when employed. In Taiwan, balancing work and family responsibilities is a parenting challenge faced by many employed mothers who have children aged <6 years. (2) This study also found that compared with mothers from lower SES families, mothers from higher SES families, who were living in cities, had nuclear families, were employed, and older, presented better maternal parenting efficacy. Their children exhibited less maladjustment (mothers' report), and good receptive vocabulary ability. In addition, the mothers' parenting styles exhibited more responsiveness and less demandingness. Boys exhibited more maladjusted behavior than girls did (mothers' and teachers' report). Moreover, children from urban areas exhibited more maladjustment than those from rural areas did (teacher's report). (3) Path analysis and controlling the variables of age and gender of young children indicated that mothers from higher SES families exhibited higher maternal parenting efficacy than those from lower SES families did. Mothers with higher maternal parenting efficacy were associated with better child adjustment (mothers' report), whereas demanding parenting was associated with poorer child adjustment (mother' report). This result suggested that maternal parenting efficacy was an important meditation variable. Fewer maladjustment problems were reported for young children with mothers who played maternal roles. This study found that families' SES significantly influenced the social-emotional development of young children. Moreover, children's maladjustment was not necessarily influenced by mothers observing responsive parenting style; however, mothers observing demanding parenting style counterproductively increased children's maladjustment. The number of young children in a family was also found to affect mothers' parenting styles. Employed mothers often practiced responsive parenting style when the number of young children was fewer. On the contrary, employed mothers practiced demanding parenting style if there were more young children in a family, which likely increased children's maladjustment. (4) In addition to influencing children's maladjustment, a family's SES also exerted a significant direct impact on preschoolers' receptive vocabulary ability. Both parenting factors of responsiveness and demandingness had a positive impact on the children's receptive vocabulary ability. Furthermore, children who lived in the cities had a higher receptive vocabulary ability. (5) Mothers' and teachers' reports on children's maladjustment were positively correlated. Boys exhibited more maladjustment than girls, and children in urban areas were more maladjusted than those in rural areas, according to teachers' reports. In addition, maternal parenting efficacy and parenting factors were found to have an impact on children's maladjustment according to mothers' reports. (6) Employed mothers exhibited lower maternal parenting efficacy, and their children had higher maladjustment. However, employed mothers increased the total income of the family, in turn improving the family's SES. To improve maternal parenting efficacy, mothers adopted more responsiveness than demandingness in their parenting practice. Mothers of young children who needed to work had more diversified parental roles and needed to pay more effort. Working mothers were associated with lower maternal parenting efficacy and higher children maladjustment. Thus, providing supportive services to employed mothers raising young children is an important issue. Results showed that mothers from families with higher SES were more likely to be employed, raise fewer children, exhibit higher maternal parenting efficacy, and follow responsive parenting style. Moreover, their children presented better adjustment (mothers' report) and receptive vocabulary ability. After all variables of this model were controlled for, family SES was found to have a direct positive impact on children's receptive vocabulary ability, and the integrated responsive and demanding parenting style had a positive influence on children's language ability. Furthermore, SES exhibited no significant relationship with children's maladjustment. However, through the mediation of parenting efficacy, SES had a negative impact on children's maladjustment. In addition, demanding parenting practices had a positive impact on children's maladjustment (mothers' report). In summary, SES was found to be intricately associated with maternal parenting efficacy, preschoolers' adjustment, and receptive vocabulary ability in different processes. The current study's results can provide a reference for future studies on maternal parenting efficacy, parenting factors, preschoolers' adjustment, and receptive vocabulary ability.