Papers by Natasha Cabrera
Child Development, 2006
This study examined variation in mother -infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cogni... more This study examined variation in mother -infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognition as a function of country of origin, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency in a national sample of Latino infants (age 9 months) born in the United States and living with both biological parents (N 5 1,099). Differences between Mexican-American infants, who had lower mother -infant interaction scores and less father physical play than did the other Latino infants, were associated with differences in acculturation (both parents' English proficiency). Indicators of acculturation and paternal reports of happiness with partner were associated with paternal engagement. Indicators of acculturation were also related to mother -infant interactions. Infant cognitive scores were associated with maternal interaction but not father engagement, and maternal but not paternal mental health.
Parenting-science and Practice, 2004
This review describes the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). After descr... more This review describes the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). After describing the structure of the instrument, it shows how it has been used successfully in studies on normally developing children and on samples drawn from high-risk populations. These are followed by studies showing how the HOME has been used to evaluate interventions. Although most interventions are not designed primarily on the basis of the HOME outcomes, the instrument has been used as a measure of the effectiveness of the intervention schedule. HOME has been used extensively in research to reveal relationships between several aspects of the home environment and children's developmental outcomes. The very good relationship between HOME scores and children's measures of developmental competence has also been found in nonnormative populations and research has attempted to identify the specific aspects of the home environment, as indexed by the HOME subscales that reveal the strengths or the weaknesses of homes of at-risk populations.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2011
This study examines whether levels of father engagement (e.g., verbal stimulation, caregiving, an... more This study examines whether levels of father engagement (e.g., verbal stimulation, caregiving, and physical play) vary by race/ethnicity using a model that controls for fathers' human capital, mental health, and family relationships. It also tests whether the models work similarly across race/ethnic groups. Its sample of N=5,089 infants and their families is drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). We found that, after including controls, African American and Latino fathers had higher levels of engagement in caregiving and physical play activities than White fathers. There were no differences in verbal stimulation activities across race/ ethnicity. Fathers' education (college level) predicted more verbally stimulating activities whereas fathers' report of couple conflict predicted less caregiving and physical play. Although levels of engagement differed across the groups, the overall models did not differ by race/ethnicity, except for physical play. African American mothers who reported high levels of depressive symptoms had partners who engaged in more physical play than White mothers with high levels of depressive symptoms.
Parenting-science and Practice, 2006
Child Development, 2004
Father -child and mother -child engagements were examined longitudinally in relation to children'... more Father -child and mother -child engagements were examined longitudinally in relation to children's language and cognitive development at 24 and 36 months. The study involved a racially/ethnically diverse sample of low-income, resident fathers (and their partners) from the National Early Head Start evaluation study (n 5 290). Father -child and mother -child engagements were videotaped for 10 min at home during semistructured free play, and children's language and cognitive status were assessed at both ages. Fathers' and mothers' supportive parenting independently predicted children's outcomes after covarying significant demographic factors. Moreover, fathers' education and income were uniquely associated with child measures, and fathers' education consistently predicted the quality of mother -child engagements. Findings suggest direct and indirect effects of fathering on child development.
Tradition-a Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, 2007
... NATASHA CABRERA University of Maryland MIRIAM R. LINVER Montclair State University ... dAndre... more ... NATASHA CABRERA University of Maryland MIRIAM R. LINVER Montclair State University ... dAndreassen and West (this volume). eHolmberg, Robinson, and Corbitt-Price (this volume). ... Page 5. REFERENCES Cole, P., Martin, SE, & Dennis, TA (2004). ...
Parenting-science and Practice, 2006
Objective. This longitudinal investigation explores how fathers engage with their infants, how th... more Objective. This longitudinal investigation explores how fathers engage with their infants, how their behaviors matter within and across developmental time, and how demographic and social factors affect the quality of the fatherinfant relationship. Design. Participants were 74 racially and ethnically diverse, low-income fathers from the Father and Newborn Study (FANS) and their 8and 16-month-old infants (36 boys, 38 girls). Father -infant interactions were videotaped during semistructured free play in participants' homes. The quality of father -infant interactions was assessed using Likert-type ratings of fathers' and infants' behaviors. Fathers also rated their relationship with their infant's mother. Results. Two factors of father engagement emerged at each age (Responsive -Didactic and Negative -Overbearing), 2 factors of infant behavior at 8 months (Mastery, Social -Communicative), and 3 factors of infant behavior at 16 months (Mastery, Social, and Communicative). Responsive -Didactic fathering was concurrently associated with infant behaviors at both ages, although fathering at 8 months only marginally predicted infant 16-month Social behaviors. Fathers who were older, more educated, married to their partners, and who had higher incomes were more Responsive -Didactic at 8 months. Fathers' age and the quality of the mother -father relationship predicted fathers' Responsive -Didactic behaviors at the 16-month assessment. Conclusions. Fathers' responsiveness is important to infants' social and communicative behaviors, and the mother -father relationship influences fathering during the formative period of infancy.
Tradition-a Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, 2009
Parenting-science and Practice, 2002
... Jacqueline D. Shannon, Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, Kevin London, and Natasha Cabrera ... CARE... more ... Jacqueline D. Shannon, Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, Kevin London, and Natasha Cabrera ... CARES items are presented in Table 1. Fathers' and children's ratings displayed modest to strong variability as indicated by the fact that nearly all items were nor-mally distributed and ...
Journal of Family Psychology, 2008
Using data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of low-income mothers of two-year-old ch... more Using data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of low-income mothers of two-year-old children participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (N = 883), fathers' education and employment, mother-father relationship, and mothers' relationships with kin in the household were examined to explain variation in nonresident father involvement across racial and ethnic groups. Nonresident White fathers were less involved with their children than African-American and Latino fathers. This difference was explained by the status of mother-father relationships. White nonresident fathers were less likely than minority nonresident fathers to maintain romantic relationships with their child's mother. Mothers in the White father group were also more likely to re-partner, which negatively related to biological fathers' involvement. These findings suggest that approaches to strengthen nonresident father involvement in children's lives need to consider how father ethnicity and mother-father relations are associated with differential patterns of father involvement.
Family Science, 2012
Using longitudinal data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study, we examined link... more Using longitudinal data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study, we examined links between early fathers' residence and father-child relationship quality and children's social development. Participants were 508 ethnically diverse children and their fathers and mothers in low-income families. Fathers reported on their residence during early childhood (age 2- pre K); mothers reported on children's externalizing behavioral problems and on father residence when children were in 5th grade; and 5th graders reported on the quality of their relationships with fathers and on their relationships with peers. The long-term link between early father residence and the quality of the father-child relationship in 5th grade was significant and partially mediated by father residence during 5th grade. Early father residence or father residence at 5th grade did not predict children's behavioral problems and peer relationships in 5th grade. Only the father-child relationship quality was directly linked to children's peer relationships and behavioral problems. Early father residence had no long-term links to children's social development; however, during middle childhood the quality of the father-child relationship was an important predictor of children's social adjustment.
Applied Developmental Science, 2007
We present findings based on several of our recent studies that have shown that father engagement... more We present findings based on several of our recent studies that have shown that father engagement has significant effects on children's cognition and language at 24 and 36 months and their social and emotional development at 24, 36 months, and pre-Kindergarten. These studies are guided by the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children over the Life Course Model that stipulates the important contribution of parent characteristics, child and context to parenting and children's outcomes. Specifically, three research questions are addressed: (1) How do resident fathers engage with their young children at 24, 36, and 64 months (pre-K)? (2) How do fathers' human and financial resources and depressive symptoms, partner relationship quality and mother-child interactions, and children's characteristics predict the quality of fathers' engagements with their young children? And (3) how do fathers' engagements affect their young children's cognitive, language, and social and emotional outcomes across the three age groups? Educated fathers and fathers whose partners have supportive relationships with their children are more supportive and less intrusive. In contrast to mothers, fathers' supportiveness matters for children's language, cognitive, and language development across ages and emotional regulation at 24 months. On the other hand, maternal intrusiveness is negatively associated with emotional regulation at 24 and pre-K and language development at pre-K. Father intrusiveness had a small negative effect on language development only at pre-K and no effect at all on social emotional regulation. These findings suggest that programs that aim at increasing fathers' education and that promote and encourage fathers' positive parenting will yield large benefits for children.
This study examined variation in mother–infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognit... more This study examined variation in mother–infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognition as a function of country of origin, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency in a national sample of Latino infants (age 9 months) born in the United States and living with both biological parents (N=1,099). Differences between Mexican-American infants, who had lower mother–infant interaction scores and less father physical play than did the other Latino infants, were associated with differences in acculturation (both parents' English proficiency). Indicators of acculturation and paternal reports of happiness with partner were associated with paternal engagement. Indicators of acculturation were also related to mother–infant interactions. Infant cognitive scores were associated with maternal interaction but not father engagement, and maternal but not paternal mental health.
Parenting-science and Practice, 2009
Applied Developmental Science, 2007
Modeling the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children over the Life Course Is a heuristic mode... more Modeling the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children over the Life Course Is a heuristic model, which identifies sets of variables that predict father involvement, variables that interact to predict involvement, and variables that influence father characteristics and thereby influence involvement. It also suggests moderators and mediators of pathways from predictors to father involvement and from father involvement to child outcomes. It is a dynamic model, assuming change over the life course, while retaining paternal influences from one developmental period to another. The model is rooted in the extant literature, although it is not circumscribed by that literature. As a heuristic model, it offers a framework from which measurement models can be derived to address research questions of interest.
Applied Developmental Science, 2007
Child Development, 2000
The twentieth century has been characterized by four important social trends that have fundamenta... more The twentieth century has been characterized by four important social trends that have fundamentally changed the social cultural context in which children develop: womenÕs increased labor force participation, increased absence of nonresidential fathers in the lives of their children, increased involvement of fathers in intact families, and increased cultural diversity in the U.S.. In this essay, we discuss how these trends are changing the nature of father involvement and family life, and in turn affecting childrenÕs and fathersÕ developmental trajectories. We end with an eye toward the twenty-Þrst century by examining how the children of today will construct their expectations about the roles of fathers and mothers as they become the parents of tomorrow. This life-span approach to fatherhood considers the broader sociohistorical context in which fatherhood develops, and emphasizes the urgent need to consider mothers, fathers, and family structure in future research as we seek to understand and model the effects of parenting on childrenÕs development.
Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice About Men As Fathers, 2004
... CHERI VOGEL HELEN RAIKES Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Society for Research in Child Deve... more ... CHERI VOGEL HELEN RAIKES Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Society for Research in Child Development, Consultant Administration for Children and Families CATHERINE TAMIS-LEMONDARACHEL COHEN New York University Administration for Children and Families ...
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Papers by Natasha Cabrera