588 - The Language and Communication Development and School Readiness of U.S. Preschool-Aged Children Raised by Grandparent Caregivers Compared to Parents

Poster Number: 588
Publication Number: 588.308

Sarah Keim, Nationwide Children’s Hospital / Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States; Samrawit F. Yisahak, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States; Andria Parrott, Nationwide Children's Hospital, PICKERINGTON, OH, United States; Rachel E. Mason, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States

Background: The early family environment is important to language and communication development and school readiness. More grandparents are in roles supporting child development and school readiness because parental custody is impacted by substance misuse and incarceration, abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Objective: To compare the prevalence of being “on track” with language and communication development and school readiness among US preschool children by household structure (grandparent-headed vs parent-headed) in the nationally-representative National Survey of Children’s Health.

Design/Methods: Caregivers reported their relationship to the child and completed modules about language and communication development (for children ages 1-5) and a “healthy and ready to learn” school readiness indicator (for children ages 3-5). We used survey-weighted adjusted logistic regression to estimate the prevalence of being “on track” for these outcomes by household structure. Models were stratified by ACEs, race, and poverty when interaction p

Results: Four percent of 38737 eligible children lived in a grandparent-headed household (Table 1). In unadjusted models, children in grandparent-headed households had a much lower odds of being on track with social-emotional development (OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.99)(Table 2). However, adjusted models for all outcomes were null. Some interactions were detected, but only one association was statistically significant in stratified models: white children raised in grandparent-headed households had a higher odds of being on track with physical well-being and motor development than white children in parent-headed households (OR=1.41; CI: 1.05, 1.90). Propensity score matching made no meaningful difference to the results.Conclusion(s): Across all household structures, many children are not on track with language and communication development and school readiness. After controlling for confounders, whether children are raised by grandparents or parents did not appear meaningful, except that white children raised by grandparents had advantages to physical well-being and motor development compared to white children raised by parents. Regardless of a child’s household structure, pediatricians can help all families connect with early development resources to help children be ready for school entry.
Table 1: Characteristics of grandparent-headed and parent-headed households with a child aged 1-5 years, National Survey of Children’s Health, 2016-2020
Table 2: Associations between household structure and being “on track” rather than “needs support” or “at risk” for language and communication development and school readiness, National Survey of Children’s Health, 2016-2020Table2_PAS.jpeg