Exploring the Role of Maternal Cognitions, Parenting Practices and Neighborhood Opportunities in Preschoolers' Development

The three papers that comprise this dissertation analyze paths through which family, neighborhood resources, and parenting interventions influence preschoolers’ development. Paper 1 examined the extent to which parenting practices and home environment changed between pre-kindergarten entry and kindergarten entry, and whether these aspects of parenting were related to children’s school readiness. Paper 2 explored whether neighborhood resources moderated the relationship between family cumulative risk and the growth trajectory of children’s executive function skills. Finally, paper 3 provided initial evidence of the feasibility of an online advice-giving intervention that aimed to increase mothers’ beliefs in their competence to influence their preschoolers’ emotional development and future success. Collectively, these studies fill gaps in the field on aspects of parenting and its relationship with other contextual resources that previously limited our understanding of the best ways to support children’s development and design more effective interventions.