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Table 2 Characteristics of two-year old children sampled in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1986-1998 (n = 2919 unweighted)

From: Early identification of young children at risk for poor academic achievement: preliminary development of a parent-report prediction tool

CHILD CHARACTERISTICS

 

Child demographics

 

Female

49.2%

Number of children in household

 

   1 (focal child only)

25.9%

   2-3 children

63.3%

   4 or more children

10.8%

Birth order (mean)

2.1

Physical health factors

 

Gestational age

 

   Very premature (< 32 weeks)

1.3%

   Premature (< 37 weeks)

12.3%

Birthweight

 

   Very low birthweight (< 1500 grams)

0.6%

   Low birthweight (between 1500 grams and 2500 grams)

6.5%

Weight at age two

 

   Body Mass Index < 5th percentile

17.2%

   Body Mass Index > 95th percentile

14.3%

Developmental abilities

 

Motor-Social Development score1 (mean)

103.3

   Child has named 4 colors

64.4%

   Child has counted from 1-10

47.3%

   Has gone to the toilet alone

72.0%

Personality

 

Brief Compliance Scale score2 (mean)

22.1

   Almost always obeys when told to turn off TV

60.7%

   Never resists going to bed

30.5%

   Brief Indicators of Insecure Attachment score3 (mean)

19.8

FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

 

Mean maternal age at child's birth

27.2 years

Maternal age at child's birth

 

   < 25 years

25.8%

   25-29 years

43.9%

   ≥ 30 years

30.3%

Maternal race/ethnicity

 

   Non-hispanic white

63.0%

   African-American

20.3%

   Hispanic

13.3%

   Asian/Pacific Islander

0.6%

   Native American

1.7%

   Other

1.2%

Mother U.S. Born

95.1%

Maternal interview conducted in English

98.8%

Family structure at age two

 

   Married

75.1%

   Cohabiting with partner

5.5%

   Other

19.5%

Maternal employment status 4

 

   Full-time

35.5%

   Part-time

16.5%

   Not working

48.1%

Living at or above poverty 5

79.9%

Maternal Educational Attainment

 

   Less than High School

17.7%

   High School

40.2%

   Some college

21.4%

   Bachelor's degree or beyond

20.8%

Maternal depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥ 16) 6

22.3%

Intendedness of pregnancy 7

 

   Wanted pregnancy

67.7%

   Mistimed pregnancy

23.9%

   Unwanted pregnancy

8.4%

HOME and NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENT

 

Prenatal environment

 

   No prenatal cigarette exposure

69%

   Prenatal alcohol exposure

 

No alcohol

64.7%

Moderate alcohol (< 1/month to < 3-4 days/month)

30.6%

Heavy alcohol (1-2 days per week or more)

4.7%

Child care type in third year of life

 

   Parent

52.4%

   Relative

14.1%

   Nonrelative

14.0%

   Center-based care

19.3%

   Other

0.2%

Parenting environment

 

Mother smokes daily

29.5%

Number of books child has of his/her own

 

   < 3

9.3%

   3-9

17.0%

   ≥ 10

73.7%

Frequency of reading to child

 

   Less than three times per week

29.4%

   Three times per week

31.6%

   Daily

39.0%

Hours watched TV on average school day (mean)

3.0 hours

How often does mother argue with spouse/partner about child rearing?

 

   No spouse/partner

16.6%

   Never/hardly ever &CHILD CARE

46.8%

   Often/sometimes

36.6%

HOME Emotional Subscale 8

 

   Mother talks to child while working

 

   Always

44.0%

   Often

44.2%

   Sometimes

10.5%

   Rarely

1.1%

   Never

0.3%

Number of times mother spanked child during the past week (mean)

2.3

Mother kissed/hugged child (interviewer observation)

75.9%

Mother spoke spontaneously to child (interviewer observation)

93.3%

Mother verbally responded to child (interviewer observation)

92.4%

Mother restricted child 4 or more times (interviewer observation)

19.9%

Neighborhood characteristics

 

Social connectedness: People keep to themselves and don't care what goes

on in the neighborhood

 

   Big problem

6.3%

   Somewhat of a problem

23.3%

   Not a problem

70.3%

Joblessness: Lots of people can't find jobs

 

   Big problem

13.3%

   Somewhat of a problem

16.7%

   Not a problem

70.2%

Crime: Is crime and violence a...

 

   Big problem

6.2%

   Somewhat of a problem

20.2%

   Not a problem

73.7%

  1. 1Created by the National Center for Health Statistics, the Motor-Social Development Score (MSD) measures aspects of young children's motor, social, and cognitive development and was derived from items in the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Gesell Scale, Denver Developmental Screening Test, and other child developmental scales. The measure consists of 15 age-appropriate, maternal response items. Scores were standardized (mean = 100, std dev = 15) and normed by age and gender.
  2. 2Brief Compliance Scale. This 6-item scale created for the NLSY is based on maternal reports of a child's typical behavior. Items include whether the child resists/obeys expectations for eating, going to bed, or watching television. Raw scores ranged from 5-34.
  3. 3Brief Indicators of Insecure Attachment. This 7-item subscale created for the NLSY is based on maternal reports of a child's typical behavior. Items include whether the child becomes upset when the mother leaves, is difficult to soothe, stays close while playing, is empathetic/demanding, copies other's actions, and wants to help. Raw scores ranged from 5-39.
  4. 4Mothers were asked if they worked at all during the past week. Those who reported they could not work or did not work were classified as "not working." Among those working, mothers were asked if they usually worked "full-time" (> 35 hours per week) or "part-time" (< 35 hours per week).
  5. 5Poverty status is based on annual Poverty Income Guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. This poverty definition is a similar but simplified version of the Federal Poverty Level where family size in general is considered but the number of children or elderly is not specifically taken into account. http://aspe.hhs.gov/POVERTY/faq.shtml#official
  6. 6The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) was administered to mothers at the time of the interview at age two. Mothers with a score of 16 or higher were classified as having depressive symptoms in accordance with the DSM-IV criteria for clinical depression.
  7. 7Mothers were asked if they had wanted to become pregnant before their pregnancy. "Yes" or "didn't matter" was coded as wanted, "not at the time" was coded as mistimed, and "not at all" as unwanted.
  8. 8The HOME Emotional subscale represents a subscale of a modified HOME inventory that measures the emotional support provided by the child's mother. Scores are standardized (mean = 100, standard dev. = 15) and based on a combination of maternal responses and interviewer observations. Items from the HOME emotional subscale were individually selected for use in subsequent multivariate regression models as approximations of maternal warmth, maternal responsiveness/sensitivity, and harsh discipline because the broader literature suggests these factors are predictive of early school readiness.