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Using data from the 1994 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the study focused on 291 mothers and their 5 to 8 year-old children. Descriptive analysis, zero-order correlations, multiple regression analyses, t-tests, and chi-square analyses were used for data description and analysis. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the conceptual model for this study.

Consistent with Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, the study shows that the children develop in the relationships within various kinds of environments such as the child's family, neighborhood, and child care setting. Maternal psychological well-being was affected by the mother's residence with both parents until her 18th birthday and her perception of neighborhood problems. The results of this study were also consistent with Belsky's model of the determinants of parenting. The quality of the home environment that mothers provided for their children was influenced by multiple factors, such as child characteristics, maternal characteristics, and contextual factors. Academically successful children from low-income families had grandmothers who were more educated and mothers with higher intelligence scores. Their mothers provided a more supportive home environment. Successful children in terms of behavioral adjustment tended to have heavier birth weights, mothers with higher level of psychological well-being, and better quality home environments.