Elizabeth Votruba‐drzal
Biographic Data
| ID | 121251 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth Votruba‐drzal |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth |
| FAMILY NAME | Votruba‐drzal |
| SIGNATURE | DRZAL E V |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pittsburgh |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0708-1205 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 270 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 50 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Neighborhood resources and stressors associated with parenting inputs for children's learning and development
Prior research has assessed the ways in which neighborhoods promote or inhibit children's development but has paid less attention to delineating the particular processes through which neighborhoods are linked to child outcomes. This study combines geospatial data with survey data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011, a nationally representative sample of kindergarteners followed through 5th grade ( N ~ 12,3…
How Family Assets and Debts Relate to Children's Achievement and Behavior Problems Across Development
Wealth matters for children's academic achievement and behavioral functioning; however, little is known about how the components of wealth, particularly assets and debts, uniquely relate to children's academic and behavioral development. NLSY79 ( N ≈ 7000; 50.9% male; 26.1% Black) data were used to examine independent links between assets, debts, and children's academic achievement and behavioral functioning. Additionally, we considered whether a…
Long-term associations between early childhood education and academic achievement in two low- and middle-income countries
Using fixed-effects analyses to examine how neighborhood structural, process, and physical characteristics predict children’s cognitive skills in a national cohort of elementary school students
Diversity of spatial activities and parents' spatial talk complexity predict preschoolers' gains in spatial skills
Children's spatial activities and parental spatial talk were measured to examine their associations with variability in preschoolers' spatial skills (N = 113, M age = 4 years, 4 months; 51% female; 80% White, 11% Black, and 9% other). Parents who reported more diversity in daily spatial activities and used longer spatial talk utterances during a spatial activity had children with greater gains in spatial skills from ages 4 to 5 (β = .17 and β = .…
Examining profiles of U.S. children’s screen time and associations with academic skills
Children's screen time (ST) increased in recent years, but investigations of the content and context (e.g., parental presence, and device type) of ST in predicting early academic skills remains understudied. In this study of 127 four- and five-year-olds, we examined whether the educational content and contextual information about children's ST from time diary interviews at age 4 predicted direct assessments of academic skills at age five. Cluster…
Historical Structural Racism in the Built Environment and Physical Health among Residents of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Relations between adolescent perceptions of household chaos and externalizing and internalizing behaviors in low‐ and middle‐income families
A large body of literature has established that chaos in the home environment, characterized by high levels of disorganization, lack of household routine, crowding, noise, and unpredictability, undermines social-emotional and behavioral development in early childhood. It is less clear whether household chaos is linked to elevated risk for behavior problems in adolescence. The aims of this study were 3fold: (1) characterize the variability of adol…
Parent predictors of the home math environment and associations with toddlers’ math skills
Mounting evidence suggests that home engagement in mathematics is related to variability in early math skill. Although prior work has investigated parental predictors of home math engagement more broadly, it remains understudied whether the same factors relate to toddlers’ home math environment, and if home math experiences are associated with toddlers’ math skills. Here we asked whether parents’ beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with math rela…
Beyond Neighborhood Disadvantage
OBJECTIVE: Residing in communities characterized by socioeconomic disadvantage confers risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Residing in disadvantaged communities may also confer the risk of neurodegenerative brain changes via cardiometabolic pathways. This study tested whether features of communities-apart from conventional socioeconomic characteristics-relate not only to cardiometabolic risk but also to relative tissue reductions in the cerebral co…
The Early Emergence of SES Achievement Gaps
Managing and minimizing online survey questionnaire fraud
With the increasing sophistication of online survey tools and the necessity of distanced research during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of online questionnaires for research purposes has proliferated. Still, many researchers undertake online survey research without knowledge of the prevalence and likelihood of experiencing survey questionnaire fraud nor familiarity with measures used to identify fraud once it has occurred. This research note is b…
Urban-rural achievement gap in low- and middle-income countries
Unpacking the home numeracy environment
Family and community resource and stress processes related to income disparities in school-aged children’s development
Explaining income disparities in young children’s development
District-Level School Choice and Racial/Ethnic Test Score Gaps
The rapid expansion of school choice is restructuring public education in the United States. This study examines associations between charter and magnet school enrollment, White-Black and White-Hispanic segregation, and test score gaps at the district level from 2009 to 2015 in third to eighth grade using the Stanford Education Data Archive and the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data. Robust findings indicate that higher charter sc…
Longitudinal Links between Income Dynamics and Young Adult Socioeconomic and Behavioral Health Outcomes
Longitudinal links between childhood family income and adult outcomes are well documented. However, research on childhood income volatility and young adult outcomes is limited. This study utilizes data from the NLSY ( N = 6,410) to examine how childhood family income and income volatility relate to socioeconomic outcomes and mental/behavioral health in emerging adulthood. Results show that lower childhood income was associated with young adult so…
Triangulating Multi-Method Assessments of Parental Support for Early Math Skills
Past research has examined parental support for math during early childhood using parent-report surveys and observational measures of math talk. However, since most studies only present findings from one of these methods, the construct (parental support for early math) and the method are inextricably linked, and we know little about whether these methods provide similar or unique information about children’s exposure to math concepts. This study …
Do family investments explain growing socioeconomic disparities in children’s reading, math, and science achievement during school versus summer months
In the face of rising economic and social inequality, American parents increasingly seek to promote their children’s academic achievement through provision of enriching learning opportunities. In this study, we hypothesized that parental investments in both home and out-of-home learning resources may partially explain socioeconomic disparities in children’s academic skills, and may function differently during school versus summer months. Using da…
Black–White achievement gaps differ by family socioeconomic status from early childhood through early adolescence
Theory and limited research indicate that race and socioeconomic status (SES) interact dynamically to shape children’s developmental contexts and academic achievement, but little scholarship examines how race and SES intersect to shape Black–White achievement gaps across development. We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (N ≈ 9,100)—which tracks a nationally representative cohort of children in th…
Measuring preschool quality in low- and middle-income countries
Moving Beyond Correlations in Assessing the Consequences of Poverty
In the United States, does growing up in a poor household cause negative developmental outcomes for children? Hundreds of studies have documented statistical associations between family income in childhood and a host of outcomes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Many of these studies have used correlational evidence to draw policy conclusions regarding the benefits of added family income for children, in particular children in families wi…
Predictors of public early care and education use among children of low-income immigrants
Parent- and teacher-child relationships and engagement at school entry
Early school engagement patterns set the stage for short- and long-term academic behaviors and progress, and low engagement at school entry can give rise to dysfunctional school behavior and underachievement in later years. Relationships with parents and teachers provide a foundation upon which children develop the skills and behaviors that are critical for engagement in early elementary school. However, the cross-contextual and transactional pro…
Children's early approaches to learning and academic trajectories through fifth grade
Children's early approaches to learning (ATL) enhance their adaptation to the demands they experience with the start of formal schooling. The current study uses individual growth modeling to investigate whether children's early ATL, which includes persistence, emotion regulation, and attentiveness, explain individual differences in their academic trajectories during elementary school. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kinde…
Economic disparities in middle childhood development
A large literature has documented the influence of family economic resources on child development, yet income's effects in middle childhood have been understudied. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,551), the author examined the influence of family income in early and middle childhood on academic skills and behavior problems during middle childhood. Early childhood income had enduring effects on children's behavior p…
Selection into early education and care settings
Timing, extent, and type of child care and children’s behavioral functioning in kindergarten
Prior research has unearthed a link between early education and care (EEC) experiences and worse behavioral functioning for children, yet the research has not clearly delineated whether this link is due to early entry into care (timing), extensive hours of care (extent), or use of center-based care (type). Using a nationally representative sample of children followed from infancy through kindergarten (N ≈ 6,000), we assessed links between EEC tim…
Immigrant families’ use of early childcare
Income Changes and Cognitive Stimulation in Young Children's Home Learning Environments
Early home learning environments are the result of interactions between the developing children and the opportunity structures provided by their families. Income is one of several resources that affect the cognitive stimulation that children experience. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N= 2,174) this study examines the influence of household income on cognitive stimulation during the transition to school (aged 3-4 years …
Parent- and teacher-child relationships and engagement at school entry
Early school engagement patterns set the stage for short- and long-term academic behaviors and progress, and low engagement at school entry can give rise to dysfunctional school behavior and underachievement in later years. Relationships with parents and teachers provide a foundation upon which children develop the skills and behaviors that are critical for engagement in early elementary school. However, the cross-contextual and transactional pro…
Comparing public, private, and informal preschool programs in a national sample of low-income children
Low-income families' selection of child care for their young children
Family income and early achievement across the urban–rural continuum
Rural and suburban children account for the majority of poor children in the United States. Yet, most research examining poverty's associations with child development is focused on urban samples. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6,600), this study examines whether the form and magnitude of income's relationship with early achievement differ across the urban-rural continuum. Result…
Explaining income disparities in young children’s development
Predictors of public early care and education use among children of low-income immigrants
Predictors of early care and education type among preschool-aged children in immigrant families
Maternal functioning, time, and money
Early academic skills and childhood experiences across the urban–rural continuum
Trajectories of Internalizing Symptoms From Early Childhood to Adolescence
Despite the great number of children affected by anxiety and depression, developmental trajectories of internalizing disorders are not well understood. The current study applied a group‐based modeling approach to examine the interplay between the temperamental trait of negative emotionality and parenting on internalizing symptoms from early childhood to adolescence. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Stud…
Do Children's Behavior Problems Limit Poor Women's Labor Market Success
Economically disadvantaged mothers face numerous barriers to stable, quality employment opportunities. One barrier that has received limited attention in previous research is having a child with significant psychological or behavioral problems. Using a representative sample of low-income mothers and early adolescent children from the Three-City Study (N = 717), we assessed whether adolescents' behavior problems prospectively predicted mothers' em…
Maternal welfare and employment experiences and adolescent well-being
Historical Structural Racism in the Built Environment and Physical Health among Residents of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Unpacking the home numeracy environment
Family expenditures supporting children across income and urbanicity strata
Opportunities for Learning Math in Elementary School
The present study examined whether multiple opportunities to learn math were associated with smaller socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in fifth-grade math achievement using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD; N = 1,364). High amounts of procedural math instruction were associated with higher calculation and conceptual math skills. Children’s conceptual math skills were also positively associated with …
Urbanicity Moderates Associations between Family Income and Adolescent Academic Achievement
Research has shown that family income's relations to early childhood achievement is stronger in large inner cities and weaker in less urbanized areas. Research has not yet considered whether links between family income and achievement in adolescence differ across the urban to rural landscape. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (N ≈ 9,350), this study examines differenc…
Long-term associations between early childhood education and academic achievement in two low- and middle-income countries
Urban-rural achievement gap in low- and middle-income countries
Mothers' Transitions from Welfare to Work and the Well-Being of Preschoolers and Adolescents
Results from a longitudinal study of 2402 low-income families during the recent unprecedented era of welfare reform suggest that mothers' transitions off welfare and into employment are not associated with negative outcomes for preschoolers (ages 2 to 4 years) or young adolescents (ages 10 to 14 years). Indeed, no significant associations with mothers' welfare and employment transitions were found for preschoolers, and the dominant pattern was al…
Income Changes and Cognitive Stimulation in Young Children's Home Learning Environments
Early home learning environments are the result of interactions between the developing children and the opportunity structures provided by their families. Income is one of several resources that affect the cognitive stimulation that children experience. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N= 2,174) this study examines the influence of household income on cognitive stimulation during the transition to school (aged 3-4 years …
Child Care and Low-Income Children's Development
A large literature has documented the influence of child care on young children's development, but few studies have examined low-income children in community care arrangements. Using data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (N=204), this study examined the influence of child care quality and the extent of care on low-income children's (ages 2–4 years) cognitive and socioemotional development over time. Higher levels of child …
Special Reviewers
Are certain preschoolers at risk in the era of welfare reform? The moderating role of children's temperament
Economic disparities in middle childhood development
A large literature has documented the influence of family economic resources on child development, yet income's effects in middle childhood have been understudied. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,551), the author examined the influence of family income in early and middle childhood on academic skills and behavior problems during middle childhood. Early childhood income had enduring effects on children's behavior p…
Maternal welfare and employment experiences and adolescent well-being
Maternal functioning, time, and money
Community Socioeconomic Status is Associated With Circulating Interleukin-6 and C-Reactive Protein
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of both individual and community socioeconomic status (SES) with inflammatory mediators relevant to cardiovascular pathophysiology, i.e., interleukin (IL)-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP), in a midlife community sample. Growing evidence suggests that socioeconomic attributes of both individuals and communities confer risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Subjects were 851 men and women, 30 t…
Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School
Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development (N = 1,364) were used to investigate children’s trajectories of academic and social development across 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine within- and between-child associations among maternal and teacher reports of parent involvement and children’s standardized achievement scores, so…
Children's early approaches to learning and academic trajectories through fifth grade
Children's early approaches to learning (ATL) enhance their adaptation to the demands they experience with the start of formal schooling. The current study uses individual growth modeling to investigate whether children's early ATL, which includes persistence, emotion regulation, and attentiveness, explain individual differences in their academic trajectories during elementary school. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kinde…
Teacher–Child Relationships and the Development of Academic and Behavioral Skills During Elementary School
Despite recent growth in research highlighting the potential of teacher–child relationships to promote children’s development during the early years of school, questions remain about the importance of these relationships across elementary school. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 1,364), this study examines between- and within-child associations between teacher–child relationship quality and children’s academic achievement …
Do Children's Behavior Problems Limit Poor Women's Labor Market Success
Economically disadvantaged mothers face numerous barriers to stable, quality employment opportunities. One barrier that has received limited attention in previous research is having a child with significant psychological or behavioral problems. Using a representative sample of low-income mothers and early adolescent children from the Three-City Study (N = 717), we assessed whether adolescents' behavior problems prospectively predicted mothers' em…
Early academic skills and childhood experiences across the urban–rural continuum
Low-income families' selection of child care for their young children
Predictors of early care and education type among preschool-aged children in immigrant families
Timing, extent, and type of child care and children’s behavioral functioning in kindergarten
Prior research has unearthed a link between early education and care (EEC) experiences and worse behavioral functioning for children, yet the research has not clearly delineated whether this link is due to early entry into care (timing), extensive hours of care (extent), or use of center-based care (type). Using a nationally representative sample of children followed from infancy through kindergarten (N ≈ 6,000), we assessed links between EEC tim…
Family income and early achievement across the urban–rural continuum
Rural and suburban children account for the majority of poor children in the United States. Yet, most research examining poverty's associations with child development is focused on urban samples. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N ≈ 6,600), this study examines whether the form and magnitude of income's relationship with early achievement differ across the urban-rural continuum. Result…
Trajectories of Internalizing Symptoms From Early Childhood to Adolescence
Despite the great number of children affected by anxiety and depression, developmental trajectories of internalizing disorders are not well understood. The current study applied a group‐based modeling approach to examine the interplay between the temperamental trait of negative emotionality and parenting on internalizing symptoms from early childhood to adolescence. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Stud…
Selection into early education and care settings
Immigrant families’ use of early childcare
Opportunities for Learning Math in Elementary School
The present study examined whether multiple opportunities to learn math were associated with smaller socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in fifth-grade math achievement using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD; N = 1,364). High amounts of procedural math instruction were associated with higher calculation and conceptual math skills. Children’s conceptual math skills were also positively associated with …
Urbanicity Moderates Associations between Family Income and Adolescent Academic Achievement
Research has shown that family income's relations to early childhood achievement is stronger in large inner cities and weaker in less urbanized areas. Research has not yet considered whether links between family income and achievement in adolescence differ across the urban to rural landscape. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (N ≈ 9,350), this study examines differenc…
Comparing public, private, and informal preschool programs in a national sample of low-income children
Family expenditures supporting children across income and urbanicity strata
Psychology (47 works) · Developmental psychology (42 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (36 works) · Medicine (19 works) · Economic growth (18 works) · Economics (18 works) · Demographic economics (17 works) · Early childhood (17 works) · Child development (15 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (15 works)