Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSoC): Evidence to Question Its Use?

Background: This study investigated the factor structure of the parenting sense of competence (PSoC), a measure of parenting self-efficacy, in a sample of parents recruited when their infants were under 2 months old. Due to the lack of longitudinal analysis of the PSoC's factor structure over time, the study sought to establish if the published two-factor structure was consistent over an 18-month period.

Methods: Data collected from 536 parents who had participated in a randomised controlled trial of universal proportionate parenting support, delivered in five sites in England, were subject to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Do executive functions and processing speed mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and educational achievement? Analysis of an observational birth cohort study.

Background: There are large and persistent social inequalities in children's educational attainment, with children from more socioeconomically disadvantaged families consistently having lower attainment. Despite this being widely reported, the mechanisms underlying the association between socioeconomic disadvantage and educational attainment are not well understood. It is important to understand the potential mechanisms by which socioeconomic disadvantage may impede on educational outcomes, as this knowledge could then be used to help target possible interventions to improve educational outcomes for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

Use of volunteers in early years interventions for parents: A scoping review of roles and the extent of evaluation research in this area.

Early years interventions, particularly those supporting parents in the first 1001 days of their infants life, support healthy development of infants and prevent adverse experiences that can have long term negative impacts. Volunteers are often used to deliver such interventions. This scoping review aimed to explore the roles and characteristics of volunteers across early years interventions and map the evaluation in this field to identify gaps in the literature.