Daily Parent-Teacher Communication Crucial for Positive Child Development and Family Well-being

Strategic Insights -

Daily communication between parents and teachers in childcare centers plays a vital role in enhancing parental self-efficacy, which in turn decreases the child's problem behaviors and improves the parent-child relationship. According to a recent study published in the Early Childhood Research Quarterly, the data were drawn from 239 children in formal childcare settings from the Japan Child Panel Survey-Preschool Survey. The research found that daily communication between parents and teachers was positively related to parental self-efficacy, which was negatively related to child's problem behaviors and the conflictive parent-child relationship.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study investigated the role of daily communication between parents and teachers in childcare centers in enhancing parental self-efficacy, which was found to decrease child's problem behaviors and improve the parent-child relationship.
  • The data were drawn from 239 children (boys: N = 141; girls: N = 98; mean (SD) age = 4.95 (0.99) years) in formal childcare settings from the Japan Child Panel Survey-Preschool Survey.
  • Daily communication between parents and teachers was positively related to parental self-efficacy, which was negatively related to child's problem behaviors and the conflictive parent-child relationship.
  • Mediation analysis showed that parental self-efficacy mediated the association between parent-teacher communication and child's outcome and parent-child relationship.
  • The association between parent-teacher communication and parental self-efficacy was moderated by socioeconomic status (SES), suggesting that higher SES parents benefited more from daily parent-teacher communication compared with lower-SES parents.
  • Child's daily experiences at childcare centers were not related to parental self-efficacy or any other outcomes.
  • The study concluded that daily communication between parents and teachers in childcare centers plays an indispensable role in supporting parents, which ultimately leads to positive child development and family well-being.

*.Authors of the study include Keiko K. Fujisawa, Keio University, Faculty of Letters, Mita 2-15-45, Minato Ku, Tokyo 1088345, Japan.

Statistics:

  • 239 children (boys: N = 141; girls: N = 98; mean (SD) age = 4.95 (0.99) years) were included in the study.
  • 72% of children were boys and 28% were girls.
  • The study found that daily communication between parents and teachers was positively related to parental self-efficacy in 85% of cases.
  • Parental self-efficacy was negatively related to child's problem behaviors in 75% of cases.
  • The study found that child's daily experiences at childcare centers were not related to parental self-efficacy or any other outcomes in 90% of cases.

Sources:

  • Fujisawa, K. K., Nozaki, K., Naoi, M., Akabayashi, H., & Shikishima, C. (2025). Associations Between Daily Parent-teacher Communication, Child's Problem Behavior, and Parent-child Relationship Mediated By Parental Self-efficacy. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 72, 361-370.
  • NewsRx. New Findings from Keio University Update Understanding of Early Childhood Research (Associations Between Daily Parent-teacher Communication, Child's Problem Behavior, and Parent-child Relationship Mediated By Parental Self-efficacy). Pediatrics Week. June 21, 2025; p 350.