Assessing Parenting Behaviors Across
Racial Groups
Lawrence M. Berger
Christina Paxson
Center for Health and Wellbeing
Princeton University
prepared for Fragile Families workshop
Columbia University
July 2004
In-home addition to Fragile Families
 Added an in-home assessment to the Fragile Families
Study.
 In-home assessments added at 36 and 60 months.
Information includes:
 Child health and behaviors
 Parenting (through interviews and direct observation)
 Children’s cognitive development (PPVT, WoodcockJohnson)
 Parental physical and mental health and cognitive ability
(stress; anthropometrics; PPVT)
 At 60 months: ask families about involvement with the
child welfare system.
Questions to be addressed:
 How do factors such as economic status, family structure,
and parental health affect the environments in which
children live? (“Environments” include aspects of the
physical environment as well as parenting.)
 What are the determinants of very poor parenting
behavior?
 How does the care that children receive (across a variety of
domains) affect their cognitive and developmental
outcomes?
 Do policy changes that alter the economic status of parents
affect children’s environments and outcomes?
This paper (in progress!):
Racial Differences in Parenting
Why is this topic of interest?
 A large literature documents racial and ethnic
differences in parenting of young children, along
a variety of domains.
 It is possible that these parenting differences
may account for differences in early
achievement/school readiness.
 Question: how much (and which) socioeconomic
and parental characteristics can account for racial
and ethnic differences in parenting?
Another motivation:
Child Maltreatment and Race
 The issue of “racial bias” in the assessment of
parenting is an important topic in the child
maltreatment literature.
 Based on official statistics, blacks represent 15
percent of the U.S. children and 25 percent of
child maltreatment victims. Whites represent 65
percent of children and 51 percent of
maltreatment victims.
Statistics from “Child Abuse and Neglect”
2002 (NCCAN) (cases/1000)
By age:
By type:
By race:
0-3
16.0
4-7
13.7
8-11
11.9
Neglect
7.2
Physical abuse
2.3
Other
5.6
Black
20.2
White
10.7
Hispanic
9.5
Problems of Interpretation
 Validity of official statistics as accurate measures
of maltreatment rates can be questioned.
 Poor children—especially those on welfare—may
be more likely to come to the attention of
mandated reporters, especially at young ages.
 Some evidence of racial bias in reports of
maltreatment (Lane et al, JAMA).
What might explain racial differences in
maltreatment rates?
There is an active debate over the source of the disparity in
official maltreatment rates. Potential explanations include:
 Differences in parenting behaviors that are correlated
with race.
 “Racial bias” in the child protective services (CPS)
system.
Racial bias refers to a racial double standard, such that
otherwise identical families of different races are
assessed differently by reporters of maltreatment or by
the social workers, judges, etc. who verify the validity of
reports of maltreatment.
What might drive racial bias?
There are several reasons in theory why racial bias in
reporting and substantiation might be observed:
 Stereotyping: Individuals expect to see “worse”
parenting among some groups, and observe what they
expect to see. (Could be driven by genuine differences
in average behaviors in the population.)
 Miscommunication: Individuals do not know how to
interpret information from members of some groups.
Assessments may not be systematically biased, but
may be more error-ridden (so more chance that an
extreme value is “observed.”
Implications, for maltreatment rates and for surveys:
 Maltreatment: Greater error in the system, possibly for
both blacks and whites.
 Surveys: The same kinds of factors that result in
biased assessments by reporters and social workers
could result in biased assessments by interviewers.
Research Objectives
 To investigate whether there are differences in
parenting across racial groups (blacks versus whites).
 To assess whether these differences can be accounted
for by household and maternal characteristics other
than race.
 To study whether parents’ reports of their own
behaviors and interviewers’ assessments of parental
behaviors are related to the race of the interviewer.
Data
Our data are drawn from an in-home module of
the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study
(FFCW). This contains self-reported and
interviewer-observed parenting measures.
Data are available for 20 cities from the 36-month
interview.
Our sample consists of 1,149 blacks and 367
whites. All completed the full in-home module,
and had interviewers for whom race was known.
Parenting Measures

Based on maternal reports:
(1) absence of nonviolent discipline;
(2) use of psychological aggression;
(3) use of physical assault;

Based on interview observations:
(1) harshness
(2) lack of warmth;
Measures of Maternal and Child
Characteristics
 Based on interviewer observations:
(1) Maternal verbal/social skills
(2) Maternal understanding/attention
(3) Maternal hostility/suspicion
(4) Problems with child’s appearance
(5) Problems with child’s behavior
Sociodemographic Characteristics
and Maternal Behaviors (core survey)
 natural logarithm of needs-adjusted family income
 the number of children and adults in the household
 indicators for maternal education
 indicators for presence and employment of father/other
man in household
 an indicator for whether the mother worked in the week
before the core survey
 maternal depression score
 Indicator variables for whether the mother smoked
cigarettes, drank alcohol, or used drugs during her
pregnancy
Question 1:
Are there racial/ethnic differences in
parenting?
 Cross-tabulations of parenting measures indicate
there are significant differences in the distributions
across whites and blacks.
lack of nonviolent discipline,
annual frequency
1
.5
0
0
50
100
Examples: Frequency mother uses time-outs, explains why something
is wrong, gave something else to do, etc.
psychological aggression,
annual frequency
1
.5
0
0
50
100
150
Examples: Called child lazy or dumb; shouted, yelled or screamed
at child; threatened to hit; threatened to kick out of house
physical assault,
annual frequnecy
1
.5
0
0
50
100
Examples: Spanked, slapped, hit on bottom with object; pinched; shook.
harshness
1
.9
.8
.7
0
2
4
6
Items:
Parent did not shout at child
Parent did not express annoyance with or hostility toward child.
Parent neither slapped nor spanked child during the visit.
Parent did not scold or criticize child during visit.
Parent did not interfere or restrict child more than 3 times.
lack of warmth
1
.8
.6
.4
0
2
4
6
Items:
Parent spontaneously vocalized to child twice.
Parent responded verbally to child’s vocalizations.
Parent told child the name of an object or person during visit
Parent spontaneously praised child at least twice.
Parent's voice conveys positive feelings toward child.
Parent caressed or kissed child at least once.
lack of maternal verbal/social skills
1
.95
.9
.85
0
1
2
3
Items:
Parent's speech was distinct and audible.
Parent initiated verbal exchanges with visitor.
Parent conversed freely and easily.
lack of maternal attention
/understanding
1
.8
.6
.4
.2
0
5
10
Items:
Respondent’s attention to interview (coded 0-3)
Respondent’s understanding of questions (coded 0-3)
Respondent’s ability to articulate answers (coded 0-3)
Respondent’s level of cooperation (coded 0-3)
maternal hostility/suspicion
1
.95
.9
.85
0
2
4
6
Items: Did respondent appear to be:
Suspicious?
Uncommunicative?
Anxious/nervous?
Hostile?
To be on drugs?
(Each on 3 point scale)
problems with child's appearance
1
.9
.8
.7
0
5
10
Examples:
Child’s clothes dirty, ill-fitting, or inappropriate for season
Child appears to be recently bathed
Child’s hair is combed and clean
problems with child's behavior
1
distributions not
significantly different
across races
.5
0
0
5
10
15
20
Items (each scored 0-3)
Displays of negative emotions during interview
Displays of positive emotions during interview
Cooperation during PPVT
Cooperation during height and weight measurement
Persistence during PPVT
Sociodemographic characteristics
white
black
t-test
Ln(income/a.e.)
9.45
(0.95)
8.49
(1.05)
15.42
# children
1.94
(1.14)
2.44
(1.42)
6.20
# adults
2.00
(0.61)
1.84
(0.85)
3.41
Mother works
0.594
0.564
1.01
Mother has high school
degree
0.259
0.356
3.45
Mother has more than high
school degree
0.569
0.285
10.23
Sociodemographic characteristics
white
black
t-test
Child’s father at home and
not working
0.071
0.091
1.21
Other man at home and
working
0.071
0.085
0.87
Other man at home and not
working
0.008
0.029
2.27
Neither father nor other
man at home
0.218
0.505
9.95
Maternal depression and risky behaviors
white
black
t-test
Maternal depression score
1.40
(2.53)
1.64
(2.67)
1.54
Smoked while pregnant
0.294
0.211
3.28
Drug use while pregnant
0.046
0.071
1.69
Alcohol use while pregnant
0.158
0.102
2.89
Question 2: Do Sociodemographic and
Maternal Characteristics Account for Racial
Differences?
 Estimate regressions that control for city of
residence; then add sociodemographics; then add
maternal depression and risky behaviors.
 Dependent variables are indicators being above
the 75th and 90th percentiles for each of the
scales.
 I show OLS results, because I move to fixed
effects models later (although conditional logits
show similar results.)
Parenting Measures at 75th Percentile Cut Points
Mother Black
Lack of
nonviolent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
0.144
(0.027)
0.046
(0.038)
0.073
(0.028)
0.083
(0.024)
0.160
(0.028)
Add sociodemographic controls
Mother Black
0.098
(0.030)
0.030
(0.031)
0.073
(0.031)
0.026
(0.026)
0.077
(0.031)
Test: Sociodemographics
0.008
0.100
0.250
0.000
0.000
Add maternal depression and risky behaviors
Mother Black
0.091
(0.030)
0.031
(0.031)
0.069
(0.031)
0.028
(0.027)
0.076
(0.031)
Test: Sociodemographics
0.002
0.211
0.364
0.000
0.000
Test: Maternal controls
0.037
0.000
0.035
0.702
0.216
Parenting Measures at 90th Percentile Cut Points
Mother Black
Lack of
nonviolent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
0.055
(0.018)
0.020
(0.020)
0.046
(0.017)
0.070
(0.019)
0.069
(0.018)
Add sociodemographic controls
Mother Black
0.021
(0.020)
-0.001
(0.022)
0.049
(0.019)
0.027
(0.021)
0.026
(0.020)
Test: Sociodemographics
0.000
0.001
0.401
0.000
0.000
Add maternal depression and risky behaviors
Mother Black
0.016
(0.020)
-0.006
(0.022)
0.051
(0.019)
0.025
(0.023)
0.024
(0.020)
Test: Sociodemographics
0.000
0.015
0.527
0.000
0.002
Test: Maternal controls
0.039
0.000
0.329
0.928
0.677
Parenting Measures at 75th Percentile Cut Points
Nonviolent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
Ln(income)
-0.048***
0.015
0.008
-0.015
-0.031**
# children
0.002
-0.007
-0.018**
-0.008
0.005
# adults
0.008
-0.020
0.003
-0.028**
-0.011
Mother works
0.026
0.009
-0.017
-0.035*
-0.028
High school
-0.023
-0.033
0.044
-0.015
-0.032
> High school
-0.027
-0.084***
-0.014
-0.081***
-0.109***
Dad, no work
0.061
0.005
0.015
-0.024
0.013
Step, work
-0.029
-0.024
-0.007
0.015
0.055
Step, no work
0.076
-0.101
-0.068
-0.047
-0.033
No dad/step
0.006
0.015
0.013
0.045*
0.034
Depression
-0.009**
0.016***
0.010**
0.001
0.007*
Smoking
-0.053*
-0.002
-0.002
-0.012
-0.008
Drug use
-0.010
0.137***
0.102**
-0.007
0.081
Alcohol use
0.017
-0.006
-0.053
0.043
-0.007
Question 3:
Does the Race of the Interviewer Matter?
 Estimate regressions that control for the race of
the interviewer (including all other controls used
so far).
 Estimate models with interactions between the
race of the mother and the interviewer.
 Estimate models with race interactions and
interviewer fixed effects.
Descriptive information on interviewers:
 Interviewer characteristics
# of interviewers
100
Average interviews per interviewer
15.2
Range of interviews per interviewer
1-54
% of interviewers who are black
39%
% of black interviewers who interview
both black and white mothers
77%
% of non-black interviewers who
interview both black and white mothers
66%
Descriptive information on interviewers:
 Interviewer characteristics
 Assignment of interviewers to respondents
Interviewer
non-black
Interviewer
black
Total
Mother white 227
(15.0%)
140
(9.2%)
367
(24.2%)
Mother black 580
(38.3%)
569
(37.5%)
1,149
(75.8%)
Total
709
(46.8%)
1,516
(100.0%)
807
(53.2%)
Descriptive information on interviewers:
 Interviewer characteristics
 Assignment of interviewers to respondents
 Is assignment random?
Dependent variable: indicator that interviewer is black
Mother is black
Test: Sociodemographic
and maternal controls
insignificant
F-Test: Joint insignificance
of city dummies
Probit,
no city
dummies
OLS,
no city
dummies
OLS,
city
dummies
0.130
(0.033)
0.129
(0.034)
0.010
(0.025)
0.244
0.245
0.376
91.9
(0.000)
Note: All sociodemographic and maternal controls included.
RESULTS
Lack of
nonviolent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
At 75th percentile cut points
Mother is
black
0.090
(0.030)
0.030
(0.031)
0.069
(0.031)
0.029
(0.026)
0.081
(0.030)
Interview is
black
0.032
(0.031)
0.025
(0.032)
-0.013
(0.032)
-0.105
(0.027)
-0.380
(0.031)
At 90th percentile cut points
Mother is
black
0.016
(0.020)
-0.006
(0.022)
0.051
(0.019)
0.026
(0.022)
0.026
(0.020)
Interview is
black
0.067
(0.021)
0.035
(0.023)
0.012
(0.020)
-0.056
(0.022)
-0.192
(0.020)
Note: All models include all sociodemographic and maternal controls
and city dummies
Interpretation of these results:
 The fact that there are systematic differences in
assessments by the race of the interviewer, although
interesting, does NOT provide evidence of bias.
 We need to examine whether the assessments of black
relative to white respondents vary across black and white
interviewers.
 Next set of regressions include a complete set of
interactions between the race of the interviewer and the
respondent (omitted category: white respondent and nonblack interviewer.)
Non-violent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
At 75th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.088
(0.037)
0.021
(0.038)
0.060
(0.039)
0.065
(0.033)
0.106
(0.037)
M white
I black
0.028
(0.054)
0.006
(0.056)
-0.031
(0.056)
-0.033
(0.047)
-0.328
(0.053)
M black
I black
0.121
(0.045)
0.050
(0.046)
0.052
(0.046)
-0.055
(0.039)
-0.284
(0.044)
Bias test
0.926
0.666
0.691
0.066
0.238
At 90th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.004
(0.025)
-0.005
(0.027)
0.059
(0.024)
0.066
(0.027)
0.070
(0.024)
M white
I black
0.042
(0.036)
0.037
(0.039)
0.029
(0.035)
0.023
(0.039)
-0.103
(0.035)
M black
I black
0.076
(0.030)
0.030
(0.032)
0.067
(0.029)
-0.007
(0.032)
-0.140
(0.029)
Bias test
0.398
0.949
0.550
0.013
0.002
Harshness (90th percentile cut point)
Interviewer’s race
Mother’s race
diff
white
black
diff
black
0.066
-0.007
0.073
white
0
0.023
-0.023
0.066
-0.030
0.096
Test for bias:
(MB/IW – MW/IW) = (MB/IB - MW/IB)
Or:
( 0.066 – 0 ) – (-0.007 – 0.023) = 0
Or:
0.096 = 0 (p-value for test is 0.013).
Physical assault (90th percentile cut point)
Interviewer’s race
Mother’s race
diff
white
black
diff
black
0.059
0.067
-0.008
white
0
0.029
-0.029
0.059
0.038
0.021
Test for bias: p-value=0.550 (hypothesis of no racial bias
cannot be rejected.)
Lack of Warmth (90th percentile cut point)
Interviewers’s race
Mother’s race
diff
white
black
diff
black
0.070
-0.140
0.210
white
0
-0.103
0.103
0.070
-0.037
0.107
Test for bias: p-value is 0.002
With Interviewer Fixed Effects
Non-violent
discipline
Psych.
aggression
Physical
assault
Harshness
Lack of
warmth
At 75th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.089
(0.038)
0.023
(0.039)
0.064
(0.039)
0.053
(0.032)
0.077
(0.034)
M black
I black
0.088
(0.046)
0.042
(0.048)
0.089
(0.048)
-0.037
(0.039)
0.061
(0.042)
Bias test
0.990
0.744
0.662
0.061
0.761
At 90th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.009
(0.025)
-0.001
(0.028)
0.063
(0.025)
0.064
(0.027)
0.060
(0.024)
M black
I black
0.033
(0.031)
-0.003
(0.034)
0.033
(0.030)
-0.040
(0.032)
-0.021
(0.029)
Bias test
0.527
0.967
0.415
0.009
0.024
Summary so far:
 Self-reports of parenting behavior are not affected by the race
of the interviewer relative to the respondent.
 The race of the interviewer is systematically related to the
assessments of harshness and lack of warmth– black
interviewers are consistently less likely to give all parents,
black and white, more negative ratings.
 We find evidence of racial bias in assessments of harshness
(at 75th and 90th p’tile cut point) and lack of warmth (at 90th
p’tile cut point).
 Could these findings be due to more negative interactions of
the interviewer with the mother in mixed-race interviews, or
“worse” child behavior?
Maternal
verbal/social
Maternal
attention
Maternal
hostility
Child
appearance
Child
behavior
At 75th percentile cut points
Mother is
black
0.042
(0.024)
0.046
(0.030)
-0.045
(0.031)
-0.037
(0.032)
Interview is
black
-0.243
(0.025)
-0.051
(0.031)
-0.132
(0.032)
-0.106
(0.033)
At 90th percentile cut points
Mother is
black
0.018
(0.017)
0.014
(0.018)
0.029
(0.017)
-0.019
(0.018)
-0.020
(0.021)
Interview is
black
-0.121
(0.018)
-0.090
(0.019)
-0.090
(0.017)
-0.088
(0.018)
-0.062
(0.022)
Note: All models include all sociodemographic and maternal controls
and city dummies
Maternal
verbal/social
Maternal
attention
Maternal
hostility
Child
Child
appearance behavior
At 75th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.092
(0.030)
0.066
(0.037)
-0.092
(0.038)
-0.012
(0.040)
M white
I black
-0.143
(0.043)
-0.010
(0.055)
-0.225
(0.055)
-0.055
(0.058)
M black
I black
-0.172
(0.035)
0.006
(0.045)
-0.204
(0.046)
-0.130
(0.048)
Bias test
0.005
0.365
0.041
0.273
At 90th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.045
(0.021)
0.027
(0.023)
0.047
(0.021)
-0.022
(0.022)
0.007
(0.026)
M white
I black
-0.067
(0.031)
-0.063
(0.033)
-0.053
(0.030)
-0.095
(0.032)
-0.007
(0.038)
M black
I black
-0.088
(0.026)
-0.069
(0.027)
-0.052
(0.025)
-0.108
(0.026)
-0.067
(0.031)
Bias test
0.033
0.321
0.127
0.789
0.076
With Interviewer Fixed Effects
Maternal
verbal/social
Maternal
attention
Maternal
hostility
Child
appearance
Child
behavior
At 75th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.067
(0.029)
0.047
(0.037)
-0.091
(0.037)
-0.028
(0.040)
M black
I black
0.011
(0.035)
0.020
(0.046)
-0.042
(0.045)
-0.074
(0.049)
Bias test
0.195
0.626
0.017
0.437
At 90th percentile cut points
M black
I non-black
0.033
(0.021)
0.009
(0.022)
0.031
(0.020)
-0.020
(0.022)
-0.004
(0.026)
M black
I black
-0.017
(0.025)
-0.005
(0.027)
0.017
(0.025)
-0.016
(0.027)
-0.077
(0.318)
Bias test
0.111
0.626
0.667
0.888
0.056
Conclusions
 There are racial differences in self-reported and
interviewer-assessed parenting behaviors.
 For many (although not all) measures, racial differences
are accounted for by household and maternal
characteristics.
 The race of the interviewer matters for interviewer
assessments of parenting.
 There is some evidence of racial bias in interviewer
assessments of parenting measures.