Are certain preschoolers at risk in the era of welfare reform? The moderating role of children's temperament

Christine P. Li-Grining*, Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Heather J. Bachman, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

The current investigation examined whether two dimensions of children's temperament-effortful control and negative emotionality-moderated links between mothers' welfare and work transitions and preschoolers' developmental trajectories (N = 445). Data were drawn from a sample of low-income, predominantly ethnic minority children and their mothers, when children were ages 2-4, and again 16 months later. Among children whose mothers' left welfare or entered work, high effortful control and low negative emotionality were not protective factors in children's socioemotional or cognitive functioning. However, when mothers experienced job loss or entered the welfare system, preschoolers with high effortful control displayed better developmental outcomes over time than children with low effortful control.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1102-1123
Number of pages22
JournalChildren and Youth Services Review
Volume28
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2006

Keywords

  • Cognitive development
  • Preschoolers
  • Socioemotional development
  • Temperament
  • Welfare reform

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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