How home gets to school: Parental control strategies predict children's school readiness

At-risk families’ control style (autonomy support and coercive control) was examined in relation to children's school readiness; children's social skills and mastery motivation were hypothesized mediating variables. In two different, low-income samples from diverse ethnic backgrounds, one preschool sample recruited from Head Start (N = 199) and a school transition sample composed of children entering elementary school (N = 344), parental control styles were related to children's academic readiness modestly but significantly in the preschool sample and weakly in the school transition sample. Children's social skills and mastery motivation skills (persistence and goal orientation) were significantly related to the academic measures of school readiness, and fully mediated the association between parents’ use of coercive behavioral control and academic readiness. Such mediation could not be tested for parental support of children's autonomy. The results indicate that a developmental cascade exists between parental control strategies and academic indices of school readiness, emphasizing the importance of family context models of school readiness. Furthermore, strong correlations between the domains of school readiness were found in both samples, reinforcing calls for a multidimensional approach to supporting school readiness in early childhood education programs.

Research highlights
► At-risk families’ control style (autonomy support and coercive control) was examined in relation to children's school readiness.
► Children's social skills and mastery motivation were hypothesized mediating variable.
► Two different low-income samples from diverse ethnic backgrounds, one preschool sample and a school transition sample composed of children entering elementary school.
► Parental control styles were related to children's academic readiness modestly but significantly in the preschool sample and weakly in the school transition sample.
► Children's social skills and mastery motivation skills (persistence and goal orientation) were significantly related to the academic measures of school readiness, and fully mediated the association between parents’ use of coercive behavioral control and academic readiness.
► The results indicate that a developmental cascade exists between parental control strategies and academic indices of school readiness.
► Emphasizes the importance of family context models of school readiness.
► Reinforces calls for a multidimensional approach to supporting school readiness in early childhood education programs.