The ontogeny and significance of infants' facial expressions in the first 9 months of life.

Four studies examined aspects of the differential emotions theory (DET) hypothesis of expressive behavior development. In Study 1, facial-expressive movements of 108 2.5–9-mo-old infants were video recorded in positive and negative mother–infant interactions (conditions). As expected, Max-specified full-face and partial expressions of interest, joy, sadness, and anger were morphologically stable between the 2 ages. Studies 1 and 2 confirmed predicted differential responding to mother sadness and anger expressions and to composite positive and negative conditions. Discrete negative expressions exceeded negative blends, and the amount of both expression types remained stable across ages. Studies 3 and 4 provided varying degrees of support for the social validity of Max-specified infant negative affect expressions. Conclusions include revisions and clarifications of DET. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental Changes in Facial Expressions of Emotions in the Strange Situation During the Second Year of Life.

Infants' expressions of discrete emotions were coded during the more stressful episodes (4 through 8) of the Strange Situation at 13 and 18 months. The data showed a significant decrease in full-face expressions (more complex configurations of movements) and a significant increase in component expressions (simpler and more constrained patterns of movements). The authors interpreted this trend as a developmental change toward more regulated and less intense emotions. Consistent with this view, the aggregate index of infants' full-face negative emotion expressions, interpreted as reflecting relatively unregulated intense emotions, correlated significantly with maternal ratings of difficult temperament. The authors discuss alternative interpretations of the findings in terms of changes in reactivity/arousability and the emerging capacity for self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relations Between Contextual Risk, Earned Income, and the School Adjustment of Children From Economically Disadvantaged Families.

This longitudinal study examined the relations between multiple risk indexes representing contextual adversity, income-to-needs ratios, and the elementary school adjustment of children from economically disadvantaged families. The results provide evidence for volatility in family circumstances over 2-year intervals from preschool to 5th grade, for relations between the contextual risk indexes and change in externalizing behavior, and for relations between the income-to-needs ratios and change in academic competence. The results also show differences in the timing of the effects. Little evidence was found for persistence effects. Theoretical implications concern conceptualizations of the diverse and dynamic nature of the family circumstances experienced by disadvantaged children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's emotional competence and attentional competence in early elementary school.

The current study examined the relations between two aspects of emotional competence--emotion knowledge and emotion expression, and children's attentional competence during one school year. Participants were 263 first- and second-grade students at two rural elementary schools. A multiple regression analysis showed that emotion knowledge predicted attentional competence while controlling for age, gender, verbal ability, and initial levels of attentional competence. Multiple regression analyses examining predictors of peer nominations of emotion expression showed that attentional competence predicted peer nominations of happiness, sadness, and anger expression, and emotion knowledge predicted peer nominations of anger expression. Potential improvements for prevention programs and the importance of the findings for school personnel are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interest expression, visual fixation, and heart rate changes in 2- and 8-month-old infants.

Hypothesized that in young infants the facial indicators of interest (as described by the Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System), visual fixation (VF) and heart rate (HR), would respond differentially to stimuli that vary in face relatedness. 70 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-mo-old infants were presented with a live female face, a female mannequin, and an inanimate object with scrambled facial features; VF, HR, and facial movements assumed to be indicators of interest were measured. Age, sex, and stimuli were independent variables, and VF, HR, and interest indices were dependent variables. There was a significant multivariate main effect for age. There was also a significant multivariate main effect for stimuli and significant univariate main effects of stimuli on fixation time, HR, and facial movement indicators of interest. Findings are generally in support of the hypothesis. Consistent with differential emotions theory, hierarchical regression analysis showed that duration-of-interest expression was a significant predictor of VF of all 3 stimuli. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Family structure and the externalizing behavior of children from economically disadvantaged families.

This study examined the relations among family structure, caregiver relationship history, aspects of environmental adversity, and teacher reports about the externalizing behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families. Family structure contrasted intact families, stepfamilies, single-parent families, and cohabiting families. Problem behaviors were more frequent for children from unmarried families than from married families and were more frequent for boys than for girls from cohabiting families. Relationship history reduced the effects for family structure. Children's adjustment varied with both the current status and past stability of caregiver intimate relationships for disadvantaged families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Translating emotion theory and research into preventive interventions.

Scientific advances in the field of emotions suggest a framework for conceptualizing the emotion-related aspects of prevention programs that aim to enhance children's socioemotional competence and prevent the emergence of behavior problems and psychopathology. A conception of emotions as inherently adaptive and motivational and the related empirical evidence from several disciplines and specialities suggest 7 principles for developing preventive interventions: the utilization of positive and negative emotions, emotion modulation as a mediator of emotion utilization, emotion patterns in states and traits, different processes of emotion activation, emotion communication in early life, and the development of connections for the modular and relatively independent emotions and cognitive systems. Each principle's practical implications and application in current prevention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therelations between cluster indexes of risk and promotion and the problem behaviors of 6- and 7- year old children from economically disadvantaged families.

This study examined the relations between alternative explanations of poverty cofactors and promotion processes and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-yr old children from economically disadvantaged families (N?=?159). The results showed that single index representations of risk and promotion variables predicted child aggressive behaviors but not child anxious/depressed behaviors. An addictive model of individual risk indicators performed similarly. Similar indexes representing clusters of parent adjustment variables and family instability variables, however, differentially predicted aggressive and anxious/depressed behaviors, respectively. The results suggest the importance of promotion processes and representing environmental adversity at varying levels of specificity for children from economically disadvantaged families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality characteristics of engineers as measured by the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

What are the personality characteristics of people who are doing well in engineering? "The average personality (PPS) profile of 81 experienced engineers and that of the 750 male liberal arts students in Edwards' norm group were found to be significantly different by an analysis of variance technique." Things and processes appeal to engineers more than do people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)