Characteristics of Parent-Child Academic Discussions as a Function of Gender and Ethnicity
Mentor 1
W. Hobart Davies
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
24-4-2015 10:30 AM
End Date
24-4-2015 11:45 AM
Description
The Decision-Making Involvement Scale (DMIS) is a 30-item scale used to assess parent-child communication patterns during family decision-making. The DMIS was initially developed to assess child decision-making involvement in the context of pediatric chronic illness (Miller & Harris, 2012). However, this scale has been shown to be reliable and valid when measuring decision-making discussions in general between parents and children. Previous work from this project has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of the measure with community samples of both Caucasian and African-American parents. / The goal of this study is to analyze the differences in response patterns between white and black parent respondents. The DMIS is completed only by parents who report a substantive discussion with their child or adolescent in the last 2 weeks. From the 2171 surveyed for the project, 1477 reported a discussion and completed the DMIS. About 1/3 of the respondents were fathers. The majority of the parents were white, but there are 129 black parents available for analyses. / We are completing coding of the qualitative responses from the DMIS. Some of the emergent themes include discussions regarding risky behavior, future plans, health concerns, behavior problems, peer relationships, and school-related topics. This presentation will focus on the responses from parents whose discussions with the child focused on school-related issues. From the data collected and analyzed, approximately 285 responses have been identified as relating to school and academics (excluding college decisions). Analyses will compare the rates of reported discussions, the relative frequency of school-related discussions, and the communication patterns of these discussions as a function of parent and child gender and ethnicity.
Characteristics of Parent-Child Academic Discussions as a Function of Gender and Ethnicity
Union Wisconsin Room
The Decision-Making Involvement Scale (DMIS) is a 30-item scale used to assess parent-child communication patterns during family decision-making. The DMIS was initially developed to assess child decision-making involvement in the context of pediatric chronic illness (Miller & Harris, 2012). However, this scale has been shown to be reliable and valid when measuring decision-making discussions in general between parents and children. Previous work from this project has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of the measure with community samples of both Caucasian and African-American parents. / The goal of this study is to analyze the differences in response patterns between white and black parent respondents. The DMIS is completed only by parents who report a substantive discussion with their child or adolescent in the last 2 weeks. From the 2171 surveyed for the project, 1477 reported a discussion and completed the DMIS. About 1/3 of the respondents were fathers. The majority of the parents were white, but there are 129 black parents available for analyses. / We are completing coding of the qualitative responses from the DMIS. Some of the emergent themes include discussions regarding risky behavior, future plans, health concerns, behavior problems, peer relationships, and school-related topics. This presentation will focus on the responses from parents whose discussions with the child focused on school-related issues. From the data collected and analyzed, approximately 285 responses have been identified as relating to school and academics (excluding college decisions). Analyses will compare the rates of reported discussions, the relative frequency of school-related discussions, and the communication patterns of these discussions as a function of parent and child gender and ethnicity.
