The Learning Habit Study is designed to help parents discover family routines to improve academic success, increase social skills and promote emotional balance in children.
The Good Men Project will report early findings that relate specifically to fathers.
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You might feel conflicted when your son asks you to play a single shooter video game with him. It didn’t seem like a big deal when you bought the game 3 years ago for his 10th birthday. After Newtown, the happy image of his excitedly tearing the wrapping paper off the game was replaced by a much darker image. Now, you wonder if you should even let him keep the game.
As children grow, so do our concerns. We are well aware of the fact that this is a very different world then we grew up in. Wouldn’t it be helpful if parents, teachers and pediatricians were provided with concrete information on which family routines and behaviors improve academic success, increase social skills and promote emotional balance in children?
That’s the goal of The Learning Habit Study, the largest study on family routines in the history of the United States. During the fall of 2012, a collaborative research team began development of an online scientific research study, with the goal of surveying 50,000 families. The study looks at parenting styles, academic achievement, emotional features, communication methods, and family interactions.
Led by Robert M. Pressman, Ph.D., ABPP, the research team includes Allison Schettini Evans, Ph.D., a pediatric neuropsychologist at Brown University School of Medicine, Dr. Judith Owens M.D., MPH, from Children’s National Medical Center and Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, M.S.W., LICSW. Clinical Director of the New England Center for Pediatric Psychology and best-selling author of The Narcissistic Family.
The data gathered from the study will provide critical information about the relationships between media use, grades, social interactions, and emotional learning. The study is available online from Sept. 3, 2013 – October 31, 2013.
“Every parent has valuable information to share. We want to hear from parents with children in grades K-12,” said Rebecca Jackson, who is coordinating the study outreach for Good Parent, Inc., with media partners, including: The Good Men Project, AOL / Huffington Post Parents, Web MD, Parents Magazine, and the National PTA.
Curious about the survey? Here’s how it works: parents are asked a series of questions about their child’s age, grade, type of school (public, private, homeschooling) and typical behaviors. They are also asked some questions about themselves that relate to parenting style. For example, would they describe themselves as “flexible about rules and routines?” The entire survey takes approximately 10 minutes.
Findings will be presented at the August 2014 American Psychological Association convention in Washington, D.C., and in the book, The Learning Habit, published by Penguin-Random House, available August 2014.
The Good Men Project will report early findings from the study that relate specifically to fathers. As an incentive, upon completion of the study, participants can enter a $500.00 Sweepstakes.
To take the study, click here http://www.learninghabitsurvey4.com/
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photo: Chris Yarzab / flickr