Development of young children's prosocial moral judgment: A longitudinal follow-up.

34 4–5 yr old children whose prosocial moral judgment had been assessed in preschool were reinterviewed 18 mo later. At the follow-up, Ss used significantly more needs-oriented and approval-oriented reasoning and less hedonistic reasoning than earlier. High religious participation at the time of the follow-up was positively related to the use of needs-oriented reasoning and negatively related to hedonistic reasoning. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observational validation of a peer nomination technique for identifying aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children.

Membership in peer-identified aggressive, withdrawn, or aggressive and withdrawn groups and in a nondeviant contrast group was predicted based on quantitative observations of playground behavior. Subjects were selected from a pool of 174 fifth and sixth graders who had completed the Pupil Evaluation Inventory. Of 43 selected aggressive, withdrawn, aggressive and withdrawn, and contrast subjects, 65% were correctly classified, based on their behavior on the playground. These results confirm the ability of peers to identify children who show specific patterns of atypical social interaction. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status of aggressive and aggressive/withdrawn boys: A replication across age and method.

Conducted a replication across age and method of R. Milich and S. Landau's (see record 1984-22852-001) findings that the relationship between aggressive child behavior and social status was clarified by classification of kindergarten males into aggressive vs aggressive/withdrawn (AW) groups. Ss were 238 3rd–6th grade males, and a group-administered sociometric procedure was used for classification instead of the individual interview used by Milich and Landau. Consistent with the previous findings, AW Ss were both highly rejected and unpopular; although rejected, aggressive Ss had no popularity problems. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of rewards on children's prosocial motivation: A socialization study.

This study examined the relation between mothers' attitudes/practices regarding the use of rewards and children's susceptibility to the undermining effects of rewards. We assessed the attitudes/practices regarding rewards for 72 mothers and assigned their children to a control condition or to one of four experimental conditions that differed in whether children received rewards for helping and whether children engaged in the helping task or watched other children help. Children were then given an opportunity to help in a nonreward free-choice period. Rewards enhanced helping in the immediate situation. However, rewards undermined children's helping in the free-choice period, but only for children whose mothers felt positive about using rewards. Moreover, mothers who felt more positive about using rewards reported their children to be less prosocial than children of mothers who had less positive attitudes. It was suggested that children's responses to rewards depend in part on their experiences with rewards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-national study on the relations among prosocial moral reasoning, gender role orientations, and prosocial behaviors.

This research examined the correlates of prosocial moral reasoning (PMR) in 2 studies. Study 1 investigated age, gender, and culture group differences in PMR in Brazilian children and adolescents (n?=?265) and U.S. adolescents (n?=?67). Relations between PMR and both prosocial behaviors and gender role orientations in Brazilian adolescents (n?=?136) were explored in Study 2. Self-reflective, internalized reasoning was positively related, and hedonistic reasoning was negatively related, to peer ratings of prosocial behaviors. Femininity was associated with more self-reflective, internalized concerns and with less concerns regarding gaining others' approval. In general, age and gender differences in PMR were similar for both Brazilian and U.S. adolescents. However, U.S. adolescents scored higher on internalized moral reasoning than Brazilian adolescents. Discussion focused on the correlates of PMR in Brazilian and U.S. children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of empathy to prosocial and related behaviors.

In a prior review involving a meta-analysis (Underwood & Moore, 1982), no relation between affective empathy and prosocial behavior was found. In this article, the literature relevant to this issue is reexamined. The studies were organized according to the method used to assess empathy. When appropriate, meta-analyses were computed. In contrast to the earlier review, low to moderate positive relations generally were found between empathy and both prosocial behavior and cooperative/socially competent behavior. The method of assessing empathy did influence the strength of the relation; picture/story measures of empathy were not associated with prosocial behavior, whereas nearly all other measures were. Several possible explanations for the pattern of findings are discussed, as are the implications of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Child Behavior Scale (CBS) revisited: A longitudinal evaluation of CBS subscales with children, preadolescents, and adolescents.

The Child Behavior Scale (CBS) is a teacher-report instrument that was developed over a decade ago as an alternative to more costly methods for assessing children’s behavior and peer relations in school contexts. This investigation was undertaken to clarify how well the CBS achieves its aims with a broader age spectrum of youth (6- to 13-year-olds). Investigative aims were to examine the basic psychometric properties of the CBS and evaluate the construct and criterion-related validity of the CBS’s 6 subscales at each of 8 grade levels (Grades 1–8). These aims were examined in a longitudinal investigation with samples of children and their teachers, classmates, and parents. One sample (n = 396) was followed from 1st through 8th grade, and a second sample (n = 100) was recruited in 5th grade, combined with the initial sample, and followed through 8th grade. Results suggest that the majority of the CBS subscales provide trustworthy data about the behavioral and peer relational constructs that this instrument was designed to measure and that the CBS’s range of application, or developmental purview as an assessment tool, spans the period from early childhood (age 5) through early adolescence (age 13). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations of moral reasoning and vicarious emotion to young children's prosocial behavior toward peers and adults.

Four- and 5-year-old (primarily) Euro-American children (40 girls, 34 boys) participated in a study of moral reasoning, vicarious emotional responding, and prosocial behavior. Children's prosocial behavior and self-reported and facial reactions of vicarious emotion were obtained in response to 2 peer distress films and 2 adult distress simulations. Moral reasoning was assessed with prosocial moral dilemmas. Children's emotional responses were found to be related to analogous types of moral reasoning and were associated in expected ways with helping of peers and adults. Higher levels of moral reasoning were positively related to prosocial behavior. Children high in both other-oriented moral cognitions and sympathy were most helpful toward peers. The pattern of findings suggested that linkages are being formed in the preschool years not only between other-oriented affect and cognitions but also between those that are self-focused in nature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal study of early childhood injuries and acute illnesses in the offspring of adolescent mothers who were aggressive, withdrawn, or aggressive–withdrawn in childhood.

In a 15-year longitudinal study, the medical records of 94 children whose adolescent mothers had childhood histories of aggressive, withdrawn, aggressive–withdrawn, or normative (nondeviant) social behavior were examined. The children's annual rates of visits to the emergency room (ER) and to nonemergency medical facilities, post-ER hospitalizations, diagnoses of injuries, acute illness and infection, asthma, and emergency surgical consultations were examined between birth and 48 months of age. Group differences were found for the annual rate at which children were brought to the ER and for injury-related post-ER hospitalizations. Sons of women in the aggressive group and both sons and daughters of women in the aggressive–withdrawn group had elevated and distinctive profiles in respect to specific emergency diagnostic and treatment variables compared with children of women in the nondeviant group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mitigating the imitation of aggressive behaviors by changing children's attitudes about media violence.

In 2 experiments, 169 1st- and 3rd-graders selected because of their high exposure to TV violence, were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. Over 2 yrs, the experimental Ss were exposed to 2 treatments designed to reduce the likelihood of their imitating the aggressive behaviors they observed on TV. The treatments involved teaching the Ss that (a) TV violence is an unrealistic portrayal of the real world, (b) aggressive behaviors are not as acceptable in the real world as they appear on TV, and (c) one should not behave like the aggressive characters seen on TV. The control group received comparable neutral treatments. By the end of the 2nd yr, the experimental Ss were rated as significantly less aggressive by their peers, and the relation between violence viewing and aggressiveness was diminished in the experimental group. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale: A new measure.

Assessed the psychometric properties of a new measure of generalized expectancy for success. Three samples of White, middle-class undergraduates participated in the study. The 1st sample of 59 females and 41 males received a preliminary version of the Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (GESS). Item analysis yielded 30 items that were substantially correlated with the total score but were not significantly related to social desirability. The 2nd sample of 63 females and 41 males received the 30-item GESS twice at a 6-wk interval. The 3rd sample of 69 females and 34 males received the GESS, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Hopelessness Scale. Results indicate that the GESS has acceptable test–retest reliability, high internal consistency, and minimal relationship with social desirability. Predicted relationships between high generalized expectancy for success, depressive symptomatology, and internality were supported. Factor analysis indicated that GESS scores are a function of one general factor. Further construct validation is reviewed, and implications for future use of the GESS are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Guttman scale of children's coercive behaviors.

Hypothesized that there are consistencies in child-rearing practices such that a regular progression would exist in children's performances of coercive responses. Family interaction data from 27 problem and 28 nonproblem boys show that schedules of parental punishment covaried with performance rates for children's coercive behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct and crossover effects of prosocial and antisocial coping behaviors.

The relationship of antisocial and prosocial coping behaviors to individual and relationship well-being was prospectively examined in a sample of fire-emergency workers (FEWs) and their marital or romantic partners (69 couples). Results of hierarchical multiple regression equations indicated that FEW's antisocial coping was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Prosocial coping was related to decreased anger expression and increased relationship adjustment. Partners' prosocial coping was a significant predictor of FEW's reports of better relationship adjustment. For partners, prosocial coping was positively related to their relationship adjustment. FEW coping was unrelated to partners' outcome. Results for the FEWs support the notion that coping has direct and crossover effects. Moreover, results indicate that prosocial and antisocial coping behaviors have differential effects on well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental discipline and affection and children's prosocial behavior: Genetic and environmental links.

The authors investigated genetic and environmental contributions to the relationships between children's (N = 9,319 twin pairs) prosocial behavior and parental positivity and negativity toward them. Children's prosocial behavior was rated by parents at ages 3, 4, and 7 and by teachers at age 7. At each age, parents described their feelings and discipline toward each twin. Parental positivity was indexed by positive feelings and positive, noncoercive discipline, and parental negativity was indexed by negative feelings and coercive, punitive discipline. Genetics and the environment both contributed to individual differences in prosocial behavior and in parenting. At all ages, parental positivity correlated positively, and parental negativity correlated negatively with prosocial behavior. Genetic factors largely mediated the negative correlation between prosocial behavior and parental negativity. Shared environmental effects contributed mainly to the positive relationship between prosocial behavior and parental positivity. This pattern was found both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The findings point to the importance of children's characteristics and of the parent-child relationship in family processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A review of children's reports of parent behaviors.

Analyzed the literature on children's reports of parent behaviors in terms of a model combining features from E. S. Schaefer and M. Seigelman. 3 orthogonal factors loving (acceptance-rejection), demanding (psychological control), and punishment and the intersecting planes of the 1st 2 factors describe the traditional domain of parent-child interactional variables as reported by children. However, process variables such as perceived parental consistency, delay of reward, etc., and noninteractional variables such as parental social sex role, etc., are not described by the combined model. The model was applied to empirical findings, and the children's reports of parent behaviors were shown to be different for mother-report and father-report and to be related clearly to the sex, social class, and behavior of the children. Suggestions are presented for additional research which is relevant to both theoretical and applied goals. (2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socialization of children's vicarious emotional responding and prosocial behavior: Relations with mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity.

Examined mother–child emotion-related interactions and how these interactions related to mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity. Mothers of 49 kindergartners and 54 2nd graders told their children 2 stories about distressed others. Children's emotional, physiological, and prosocial responses were also obtained. Mothers rated children's tendencies to become emotional when exposed to distressed others. For kindergartners, mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity were positively related to her use of positive facial expressions. Mothers' perceptions of 2nd graders' emotional reactivity were inversely related to maternal responsiveness. These findings suggest that mothers may "adjust" their interactions with their children based on their perceptions of children's emotional tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Causal Dimension Scale: A measure of how individuals perceive causes.

A shortcoming of previous attribution research has been the assumption that researchers can accurately translate causal attributions into causal dimensions. Attributional statements are often ambiguous and even when clearly stated may be perceived quite differently by the attributor and the researcher. The studies reported describe the development of the Causal Dimension Scale, a measure designed to assess how the attributor perceives the causes he or she has stated for an event. This scale assesses causal perceptions in terms of the locus of causality, stability, and controllability dimensions described by B. Weiner (1979). Two studies (288 undergraduates) tested the reliability and validity of the Causal Dimension Scale. All 3 subscales were found to be reliable and valid, and a 3-mode factor analysis confirmed the 3-dimensional structure of the scale. Results also indicate differences in the perception of causes of success and failure, with attributions for success being perceived as more internal, stable, and controllable than attributions for failure. The relationship between the Causal Dimension Scale and other attribution measures (such as locus of control or "attributional style" measures) is discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Parenting Scale: A measure of dysfunctional parenting in discipline situations.

Designed a rating scale to measure dysfunctional discipline practices in parents of young children. Three stable factors of dysfunctional discipline style were identified: (1) Laxness, (2) Overreactivity, and (3) Verbosity. The Parenting Scale exhibited adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Mothers of clinic children reported more dysfunctional parenting than did mothers of nonclinic children. Parenting Scale scores were related to maternal ratings of child behavior and marital discord. Most important, Parenting Scale scores correlated significantly with observational measures of dysfunctional discipline and child misbehavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paths across generations: academic competence and aggressive behaviors in young mothers and their children

This research compared the social and cognitive development of young mothers when they were children with the social and cognitive development of their offspring. Intergenerational development was investigated over a 17-year period for 57 women who had been studied longitudinally from childhood to adulthood and who became young mothers (R. B. Cairns & B. D. Cairns, 1994). The children of these women, in turn, were followed prospectively from 1 to 2 years old through the early school years. The academic competence of mothers when they were children was significantly linked to the academic competence of their children at school age. In contrast, the across-generation correlations between measures of aggressive behavior of the mothers when they were children and measures of aggressive behavior of their children in early school grades were modest and unreliable. Certain within-generation continuities were observed in both cognitive and aggressive development.