Attitudes toward children: a comparison of high school students

The purpose of the study was to ascertain if any differences existed in attitudes toward children between high school child development students and non-child development students.

Forty-seven high school females who had completed a semester of child development seminar and nursery laboratory school were matched by grade, age, race, and community to forty-seven females who had not studied child development.

The "Child-Guidance Inventory" by T.L. Engle and Louis Snellgrove was the instrument used to test attitudes toward children.

A statistical analysis, t-test, of the test results indicated that there was a significant difference between the test scores of the two groups. Child development students scored better grades on the instrument. As a consequence it appears that a course of instruction in child development does affect or influence student attitudes toward children.

An item analysis revealed that questions on discipline, play and respect for the child discriminated the most between the two groups.

A variance analysis indicated a significant relationship between test scores and students' curriculum and community. Students enrolled in academic programs scored higher on the instrument as did students from the upper economic level as indicated by their communities.