Sex differences in 2- and 3-years-olds: Mother-child relations, peer relations, and peer play.

This paper examines the different behavior patterns utilized by boys and girls as they form peer relationships and engage in peer play; the nature of their relations with their mothers is also reported. Girls manifested more intense involvement with their mothers, engaged in less peer play than boys, showed lower mood, lower levels of play, less direct aggression, and more controlling play with peers. Furthermore, their mothers handled their requests for contact and aggressive behavior differently than did mothers of boys. Boys were slower to become aware of separateness but once aware, they came to terms with it faster than girls. The boys took longer to pay attention to peers; once peers were focused on, the play moved more quickly to high levels than did the play of the girls. Qualitative findings were supported by quantitative findings-boys showed more contact and more involvement with their peers than did girls. The hypothesis is tentatively offered that the reaction to the awareness of psychological separateness from their mothers is more intense in girls than in boys partly because girls experience this awareness earlier, owing to their more rapid cognitive maturation. . . (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coparenting, mother-infant interaction, and infant-parent attachment relationships in two-parent families.

Coparenting behavior and the quality of mothers' parenting behavior were examined in relation to parents' perceptions of their child's attachment in 60 two-parent families with 11- to 15-month-old infants (30 boys and 30 girls). Parent-child attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q-Sort. Competitive coparenting was associated with mothers' and fathers' perception of a less secure parent-child attachment relationship, whereas maternal responsiveness was associated with mothers' perception of a more secure mother-child attachment relationship. Families with mothers who were more restrictive and those with parents who were more competitive were less likely to have mothers and fathers with similar perceptions of the quality of parent-child attachment relationships. Findings support the proposal that different levels of family functioning affect the quality of parent-child relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer relationships and preadolescents' perceptions of security in the child-mother relationship.

In 2 studies, peer relationships were related to children's perceptions of security in the child-mother relationship. In Study 1, a sample of 74 5th graders, children who viewed their relationship with their mother as more secure were significantly more accepted by peers, had more reciprocated friendships, and were less lonely than children who rated the relationship as less secure. In Study 2, a sample of 5th and 6th graders, 44 same-gender friend pairs were videotaped in conversation and completed friendship questionnaires. Dyads in which both children were securely attached to their mothers were more responsive, were less critical, and reported more companionship than did friend dyads in which one child was securely and the other insecurely attached to his or her mother. The findings demonstrate links between the peer and family systems in middle childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proton MAS NMR spectra at high magnetic fields and high spinning frequencies: spectral simulations using floquet theory

We examined the relationship quality of 55 (27 girls) 9-year-old children with their mothers, teachers, and friends as rated by teachers and by the children themselves. The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine stability and continuity in the quality of children's relationships between infancy and 9 years of age. At age 9, children's perception of their relationships with their teachers was associated with their current teachers' ratings of their relationships with the children. Children's perceptions of their relationships with their mothers were consistent with earlier ratings of attachment security. Children's perceptions of their relationships with teachers were predicted by the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers. Children's perceptions of their friendship quality was predicted by preschool teacher ratings of friendship quality and the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers.     

Disruptive behavior disorder and intergenerational attachment patterns: A comparison of clinic-referred and normally functioning preschoolers and their mothers.

This study examined linkages between child disruptive behavior disorder ( DBD), quality of mother-child interactions, and mothers' recollections of and attitudes toward their own parents. Twenty-five preschool boys referred to a psychiatric clinic were matched with normally functioning boys. Mothers and sons were videotaped during a separation-reunion sequence, the Adult Attachment Interview was administered to mothers, and mothers completed questionnaires assessing family environment. Mothers of boys with DBD described relationships with their own parents less coherently than comparison mothers did, indicating less secure representations of attachment. Maternal and child attachment classifications were concordant. Log-linear analyses suggested that the influence of maternal representation of attachment on disruptive behavior problems was secondary to the quality of mother-child interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting during the second year: effects of children's age, sex, and attachment classification

70 2-parent families with 12-month-old infants and 67 2-parent families with 18-month-old toddlers participated in the study. Mothers and fathers participated in separate interviews and filled out questionnaires on family and child behaviors. Mothers and their children participated in the Ainsworth Strange Situation, and the families were observed for a total of 4 hours in their homes. Families were compared on composite measures of family environment variables, parents' perception of their children, and on process variables from home observations. Family differences in environmental stress and marital adjustment showed no effects for attachment classifications, although parents of 12-month-olds reported greater marital adjustment and more pleasure in parenting than parents of 18-months-olds. Both mothers and fathers reported that children classified as resistant were more difficult on several temperament measures. During home observations, 12-month-old children received more positive responses from mothers, and 18-month-old children received more instructions and directions from both parents. Insecure boys (both avoidant and resistant) received the least instructions and directions from both parents, but insecure-avoidant girls received the most instruction from fathers.     

Hard-to-manage preschool boys: externalizing behavior, social competence, and family context at two-year followup

Boys, identified as hard to manage in preschool, were followed up 2 years after initial assessment. Mothers, fathers, and teachers continued to rate hard-to-manage boys as having more problems with attention and impulse control, and as more oppositional, than comparison boys who had been problem-free at intake; problem boys also were rated as less socially competent by all three informants. Differences in severity were apparent as a function of initial referral source. Boys identified as showing significant problems by at least two informants (28% of the problem boys) were especially low in social competence and their mothers reported more symptoms of depression and parenting stress. Family adversity, lower IQ, and severity of symptoms at intake discriminated boys with continuing problems from those with less serious difficulties at followup. Control boys with potentially emerging problems were characterized by more family problems than the remaining control boys. Implications for the development of problems in young children are discussed.     

Adolescent mothering: child-grandmother attachment

This study explored the involvement of maternal grandmothers with children of adolescent mothers and child-grandmother attachment. In a sample of 32 children whose grandmothers were involved in child care, 44% were securely attached to mothers and 72% securely attached to grandmothers. Of the 18 children insecurely attached to mothers, 82.4% were securely attached to grandmothers. A significant relationship existed between attachment security and the time the child was with grandmother, sleeping time excluded. In contrast, time with mother was not related. Based on attachment theory, findings are presented and implications for nursing practice are made.     

Mathematics, vocabulary, and reading development in Chinese American and European American children over the primary school years.

Forty European American (EA; 20 girls, 20 boys) and 40 second-generation Chinese American (CA; 20 girls, 20 boys) preschool and kindergarten children (mean age at Time 1?=?5.7 years) and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated in 3 data collections (1993, 1995, and 1997) to investigate sociocultural and family factors that contribute to children's academic achievement. CA children outscored EA children in mathematics at all 3 times. Initially, EA children outscored CA children in receptive English vocabulary, but CA children caught up to EA children at Time 3. CA children were better readers than EA children at Time 3. According to parental self-reports, CA parents structured their children's time to a greater degree, used more formal teaching methods, and assigned their children more homework. Parents' work-oriented methods and child-specific beliefs at Time 1 influenced children's mathematics performance at Time 3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother's insightfulness regarding their infants' internal experience: Relations with maternal sensitivity and infant attachment.

This study examined the associations among mothers' insightfulness into their infants' internal experience, mothers' sensitivity to their infants' signals, and infants' security of attachment to their mothers. The insightfulness of 129 mothers of 12-month-old infants was assessed by showing mothers 3 videotaped segments of observations of their infants and themselves and interviewing them regarding their infants' and their own thoughts and feelings. Interviews were classified into 1 insightful and 3 noninsightful categories. Mothers' sensitivity was assessed during play sessions at home and at the laboratory, and infant-mother attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation. Mothers classified as positively insightful were rated as more sensitive and were more likely to have securely attached children than were mothers not classified as positively insightful. Insightfulness also accounted for variance in attachment beyond the variance explained by maternal sensitivity. These findings add an important dimension to research on caregiving, suggesting that mothers' seeking of explanations for the motives underlying their infants' behavior is related to both maternal sensitivity and infant attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment and emotion in autobiographical memory development

The relation of attachment status to autobiographical memory was assessed in 3.5- to 4.5-year-olds. Of specific interest was the relation between attachment status and the emotional content of parent-child memory conversations. Forty-six mother-child dyads discussed four events designed to elicit positive and negative emotional themes. Both attachment status and gender moderated the emotional content of this memory talk. Mother-daughter dyads with insecurely attached girls engaged in relatively more negative memory talk than mother-daughter dyads with securely attached girls. However, the dyads of secure girls elaborated more often on both positive and negative emotional themes than did the dyads of insecure girls who primarily elaborated on positive themes. The relations between attachment status and emotion talk for mother-son dyads were inconsistent. Findings were discussed in terms of the role of attachment in the social construction of autobiographical memories.     

Rejected Bullies or Popular Leaders? The Social Relations of Aggressive Subtypes of Rural African American Early Adolescents.

Teacher assessments of interpersonal characteristics were used to identify subtypes of rural African American early adolescents (161 boys and 258 girls). Teacher ratings of interpersonal characteristics were used to identify popular and unpopular aggressive subtypes for both boys and girls. Unpopular aggressive youths did not have elevated levels of rejected sociometric status but were more likely to have lower levels of peer-perceived social prominence and social skills. Conversely, popular aggressive youths were more likely to be disliked by peers even though they were perceived by peers as socially prominent and socially skilled and were identified by teachers as highly involved in extracurricular activities. Both popular and unpopular aggressive youths tended to associate with others who had similar levels of peer-perceived popularity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leaving home or still in the nest? Parent-child relationships and psychological health as predictors of different leaving home patterns.

In this study, the author examines the patterns of leaving home in a sample of 93 participants and their parents. The quality of parent-child relationships, psychological symptomatology in adolescence and young adulthood, and attachment representation were assessed longitudinally from mid-adolescence to young adulthood. Attachment representation, adolescent autonomy, and parent-adolescent conflict were found to be important predictors of the timing of leaving home. In-time leavers were more securely attached and had been granted high autonomy during adolescence, compared with participants who had left home later or had returned to reside in the family home. Young adults with nonnormative leaving home patterns also showed higher percentages of insecure attachment representations and lower percentages of involvement with a romantic partner. Participants residing with their parents were, according to their parents' perceptions, less psychologically healthy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental beliefs, infant temperament, and marital quality: Associations with infant–mother and infant–father attachment.

The present research examined parental beliefs about the importance of the paternal caregiving role, mothers’ and fathers’ reports of infant temperament, and observed marital quality as predictors of infant–mother and infant–father attachment security, over and above the effects of parental sensitivity. Infants’ attachment security to mothers and fathers were observed in the Strange Situation at 12 and 13 months, respectively (N = 62 two-parent families). Hierarchical regression models revealed that mothers who viewed the paternal caregiving role as important were less likely to have securely attached infants, but only when infant fussiness was high. In addition, fathers who viewed the paternal caregiving role as important were more likely to have securely attached infants, but only when infants’ fussiness or marital quality was high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant-mother attachment classification: Risk and protection in relation to changing maternal caregiving quality.

The relations between early infant-mother attachment and children's social competence and behavior problems during the preschool and early school-age period were examined in more than 1,000 children under conditions of decreasing, stable, and increasing maternal parenting quality. Infants' Strange Situation attachment classifications predicted mothers' reports of children's social competence and teachers' reports of externalizing and internalizing behaviors from preschool age through 1st grade. These relations appeared to be mediated by parenting quality; main effects of attachment classification disappeared when effects of parenting quality were controlled. Interactions were also observed. For example, when parenting quality improved over time, teachers rated children with insecure infant-mother attachments lower on externalizing behaviors; when parenting quality decreased, teachers rated insecure children higher on externalizing behaviors. In contrast, children classified as securely attached in infancy did not appear to be affected by declining or improving parenting quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style and family dynamics in young adults.

This study examined the relationship between attachment style and family dynamics in a sample of 238 undergraduates. Participants who were securely attached reported significantly higher levels of adaptability, cohesion, and satisfaction in their family of origin than did avoidant and anxious–ambivalent participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and consequences of boys' depression and aggression: Family and school linkages.

This study, conducted with 246 mothers and sons, examined the influences of change in marital conflict and mother–son aggression on boys' aggression and depression and how boys' aggression and depression contributed to their being disliked by their peers. There was also interest in how boys' family and peer experiences contributed to their subsequent behavior. Boys who experienced increases in marital conflict were more depressed, whereas boys who experienced negative interactions with their mothers were more aggressive. Boys who were either depressed or aggressive were more disliked by their peers, and being disliked was associated with aggressive behavior subsequently. However, being depressed appeared to attenuate the negative effect of being disliked by one's peers. The association between boys' earlier aggression and their subsequent aggression with their peers was mediated by dislike by their peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviors among African American, European American, and Mexican American adolescents.

This study examined the relation of mother and father attachment to self-esteem and self-reported involvement in antisocial behaviors among African American (n=488), European American (n=661), and Mexican American (n=434) high school students. The attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance were examined using self-report scales that were developed and validated with participants in the study. Findings indicated that adolescents from the 3 ethnic/racial groups did not differ greatly in their reported attachment to father and mother. Consistent with theoretical formulations, securely attached adolescents from the 3 ethnic groups had a more positive sense of self-esteem and reported less involvement in antisocial behaviors than their less securely attached peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boys who fight at home and school: Family conditions influencing cross-setting consistency.

Compared boys reported to fight at home or at school, and those reported to fight in both settings in terms of their behavior and family backgrounds to test the hypothesis that Ss identified as fighters in both home and school settings would show higher rates of coercive and disobedient behavior in the home than Ss identified as nonfighters or fighters in a single setting. Ss were 74 4th-grade, 78 7th-grade, and 58 10th-grade males, and 17.6% of Ss were classified as fighters in the home by their mothers. Results support the hypothesis: Ss reported to fight by both mothers and teachers scored substantially higher than other Ss on measures of antisocial behavior. Their parents showed poorer monitoring and disciplining practices than parents of the other Ss, and their families were also characterized by more marital conflict, poor problem-solving skills, and parental rejection. Ss who fought only at home had mothers who were less coercive than Ss who fought only at school, as detected by home observations. Findings are discussed in terms of the prevention and treatment of physical violence by boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Les relations avec l'entourage et l'adaptation psychosociale a l'ecole secondaire.

This study examined adolescents' relationships with their mother, their teachers, and their peers and the contribution of these relationships to the variability of their psychosocial adaptation. Two-hundred and ten students from two schools completed questionnaires. The findings showed that adolescents' levels of attachment to mothers was associated with teacher support, the adolescents' levels of self-esteem but not with attachment to friends. Attachment to friends was associated with adolescents' self-rated social skills. Teacher support was the best predictor of school belongingness. Gender and school grades moderated some of these associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)