Behavioral concordance with sex role ideology related to play areas, creativity, and parental sex typing of children.

72 kindergarten children were individually observed, and their play areas and social interaction with peers and adults were recorded. Teachers rated each child individually, and along with a sample of adults, rated "most kindergarten boys/girls" on the same types of behavior. Parents completed a questionnaire scored for sex typing, and the children were individually tested on a measure of creativity. Girls, as compared to boys, played in more different places, related to adults almost twice as much, and played significantly more often indoors. Of 21 distinguishable play situations, the proportions in which 13 were used by girls and boys did not differ, and significant gender differences in social behavior that were directly observed were fewer in number than those expected by adults. Children whose behavior did not closely approximate sex role expectations by adults differed reliably from more conforming children in being more ideationally fluent. Less conforming boys were more often found in neutral areas and less often in play areas popular with children of their own gender. For girls only, a relationship was found between differences in parents' sex-typing scores and whether the child's behavior matched or did not match expectation. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender constancy and the "cost" of sex-typed behavior: A test of the conflict hypothesis.

95 children between 5- and 10-yrs-old watched televised boys and girls who differentially endorsed toys of varying attractiveness. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that behavioral expression of gender norms that arouse conflict would be delayed relative to norms that are conflict-free. Predictions were supported for boys. Gender-constant boys spent more time playing with an uninteresting sex-typed toy than did preconstant boys. When the sex-typed toy was relatively interesting, preconstant boys played with it as much as gender constant boys. Toy play among girls was related to toy attractiveness and the girl's agreement with televised stereotypes. Possible reasons for observed sex differences and previous inconsistencies in the gender constancy literature are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The child's perception of the parent.

"Interviews were held with 217 children of both sexes whose ages ranged from 6-0 to 10-2. Their answers to questions related to their perception of their parents were obtained. Both girls and boys stated that fathers were less friendly and more dominant, punitive, and threatening than mothers. There was, however, a consistent tendency for the older children to be more likely than the younger children to view the parent of the same sex as more dominant and punitive. It was suggested that differential handling of boys and girls might partially account for this latter finding." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Filial therapy with single parents: Effects on parental acceptance, empathy, and stress.

Determined the effectiveness of 10-wk filial therapy with parent–child play sessions as a method of prevention and intervention for single parents and their children. The experimental group was comprised of 20 mothers and 2 fathers. There were 19 mothers and 2 fathers in the control group. Parents ranged in age from 19 to 47 yrs. There were 10 girls and 12 boys in the experimental group and 9 girls and 12 boys in the control group. The children in both groups ranged in ages from 3 to 7 yrs. Results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that single parents in the experimental group significantly increased both their attitude of acceptance and their empathic behavior toward their children, significantly reduced their level of stress related to parenting, and reported significantly fewer problems with their children's behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intolerance of ambiguity in preschool children: Psychometric considerations, behavioral manifestations, and parental correlates.

Conducted 3 experiments in a longitudinal study of ego development in which multiple measures were administered at 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 yrs of age and in which information about the parents and parent–child interactions was also obtained. 57 female and 63 male preschoolers were reliably evaluated with respect to intolerance of ambiguity at 3? and 4? yrs of age by independent sets of nursery school teachers. Ss relatively intolerant of ambiguity were comparatively hesitant to enter, narrow in deploying attention within, and premature in imposing structure upon 3 ambiguous experimental situations. Early intolerance of ambiguity in boys was significantly related to later intolerance of ambiguity, general anxiety, structure-seeking behaviors, and less effective cognitive functioning when the boys were age 7. Early intolerance of ambiguity in girls was related, when the girls were age 7, to a pattern of highly stable peer relationships in which the girls played nonassertive roles. Fathers of boys intolerant of ambiguity described themselves as relatively distant and authoritarian, and in a standardized teaching situation were impatient, critical, and less resourceful while interacting with their sons. Mothers of girls intolerant of ambiguity described themselves as nurturant, and in the teaching situation were emotionally supportive and task structuring with their daughters. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex-related strategies for coping with interpersonal conflict in children aged five and seven.

Explored differences in conflict situation coping strategies in 2 groups of 6 5-yr-olds and 2 groups of 6 7-yr-olds who were videotaped in 12 1-hr long playgroups. Both direct persuasion attempts and conflict mitigation attempts were coded from the videotapes. Results show that boys were involved in conflict more often than girls. Once within a conflict situation, boys tended to use threat and physical force significantly more often, whereas girls tended to attempt to mitigate the conflict significantly more often, especially when interacting with other girls. However, there was considerable overlap in the behavior of the boys and the girls. It is concluded that the bulk of all the Ss' responses to conflict could be described as moderate persuasion. It is suggested that the gender differences described may involve a difference in emphasis rather than a qualitative discontinuity. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child training values of English Canadian and French Canadian parents.

Analyzed the immediate reactions of parents to a taped version of a child's demands for attention, help, and comfort and his displays of anger, insolence, aggression, etc. This procedure, seen as a valuable substitute for actual observation of parent * child interaction, was used with 73 english canadian (ec) and french canadian (fc) working-class parents of 6 yr. Olds. Various value orientations, some culturally distinctive, others cross-culturally common, were revealed, E.g., ec mothers played the more dominant socialization role in the ec family and fc fathers in the fc family. However, both ec and fc parents agreed in general on their treatment of boys and girls, suggesting a canadian value orientation that contrasts sharply with the cross-sex permissiveness noted in an american study employing the same procedure. (french summary) (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stability and consequences of young children's same-sex peer interactions.

This article addresses whether young children's play-partner choices are stable over time and how these choices influence behavior. Sixty-one children (28 boys and 33 girls; mean age?=?53 months) were observed over 6 months, and type of play behavior and sex of play partners were recorded. Children's partner preferences were highly sex differentiated and stable over time, especially when larger aggregates of data were used. Two types of consequences were identified: a binary effect that influenced differences between the sexes and a social dosage effect that influenced variations within the sexes. The binary effect reflected a pattern in which the more both girls and boys played with same-sex partners, the more their behavior became sex differentiated. The social dosage effect reflected a pattern in which variations in levels of same-sex play in the fall contributed significantly to variations in the spring above initial levels of the target behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of sex-typed play behavior in toddlers.

Conducted naturalistic observations of the play of 52 14–35 mo old toddlers (28 girls and 24 boys) with a set of socially stereotyped masculine, feminine, and neutral toys in a daycare setting over 14 mo. In addition, 2 potential influences on toy choice were investigated: parental expectations of play and Ss' gender knowledge. Results show that Ss played more often with toys stereotyped for their own gender than with the other toys. Girls' play with feminine toys increased with age, but boys' play with masculine toys did not vary with age, partly because even the youngest boys chose masculine toys frequently. Parents provided same-sex-typed toys for their children and made sex-typed predictions of their children's toy choices, but these measures were not clearly related to children's play. Cognitive change in understanding of gender was related to toddler boys' early sex-typed behavior. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child and mother play in three U.S. cultural groups: Comparisons and associations.

Child and mother play (n = 113 20-month-olds) among South American Latino immigrants, Japanese immigrants, and European Americans in the United States was investigated. Culturally universal patterns of play dominated the findings. For example, no cultural differences in the prevalence of exploratory or symbolic play were found for either children or their mothers. Regardless of their culture, boys engaged in significantly more exploratory and less symbolic play than did girls when they played by themselves. Few relations were found between child play in the two play sessions. Across cultural groups, children’s exploratory play was significantly positively related to both maternal demonstrations and solicitations of exploratory play. The results identify which realms of child growth, parenting, and family function call for special attention and cultural sensitivity, as well as which do not, in the dynamics of immigrant families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the relationship between perceived social support and student adjustment during early adolescence.

The current study is an investigation of early adolescents' perceptions of social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends, and how that support is related to measures of students' adjustment on a range of behavioral indices. Data were collected on a sample of 246 students in Grades 6 through 8 using the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS), and the Parent Rating Scale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-PRS). Analyses using the social support subscale scores (Parent, Teacher, Classmate, and Close Friend) replicated past research in finding gender differences on mean levels of perceived social support, with girls perceiving higher levels of classmate and close friend support than boys. In addition, girls reported significantly more support from close friends than any other source, whereas boys reported significantly less support from classmates than any other source. Finally, results demonstrated gender differences in the relationship between social support and several indices of student adjustment, and provided evidence for the importance of considering gender differences in planning future research related to social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loneliness among children and young adolescents.

Investigated differences in loneliness involving parents and peers and the relations between loneliness, choices of a "first comfort figure" (FCF), and social sensitivity as perceived by peers. 60 female and 52 male 5th graders, 97 female and 45 male 7th graders, and 66 female and 73 male 9th graders were given a loneliness scale and a sociometric measure of perceived social sensitivity. Results indicate that age differences in parent-related loneliness were marginally significant. Seventh graders seemed to have fewer loneliness experiences in their relationships with parents than 5th and 9th graders. Boys more frequently reported those feelings than girls. Ss who indicated both parents as their FCFs had the lowest scores for parent-related loneliness, whereas those who indicated friends as their FCFs had the highest scores for parent-related loneliness. With respect to peer-related loneliness, no age or sex differences were found. However, girls who chose both parents as their FCFs were more lonely than boys who did the same, and boys who chose their fathers as their FCFs mentioned more peer-related loneliness feelings than the girls who made this choice. Ss perceived as socially sensitive by their classmates less frequently mentioned peer-related loneliness feelings. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in gender composition of friendship networks in adolescent girls and boys.

This article describes both normative changes and individual differences in the gender composition of girls' and boys' friendship networks across adolescence and predicts variations in these changes. It also examines changes in the characteristics (context, age difference, closeness, and support) of same- and other-sex friendships in the network. Girls and boys (N=390) were interviewed annually from Grades 6 to 10 (76% retention). Growth in the proportion of other-sex friends was significantly more pronounced for girls and was related to different predictors for girls and boys. Moreover, over time, girls had other-sex friends that were increasingly older than themselves, and most of these friendships took place outside of the school, which was not the case for boys. Growth in the proportion of other-sex friends was more pronounced for secondary than for best friends. Finally, both girls and boys reported receiving higher levels of help from girls than from boys. These findings suggest that other-sex friendships might place some of the girls on a problematic developmental trajectory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of holding, patterns of play, and social behaviors between parents and infants in New Delhi, India.

Characteristics of holding, play, and social behaviors between 54 mothers and fathers and their 1-year-old infants were observed within the context of their extended families in New Delhi, India. Mothers picked up and held infants more than did fathers, and were more likely to feed and comfort them and to invest more time feeding and displaying affection to them than were fathers. When parents held infants they were more likely to display affection than to feed, comfort, or play with them. Fathers engaged in more rough play than did mothers, and mothers engaged in more peek-a-boo than did fathers. Mothers and fathers treated boys and girls quite similarly. Infants smiled at, vocalized to, and followed mothers more than they did fathers. Parents were generally preferred over relatives as social partners. The data point to the cultural specificity of certain parent–child activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protection of both auditory hair cells and auditory neurons from cisplatin induced damage

Knowledge about body composition is important in metabolic and nutritional studies. In this cross-sectional study the body composition of 403 healthy white Dutch children and adolescents was evaluated by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Possible determinants of body composition were analyzed. In 85 subjects the results of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) were compared with DXA. Fat mass, lean tissue mass, and bone mineral content were greater in older boys and girls. Percentage body fat was greater in older girls but not in boys and it was higher in girls than in boys at all ages. From the age of 14 y boys had higher lean tissue mass and bone mineral content than girls. Tanner stage had a significant relation with body composition in both sexes. Percentage body fat was lower in boys in stage 4 than in stage 3 and was higher in consecutive Tanner stages in girls. After adjustment for age, Tanner stage was significantly positively related to lean tissue mass and bone mineral content in boys and girls and to percentage body fat and fat mass in girls. The profession of the parents and the education of the father had a significant negative correlation with percentage body fat and fat mass in girls (P < 0.01). Physical activity was related to lean tissue mass (P = 0.001) but not to fat mass in boys after adjustment for age. A high correlation and a small difference was found between lean body mass by BIA and lean tissue mass by DXA. Body composition in healthy Dutch children and adolescents is related to age, sex, Tanner stage, socioeconomic status, and physical activity.     

Roles of temperamental arousal and gender-segregated play in young children's social adjustment.

The hypothesis that gender differences in children's adjustment is partially influenced by differences in temperament and interactions with same-sex peers was examined. Fifty-seven predominantly White, middle-class preschoolers (29 boys and 28 girls, M age?=?54.5 months) participated. Measures were taken of children's arousability, problem behaviors, and tendencies to play with same-sex peers. A semester later, children's peer status was assessed. Analyses revealed that arousability and same-sex peer play interacted to predict problem behaviors. For boys high in arousability, play with same-sex peers increased problem behaviors. In contrast, arousable girls who played with other girls were relatively unlikely to show problem behaviors. Moreover, the interaction of arousability and same-sex peer play predicted boys' (but not girls') peer status, and this relation was partially mediated by problem behaviors. The role of gender-related processes is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recidivism among girls.

"The records of 427 repeaters were compared with those of 655 non-repeaters. Of the items associated with repeating, the largest clusters relate to friction with parents and with schools. As compared to a similar study of boys, repeating among girls was linked to a more narrow range of factors. Girls more than boys were affected by present relationships within the home, particularly those involving their mothers." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental functioning and children's adjustment in families of divorce: a prospective study

This paper prospectively examined relations between marital status, predivorce parenting practices, and children's adjustment, using data from the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS). Prospective analyses of children's predivorce adjustment indicated that neither boys nor girls showed more problematic behavior prior to parental separation, and only boys had more difficulties after divorce. However, parents of to-be-divorced families reported more difficulties in childcare practices before divorce than did parents of always-married families. Parenting difficulties in to-be-divorced families were found consistently for boys but not for girls. Results suggest that the difficulties found among boys after divorce may be linked with parenting problems that begin before divorce.