As anyone who spends a lot of time running up and down the Internet ladder following news, checking facts, comparing information and evaluating reports from one side of many issues to the other knows, there's an awful lot of silly research taking place in the world. 

I've written before in other places on studies ... all costing time and money, of course ... that "prove" that sex in advertising sends the wrong messages to girls, that fathers influence their children's abilities to form relationships, and other flagrant no-brainers that actually make no point at all other than to sing the praises of people who are good at writing grant applications. 

From the headline, I suspected this report was going to be more of the same. After all, "Parenting key to success in first grade" seems a pretty clear statement to hang a giant "DUH!" on. 

The research in this case was conducted by sciencey-sorts from Indiana University Bloomington and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and tracked 1,364 families as part of a government-funded study from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. 

Government studies being famously wasteful, repetitive and often just plane stupid, primed me to expect more of the same, and it does start out like a rendition of the "Yes, we've all known that forever" blues. 

Mothers of six-month-olds filled out questionnaires on their babies' temperments six years ago using the terms provided that let researchers evaluate according to levels of difficulty-to-handle the kids were; babies who were classified as those who cried a lot or didn't adapt well or had "intense emotions" were said to have difficult temperaments. Over the course of the next six years, researchers followed up with observation of the mothers' parenting, right up to first grade. 

Not surprising, or worth whatever such a study would cost ... funny how it's always impossible to dig that figure out from anywhere ... difficult babies whose parents knew how to parent and parent well, and bothered to do it, did better in first grade than those whose parents weren't so good at the parenting thing. 

Yep. There's the duh.

But ... 

Difficult babies whose parents knew how to parent and parent well and bothered to do it also did better than easy babies with the same sort of parenting. 

Seems the same sensitive nervous system that has some babies jumpy and upset can, with the right sort of guidance, make for a great kid, and very likely a healthy and fascinating adult. 

Now, that's interesting, and must give hope to a whole bunch of moms worried that their little terrors are destined to become first grade terrorists.
[Lead researcher] Stright says it's common for parents of difficult children to assume that their struggles with their kids will last a lifetime and affect school performance: "The study results suggest that that's not true, that if the parent really works and stays with the child and is warm and loving, provides good discipline, control, that these kids can do just as well or even better than these easy babies that everyone wishes they had."
That's a study worth the price of admission, if you ask me.