Routine helps children adjust to school, but harsh parenting may undo benefits

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Starting elementary school is a major milestone, but it can be a difficult transition as children can experience separation anxiety or have trouble adapting to school rules and structure. However, a team led by Penn State researchers found that consistent routines in the home can reduce the likelihood that children will struggle with the school transition.

In a publication in Developmental Psychology, the researchers found that when rural, low-income families had stronger routines — such as regular bedtimes and shared meals — parents reported lower levels of behavior problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms from their children. However, higher levels of harsh or aggressive parenting — such as yelling or threatening by the mother or father — diminished the benefits associated with household structure.

“You need routines, but you cannot be overly rigid about them,” said co-author Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, professor and head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State. “I always say the two most important things for parenting are consistency and flexibility. It may sound like a contradiction, but these results indicate that balance really matters.”

The researchers examined data from 999 rural, low-income families in North Carolina and Pennsylvania who participated in the Family Life Project, a long-running research collaboration among Penn State, the University of North Carolina and New York University. Participants in the Family Life Project were recruited when a child was born into the family, and the study concluded when the cohort of children turned 19 years old.

The current study used information from three waves of data collection, beginning in 2007-08 when the children were approximately four years old. These measurements captured the children in preschool, kindergarten and first grade to document the full transition to primary school. At each annual assessment, parents answered questions about family routines, harsh parenting behaviors, child behavior problems and child ADHD symptoms. At the start of the study, the researchers also measured the parents’ capacity for cognitive flexibility — the ability to adapt their thinking to a specific or changing situation.

Parents took surveys to measure harsh parenting, which included questions about them yelling, swearing, throwing things, stomping out of the room and engaging in other aggressive actions; child behavior problems, which included aggressive, oppositional and rule-breaking behaviors; and child ADHD symptoms, which included indications of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. Parents also answered questions about the existence of family routines around bedtime, regular family meals and household schedules.

In families with high levels of routine and low levels of harsh parenting throughout the study, parents reported lower levels of child behavior problems and ADHD symptoms. In families where harsh parenting fluctuated from year to year, child ADHD symptoms were lower when parents reported they engaged in less harsh parenting.

Harsh parenting undermined the protective effect of family routines, the researchers explained. Children in households with high levels of routine and high levels of harsh parenting displayed levels of misbehavior similar to those of children in households with low levels of routine.

Additionally, parents who demonstrated cognitive flexibility were less likely to parent harshly.

“Children are trying to figure out how the world works,” said Gatzke-Kopp, a Penn State Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member. “The more consistent and supportive their environment is, the easier it is for children to remain calm and understand how to behave in a new setting, like school.”

For parents looking to add structure to their household, Gatzke-Kopp recommended a consistent bedtime routine that includes calming activities like reading to the child. She also identified regular, low-demand, screen-free, family time and shared meals as great opportunities for any parent to add routine to their households.

The effects of all factors identified in the study were small, but Gatzke-Kopp said that was expected.

“You can’t assume that if you establish good routines, your child will have perfect behaviors,” Gatzke-Kopp said. “There are a lot of things that influence whether your child has behavior problems, and routines and parenting style are only part of the picture.”

Every family will deal with some level of conflict, she continued.

“All children can be difficult,” Gatzke-Kopp explained. “Parents should be reassured that negative behaviors do not mean your child has a problem. And it does not mean the parents are doing anything wrong.”

Kylee Witmer, graduate student in human development and family studies at Penn State, also contributed to this research. More information about collaborators and funders is available in the paper.