Family structure and upbringing as factors of intellectual development of preschool children

The paper is devoted to investigation of the influence of the family structure and family attitudes, child-parent relationship, styles of family upbringing on the intellectual develop- ment of pre-school-age children. Attention is paid to the analysis of the influence of parents and children gender. The sample included 150 children, 150 mothers and 75 fathers, all the families live in St. Petersburg. Results of the study reveal a significantly greater influence of the child's parent-child relationship and family atmosphere on the intellectual develop- ment in comparison with its structure. Negative impact of attitudes on the severity, harsh- ness, acceleration the development of the child on the intellectual development is revealed. Influence of parents’ gender on intellectual development of children manifests in the lead- ing role of the father’s relationship in girls IQ results, and mother’s parental attitudes in boys IQ results. The authors of the article reveal the importance of the adequacy of the system of regulation and control, severity of requirements for the development of girls; lack of parental custody and adequacy to meet the needs — for the development of boys. The authors outline the significant role of preschool children perception, especially girls, of the emotional atmosphere in the family in their intellectual development. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (project №13-06-008480 «Family as a resource for mental development of children in stable and critical periods of ontogeny»)

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