Love, discipline and elementary school achievement: The role of family emotional climate

Using structural equation modeling we examined the determinants of family emotional climate and its long-term impact on children’s academic achievement and classroom behavior at the end of 5th grade. We employed the ECLS-K data—a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. elementary school students. Family emotional climate was measured in the spring of kindergarten and included three dimensions: parental depression, parental warmth, and use of physical discipline. Main findings: low SES, Black and single parents were more likely to report depressive symptoms. Black parents were more likely to use physical discipline, but they also reported greater parental warmth. Asian parents were less likely to use physical discipline, but also were less likely to express parental warmth. Parental depression was associated with increased use of physical discipline and reduced parental warmth. Parental depression, measured in kindergarten, was associated with lower reading and math achievement and lower approaches to learning at the end of 5th grade. Use of physical discipline in kindergarten was associated with lower 5th-grade math achievement.