A differential susceptibility hypothesis proposes that children may differ in the degree to which parenting qualities affect aspects of child development. Infants with difficult temperaments may be more susceptible to the effects of parenting than infants with less difficult temperaments. Using latent change curve analyses to analyze data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care, the current study found that temperament moderated associations between maternal parenting styles during early childhood and children's first-grade academic competence, social skills, and relationships with teachers and peers. Relations between parenting and first-grade outcomes were stronger for difficult than for less difficult infants. Infants with difficult temperaments had better adjustment than less difficult infants when parenting quality was high and poorer adjustment when parenting quality was lower.

The study examined relations between dimensions of mothers' scaffolding and children's academic self-regulatory behaviors in school. Mothers and their preschool children (68 dyads) were visited in their homes the summer before the child entered kindergarten. Mothers' metacognitive content and manner of instruction, emotional support, and transfer of responsibility were coded as mothers provided assistance to their children during 4 problem-solving tasks. Children's self-regulatory behaviors were assessed the following school year. Metacognitive content and manner of instruction were predictors of child behaviors related to cognitive awareness and management: metacognitive talk, monitoring, and help seeking. Emotional support and transfer of responsibility were related to children's task persistence and behavior control in school. Mothers' scaffolding appears to lay the foundation for children's subsequent academic self-regulatory competence.

Child gender, age, and temperament; parents' personality and education; and coparenting quality in the parents' families of origin were used to predict the quality of coparenting during family interactions (father, mother, and preschool child). Forty Midwestern, predominantly White families participated in the study. Families with college-educated mothers had high levels of supportive coparenting during family interactions regardless of the quality of coparenting in the mother's family of origin. In contrast, in families with high school-educated mothers, the more supportive the coparenting relationship in the mother's family of origin had been, the more supportive the couple was during the current family interaction. Couples with less educated and adjusted mothers were likely to be unsupportive during the family interaction.

Hope PsyCare, Singapore This study examined the roles of children's perceptions of matemal parenting styles (warmth, psychological control, and behavioral control) and matemal involvement in school-focused parenting practices (home-based involvement, home-school conferencing, and school-based involvement) predicting children's school achievement and conduct in Singapore. Students (N = 712) in 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades completed questionnaires on their mothers' parenting styles and school-focused parenting practices. Student achievement and conduct were assessed using achievement tests and conduct grades. Achievement was predicted by parenting styles (warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control) after adjusting for gender, grade, ethnicity, and matemal education. School-focused parenting practices predicted achievement and conduct after adjusting for parenting styles. Parenting styles moderated the relationships among parenting practices and achievement and conduct. Matemal warmth increased the relationship between maternal school-based involvement and children's achievement. In addition, behavioral control increased the relationship between home-based involvement and appropriate school conduct. Gender and grade also moderated the relationships among parenting styles and school involvement and achievement. The relationship between warmth and achievement was stronger for girls than boys, whereas there was a stronger relationship between home-based school involvement and achievement for boys than for girls. Warmth predicted achievement in 3rd grade but not in the older grades. Overall, the findings provide support for the hypothesis that school-focused parenting practices predict achievement and conduct after adjusting for parenting styles and for the hypothesis that parenting styles moderate parenting practices.

Child temperament, parent openness to experience, conscientiousness, and education, and parent a priori assessments of the task were examined in relation to parenting behaviours during child problem solving. Mothers and their children (73 dyads) were visited the summer before kindergarten. Mothers' cognitive, emotional, and autonomy support were coded as they provided assistance during four child problem-solving tasks. Mothers with more education provided more metacognitive information. Before education was considered, it appeared that mothers who perceived their children as difficult and who were less open to experiences were less likely to regulate task difficulty, encourage their children's efforts, and encourage their children's active role in problem solving. However, more educated mothers regulated task difficulty, encouraged their children's efforts, and encouraged their children's active role more when they perceived their children as difficult than when they perceived their children as easy. More educated mothers also were likely to regulate task difficulty and encourage their children's active role regardless of their openness. Children perceived as difficult were most likely to be rejected and also were particularly likely to be rejected if the mother was highly conscientious. Conscientious mothers were likely to be overly controlling. When mothers perceived the task negatively they were less likely to provide metacognitive information, regulate task difficulty, and encourage the child's active role; and were more likely to be overcontrolling and rejecting.