Publication Date

12-1979

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Lois Layne, Clinton Layne, Elsie Dotson, Colleen Mendel

Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted to provide information for the coordinators of the Parent Child Center and Head Start (PCC-HS) Program in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Staff concern for parent involvement led to a search for parent characteristics which correlate with amount of participation in program activities. Sixty-five families, which included 65 mothers, 47 fathers, and 121 children, constituted the study sample. Data were obtained from records maintained by the PCC-HS staff. Variables included number of hours volunteered, age and level of education of each parent, estimated family income, family size, mother's enrollment in PCC when pregnant, number of children in the family who have been enrolled in PCC and HS, presence of a handicapped child in the family, source of referral, and length of contact with the program. Hypotheses were that greater parent involvement was associated with presence of a handicapped child in the family, enrollment in PCC, parental initiation of contact with the staff, and longer contact with the staff. Parent involvement was defined as the number of volunteer hours recorded by each parent during an eight month period. Relationships between involvement and the remaining variables were assessed with a Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. Only age of father and presence of a handicapped child in the family were significantly related to the number of hours volunteered.

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Early Childhood Education | Education | Psychology | School Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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