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The Influence of young adults' sex, gender role orientation, ordinal position and time spent with infants on their knowledge of infant development
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Influence of young adults' sex, gender role orientation, ordinal position and time spent with infants on their knowledge of infant development

Dominic F. Gullo and Michele A. Paludi
Early child development and care, v 43(1)
01 Jan 1989
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0300443890430102

Abstract

Knowledge of Infant Development Young Adults
The major purpose of the present study was to identify some characteristics of non at-risk prospective parents which may contribute to more accurate knowledge of infant development in four domains: motor, personal-social, cognitive, and language. It is evident that at-risk groups of parents have inappropriate expectations for developmental milestones. Results from the present study indicate that non at-risk adults also share this characteristic. In the present study male subjects' knowledge of personal-social and cognitive behaviors was significantly worse than female subjects. In addition, feminine subjects were more accurate in their knowledge of infant development than masculine and undifferentiated subjects. Furthermore, first born children were more accurate about infant development than were middle- and laterborns. Finally, subjects who spent more than six hours per week interacting with children were more knowledgeable than less-experienced subjects. These results are discussed with respect to functional role theory. Methodological concerns are also mentioned. A better understanding of the relationship between knowledge of infant development and interaction with children may influence the direction of future parent education programs. More research is also needed on the reciprocal cause-effect cycle in the parent-child relationship.

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