Determiners and consequences of verbal behaviors of young children and their mothers.

Explored the dynamic aspects of maternal language instruction and first language learning. 10 boys and 10 girls between 1 and 5 yrs of age were observed with their mothers in their middle-class homes. 11 types of motivating techniques and 5 types of instructional activities could be reliably differentiated. The frequencies of motivating techniques remained unchanged with the child's increasing age and language level, whereas the frequencies of the mother's instructional activities declined significantly. Meaningful intercorrelations of the motivating techniques attested to the mutual adaptation of mothers and children. Significant intercorrelations of the types of contents taught suggested maternal teaching styles. Motivating techniques and contents of instructions were only weakly related, indicating that instructional strategies can be combined rather flexibly. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conversations about feeling states between mothers and their young children.

The development of children's verbal communication about feeling states was studied by analyzing naturally occurring conversations at home. The data were recorded during two longitudinal studies. In Study 1, 43 second-born children were observed with mother and older sibling at 18 and 24 months. In Study 2, 16 firstborn children were observed with mother and younger sibling at 25 and 32 months. Both studies showed that by 2 years of age, the majority of children referred to a range of feeling states in self and other, and they discussed the cause of feeling states in a variety of contexts (including pretend games). References to feeling states made by mother and older sibling when the target child was 18 months were positively correlated with the target child's speech about feeling states at 24 months. Both mothers and older siblings mentioned feeling states more frequently to girls than to boys. By 24 months, the girls themselves referred to feeling states significantly more often than boys. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instruction by mothers and fathers during problem solving with their young children.

Mothers and fathers of 163 5-year-olds were observed interacting with their children in dyads on 2 separate occasions on a familiar and unfamiliar cognitive activity. Within- and between-family comparisons were conducted. Few differences in the instruction provided by mothers and fathers appeared, and those that did were on the unfamiliar task. On this task, instruction by mothers, within and across families, was more responsive to children's changing skill than was instruction by fathers. Directive and disapproving comments by parents were related to poorer posttest performance by the child. High level of instruction by both parents was related to better posttest performance than was low level of instruction by parents. Contributions of parents to their children's cognitive development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's judgments of their own and their peers' academic competence.

A standardized open-ended interview was used to study how 96 4–8 yr old children judged their own and their classmates' abilities. Ss were asked to explain how they knew who in their class was best and who was worst at various tasks and who was the best and who was the worst thinker. Ss also rated themselves and their classmates on how smart each was and explained their ratings. Content analyses of responses revealed that younger Ss, particularly males, were more likely than older Ss to refer to sociability in their ability judgments; they were less likely to base their judgments on social comparisons or on the difficulty level of the task. Ss at all age levels frequently explained ability judgments in terms of effort or work habits, although work habits tended to be referred to less by preschool-age Ss than by older Ss. Ss' ratings of their own ability declined with grade; ratings for peers were lower than self-ratings and did not change as a function of grade level. Self-ability ratings of Ss in kindergarten through the 3rd grade and their ratings of classmates were significantly correlated to teacher ratings of relative academic standing. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intergenerational costs of parental social stressors: academic and social difficulties in early adolescence for children of young mothers

Social stressors embedded in parents' occupational and family roles have been shown to have effects on family interaction and the cognitive and emotional development of young children. Here we consider whether these patterns also hold for children in early adolescence. We study 1,158 10 to 14-year-old children born to the early childbearers among the female respondents of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth cohort. We find that both poor quality of parental employment and low quality of mothers' relationships with their partners have adverse effects on the cognitive stimulation and maternal warmth children receive; living in informal unions is also associated with poorer parent-child interaction. These family interaction patterns in turn both buffer the effects of stressful family conditions and shape academic and behavior outcomes directly. Some work and family conditions interact in their effects: In particular, single mothering has less adverse effects on cognitive stimulation and behavior problems when mothers are employed in occupations providing higher complexity. The effects of current conditions are diminished but seldom eliminated when we control for possible selection effects by using data from earlier waves to control for earlier levels of child problems. These findings suggest that current parental social stressors continue to have consequences for both academic and behavioral outcomes during early adolescence.     

Kindergarten children's emotion competence as a predictor of their academic competence in first grade.

This study examined the relation between emotion competence and academic competence and three potential mediators of this relation. In kindergarten, 193 children from elementary schools serving urban, minority, and low income students participated in an emotion competence assessment, and 142 of these children completed a follow-up assessment in first grade. The relation between teacher ratings of emotion regulation and academic competence was primarily indirect through the effect of emotion regulation on teacher ratings of attention. Peer acceptance and teacher closeness did not mediate the relations between emotion competence and academic competence. Results highlight the potential benefits of early emotion-centered prevention programs and the need to identify children with attention problems as early as possible to prevent academic difficulties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do parent practices to encourage academic competence influence the social adjustment of young European American and Chinese American children?

The predominant early childhood education philosophy in the United States views formal academic instruction as inappropriate and harmful to the social development of young children. Chinese American immigrants to the United States, however, have been found to teach their young children in more formal ways, to be more directive, and to structure their children's use of time to a greater degree (C. S. Huntsinger, P. E. Jose, F.-R. Liaw, & W.-D. Ching, 1997). Forty European American (20 boys, 20 girls) and 36 2nd-generation Chinese American (18 boys, 18 girls) 1st- and 2nd-grade children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated in the Time 2 data collection of this longitudinal study to assess whether the formal academic environment provided by Chinese American parents is linked to poorer social adjustment in their children. Regressions showed that parents' work-oriented methods influenced academic performance but not social adjustment of their children.     

Two-career families: Demographic variables, parenting, and competence in young children.

Data on parenting were collected for 30 families with 1 or 2 3–5.8 yr old children, using home observations, observer ratings, and self-reports. Children's competence was assessed by a preschool behavior Q-sort. Patterns of employment and socioeconomic status (SES) differed for mothers and fathers, apparently in response to the demands of the childbearing and rearing. For both parents, SES was related across methods to parental warmth. Paternal variables were more strongly associated with children's competence than were maternal variables. Partial correlation analyses suggested that the links between paternal measures and competence were mediated by father warmth. These results have implications for models of the processes connecting demographic variables, parenting, and child outcomes. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-representations and socioemotional competence in young children: A 3-year longitudinal study.

In a longitudinal study, the connections between children's self-representations at age 5 and their self-perceptions, socioemotional competence according to the teacher, and peer acceptance at age 8 were examined. The sample consisted of 60 children (33 boys, 27 girls). Self-representations at age 5 were assessed by the Puppet Interview (J. Cassidy, 1988). Results generally revealed the expected connections between the positiveness of self at age 5 and self-perceptions and socioemotional functioning 3 years later. These findings support the predictive validity of the Puppet Interview. Moreover, they suggest that young children do possess at least a rudimentary sense of being generally worthy and lovable, which can be assessed by using adequate, age-appropriate interviews. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The transmission of trauma across generations: identification with parental trauma in children of Holocaust survivors

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the phenomenology of intergenerational transmission of trauma with the aim of elucidating the interactional process of transmission within an object relations framework. METHOD: The method consisted of systematic textual analysis of semi-structured interviews with six Jewish women born after the war who were children of concentration camp interned Holocaust survivors. RESULTS: Four superordinate themes were identified: heightened awareness of parents' Holocaust survivor status, parenting style, overidentification with parents' experiences and transmission of fear and mistrust. These were found despite the variation in parental communication. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that unconscious processes are at least partially involved in the transmission of trauma. A form of projective identification is proposed as an explanatory mechanism which brings together diverse aspects of the observed phenomena: projection by the parent of Holocaust-related feelings and anxieties into the child; introjection by the child as if she herself had experienced the concentration camps; and return of this input by the child in the form of compliant and solicitous behaviour associated with enmeshment and individuation problems. Further research may establish these phenomena as a particular form of Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder.     

Characterizing interactions between anxious mothers and their children.

The present study assessed interactions between anxious mothers and their children, using observational techniques to elucidate potential mechanisms of anxiety transmission. Results revealed that anxious mothers were less warm and positive in their interactions with their children, less granting of autonomy, and more critical and catastrophizing in comparison with normal control mothers. Maternal anxiety status appeared to be the primary predictor of maternal warmth during interactions. Child anxiety status was most predictive of maternal granting of autonomy behavior. Maternal behaviors exhibited during interactions were the most salient predictors of child anxiety. Interventions focusing on family interactions that take into account the contributions of both members of the dyad may be more effective in curbing transmission than interventions that solely address maternal or child symptomatology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting knowledge: Experiential and sociodemographic factors in European American mothers of young children.

Knowledge of child rearing and child development is relevant to parenting and the well-being of children. Using a sociodemographically heterogeneous sample of 268 European American mothers of 2-year-olds, we assessed the state of mothers' parenting knowledge; compared parenting knowledge in groups of mothers who varied in terms of parenthood and social status; and identified principal sources of mothers' parenting knowledge in terms of social factors, parenting supports, and formal classes. On the whole, European American mothers demonstrated fair but less than complete basic parenting knowledge; age, education, and rated helpfulness of written materials each uniquely contributed to mothers' knowledge. Adult mothers scored higher than adolescent mothers, and mothers improved in their knowledge of parenting from their first to their second child (and were stable across time). No differences were found between mothers of girls and boys, mothers who varied in employment status, or birth and adoptive mothers. The implications of variation in parenting knowledge and its sources for parenting education and clinical interactions with parents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting beliefs and behaviors in northern and southern groups of Italian mothers of young infants.

Similarities and differences in northern and southern Italian mothers' social and didactic parenting beliefs and behaviors, and relations between their beliefs and behaviors, are reported. Both groups of mothers reported that they engaged more in social than didactic interactions with their infants, whereas in actuality both groups engaged in didactic behaviors with their infants for longer periods of time than they engaged in social behaviors. In addition, northern mothers engaged in more social interactions with their infants than did southern mothers. No correlations between beliefs and behaviors emerged in either group. These data speak to issues of intracultural variation and cross-cultural similarities in family psychology and parenting, belief-behavior relations in parenting, and the importance of methodology (parental report or observation) in the study of parenting and family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting satisfaction and marital satisfaction in mothers and fathers with young children.

This study examined parenting satisfaction (PS) and marital satisfaction (MS) in married couples over 4 yrs (ns ranged from 59 to 87). There was little evidence of interdomain spillover in that, for both husbands and wives, PS and MS were generally unrelated at each assessment and change in PS was unrelated to change in MS. With regard to interparent spillover, the link between spouses' MS tended to be stronger than the link between spouses' PS at each assessment, and the link between spouses' change in MS was stronger than the link between spouses' change in PS. A typology of satisfaction with family life is proposed as one way of integrating the study of marital relationships and parent–child relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social interaction between deaf preschoolers and their mothers: The effects of communication method and communication competence.

Examined the effects of both communication mode (oral vs oral plus manual) and level of communicative competence (high vs low) on the play interaction of 28 profoundly deaf preschool children (3–5? yrs old) and their hearing mothers. Mothers and children from 2 groups, oral and simultaneous (oral plus manual) communicators matched on audiologic and demographic variables, were videotaped during free play. The tapes were later subjected to an interaction analysis that examined behavior at the level of the dyad rather than the individual. The duration and complexity of interaction were strongly affected by both the method and level of communication. Simultaneous dyads had interactions that were longer and more complex and contained more cooperation and positive affect than those of oral dyads. Simultaneous communication is discussed in terms of its benefits for both the communicative and social competence of profoundly deaf children. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling causal relations between academic and social competence and depression: a multitrait-multimethod longitudinal study of children

The authors obtained self-reports, peer nominations, teacher ratings, and parent reports of depression and social and academic competence on 490 3rd graders and 455 6th graders near the beginning and end of the school year. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling revealed that (a) measures showed significant convergent and discriminant validity; (b) within-wave correlations between constructs were large and significant, although the depression-social competence correlation was larger than the depression-academic competence correlation; (c) the cross-wave stability of all constructs was remarkably high; and (d) social competence at Wave 1 predicted depression at Wave 2 for 6th graders after controlling for depression at Wave 1. Depression did not predict change in either academic or social competence over time. Implications for competence-based and failure-based models of child depression are discussed.     

The Child Behavior Scale: A teacher-report measure of young children's aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors.

Few instruments provide reliable, valid data on peer-behavioral indicators of risk and competence in young children. The authors developed a teacher-report measure of young children's behavior with peers at school—the Child Behavior Scale (CBS)—and evaluated its reliability and validity. Data were gathered on 2 cohorts (n?=?206 per cohort) of 5- to 6-year-old children; teachers rated children on Aggressive With Peers, Prosocial With Peers, Asocial With Peers, Excluded by Peers, Anxious–Fearful, and Hyperactive–Distractible subscales twice during the school year. Scores were internally consistent, distinct, and relatively stable over time. The validation paradigm produced a network of correlations that was, overall, consistent with the hypothesized conceptual structure of the CBS. These findings replicated across cohorts and provide sufficient evidence of the reliability and validity of the CBS to recommend its use for behavioral assessment with young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persuasibility in young children as a function of aggressive motivation and aggression conflict.

This study investigating the dynamic bases of the reported negative relationship of overt aggression to persuasibility postulated that low persuasibility is associated with an overtly aggressive orientation, high persuasibility with a defensive need to inhibit strong aggressive motivation, and medium presuasibility with a relative absence of aggressive motivation and inhibitions against aggression. 3 groups of 15 were selected from an initial sample of 169 1st-grade boys for high, medium, and low presuasibility, and were compared on aggressive motivation and an aggression conflict ratio. The results are that High and Low persuasible (P) Ss have more aggressive motivation than Medium P Ss; High P Ss have a smaller aggression conflict ratio than Low P Ss. The results thus support the initial postulates. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social and academic competence of children vulnerable to schizophrenia and other behavior pathologies.

Presents the rationale behind and the initial findings from a research project investigating the competence of children vulnerable to psychopathology. 4 target groups were studied: (a) children with schizophrenic mothers, (b) children with internalizing mothers, (c) externalizing children, and (d) internalizing children. R. Achenbach's internalizing-externalizing classification system was used. Each of the 120 target children (mean age = 10) was placed in an experimental trial with 120 matched and 116 randomly-selected controls. Judgments of social and intellectual competence were made by peers and teachers in 113 classrooms in 37 elementary schools. Results are presented for each sex separately at the trial and target-group levels. Overall, externalizers were judged least competent, followed in order of increasing competence by children of schizophrenic mothers, internalizers, childern of internalizing mothers, and controls. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)