Colloquium in Nov. 2017
Lee, Dohoon (Professor, Department of Sociology at Yonsei Univ., South Korea)
Using data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (CNLSY), this study examines whether and how childhood (ages 5-14) trajectories of parenting quality affect children’s high school graduation. To do so, this research identifies trajectories of parenting quality using latent class growth analysis and accounts for temporal reciprocity between parenting quality and other time-varying covariates such as children’s own development by applying propensity score weighting models. The analysis finds that extended exposure to high quality parenting significantly increases the likelihood of children’s high school graduation, whereas declining and improving trajectories of parenting quality are not associated with children’s high school graduation status. In addition, the effect of parenting quality is more pronounced for white children, boys, and when it is characterized by parents’ emotional support. These findings suggest the importance of taking into account the temporality of parenting quality during childhood.
