bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contextual Risk, Caregiver Emotionality, and the Problem Behaviors of Six‐ and Seven‐Year‐Old Children from Economically Disadvantaged Families
Authors: Ackerman Brian P. , Izard Carroll E. , Schoff Kristen , Youngstrom Eric A. , Kogos Jen
Published: March 2003

This study explored the relations between additive and cumulative representations of contextual risk, caregiver emotionality, child adaptability, and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6‐ and 7‐year‐old children (N = 155) from economically disadvantaged families. The results showed relations between both risk representations and child problem scores and provided evidence that the relation for cumulative risk may be moderated by caregiver negative emotionality and caregiver positive emotionality and partially mediated by child adaptability. The results suggest the importance of exploring alternative representations of contextual risk and the conditions under which contextual risk influences child behavior.
The Legacy of Early Attachments
Authors: Thompson Ross A.
Published: March 2003

The impact of early close relationships on psychological development is one of the enduring questions of developmental psychology that is addressed by attachment theory and research. This essay evaluates what has been learned, and offers ideas for future research, by examining the origins of continuity and change in the security of attachment early in life, and its prediction of later behavior. The discussion evaluates research on the impact of changing family circumstances and quality of care on changes in attachment security, and offers new hypotheses for future study. Considering the representations (or internal working models) associated with attachment security as developing representations, the discussion proposes that (1) attachment security may be developmentally most influential when the working models with which it is associated have sufficiently matured to influence other emerging features of psychosocial functioning; (2) changes in attachment security are more likely during periods of representational advance; and (3) parent–child discourse and other relational influences shape these developing representations after infancy. Finally, other features of early parent–child relationships that develop concurrently with attachment security, including negotiating conflict and establishing cooperation, also must be considered in understanding the legacy of early attachments.
School Extracurricular Activity Participation as a Moderator in the Development of Antisocial Patterns
Authors: Mahoney Joseph L.
Published: March 2003

This research involves a longitudinal study of antecedents and moderators in the development of antisocial patterns. Participants included 695 boys and girls who were interviewed annually from childhood to the end of high school and again at ages 20 and 24. Cluster analyses identified four configurations of boys and girls that were reasonably homogeneous with respect to behavior and academic performance at the beginning of the investigation. When tracked over time, the configurations differed significantly in patterns of early school dropout and criminal arrests. Boys and girls in the “multiple risk configuration” were more likely than those in other configurations to show long‐term antisocial patterns. Participation in school extracurricular activities was associated with reduced rates of early dropout and criminal arrest among high‐risk boys and girls. The decline in antisocial patterns was dependent on whether the individuals' social network also participated in school extracurricular activities.
Research on Resilience: Response to Commentaries
Authors: Luthar Suniya S. , Cicchetti Dante , Becker Bronwyn
Published: March 2003

Clarifications are provided with respect to two sets of issues raised in preceding commentaries. First, interaction effects are undoubtedly salient in resilience research; yet main effect findings can be equally critical from an intervention perspective. Second, although resilience research and prevention science reflect similar broad objectives, the former (but not usually the latter) involves explicit attention to positive adjustment outcomes in addition to the avoidance of psychopathology.
Basic Level Object Categories Support the Acquisition of Novel Adjectives: Evidence from Preschool‐Aged Children
Authors: Klibanoff Raquel S. , Waxman Sandra R.
Published: March 2003

Two experiments examined 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children's ability to map novel adjectives to object properties. Sixty‐four children were introduced to a target (e.g., a bumpy object), and asked to choose between (1) a matching test object (e.g., a different bumpy object), and (2) a contrasting test object (e.g., a smooth object). Four‐year‐olds successfully extended novel adjectives from the target to the matching test object whether these objects were drawn from the same, or different, basic level categories. In contrast, 3‐year‐olds' extensions were more restricted. They successfully extended novel adjectives if the target and test objects were drawn from the same basic level category but failed to do so if the objects were drawn from different basic level categories (Experiment 1). However, if 3‐year‐olds (n= 20) were first permitted to extend a novel adjective to objects within the same basic level category, they were subsequently able to extend that novel adjective broadly to objects from different basic level categories (Experiment 2). Thus, basic level object categories serve as an initial foundation in the process of mapping novel adjectives to object properties.
Buy Low, Sell High: The Development of an Informal Theory of Economics
Authors: Thompson Douglas R. , Siegler Robert S.
Published: March 2003

Two experiments were conducted to examine the development of economic understanding among 5‐, 7‐, and 9‐year‐olds (n= 31, 29, and 32, respectively). Most 5‐year‐olds exhibited understanding of the goal of acquiring desired goods but not of the goals of seeking profits, acquiring goods inexpensively, or competing successfully with other sellers. In contrast, most 7‐year‐olds and a large majority of 9‐year‐olds showed understanding of all of these concepts. The older children's understanding of these key concepts and the relations among them suggested that they had constructed an informal theory of economics, qualitatively different from the psychologically based understanding of the 5‐year‐olds. Increased information‐processing skills appeared to be among the sources of this new understanding.
The Stability of Attachment Security from Infancy to Adolescence and Early Adulthood: General Introduction
Authors: Waters Everett , Hamilton Claire E. , Weinfield Nancy S.
Published: March 2003

Current attachment theory hypothesizes that attachment security during infancy influences individual differences in adult representations of attachment. We present three long‐term longitudinal studies using three different samples relevant to this hypothesis. Each study assesses infant attachment by using the Ainsworth Strange Situation and adult attachment by using the Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Attachment security was significantly stable in the first two studies. Discontinuity in all three studies was related to negative life events and circumstances. Comparison of the results across these complementary studies affords a degree of replication and sheds light on alternative interpretations. Various mechanisms underlying the stability and instability of attachment security are discussed.
Continuity and Discontinuity of Attachment from Infancy through Adolescence
Authors: Hamilton Claire E.
Published: March 2003

This study reports relations between infant Ainsworth Strange Situation classifications, negative life events, and Adolescent Attachment Interview classifications. Overall, the stability of secure versus insecure classifications was 77%, and infant attachment classification was a significant predictor of adolescent attachment classification. Chi‐square analyses indicate that negative life events are significantly related to change in attachment classification. The sample (n= 30) is drawn from the Family Lifestyles Project (FLS), an ongoing longitudinal study of children's development within the context of nonconventional family lifestyles. The distribution of family lifestyles within this study, unlike those in the full FLS sample, represent a higher proportion of conventional two‐parent families (40%). There were no differences between adolescents reared in conventional or nonconventional families in the distribution of adolescent attachment security, the experience of negative life events, or the continuity of attachment from infancy through adolescence.
New Insight and Old Dilemma: A Cross‐Cultural Comparison of Japan and the United States
Authors: Lebra Takie Sugiyama
Published: March 2003

Conflict in close relationships, or ‘generative tension,’ characterizes both the United States and Japan, with differences only in the style and timing of its manifestation. The potentially fruitful strategy of Rothbaum et al.'s article is constrained by their cross‐cultural comparative methodology.
Single Mothers in Low‐Wage Jobs: Financial Strain, Parenting, and Preschoolers' Outcomes
Authors: Jackson Aurora P. , Brooks‐Gunn Jeanne , Huang Chien , Glassman Marc
Published: March 2003

Using data from an ongoing study of 93 single Black mothers of preschoolers who had been welfare recipients, but were employed in low‐wage jobs at baseline, this study tests a model of how maternal education, economic conditions (earnings and financial strain), and the availability of instrumental support influence maternal psychological functioning, parenting, and child development. Results indicate that maternal educational attainment was positively associated with earnings, which, together with instrumental support, were negatively associated with financial strain. Financial strain, in turn, was implicated in elevated levels of depressive symptoms, which were directly and negatively implicated in parenting quality. The quality of parenting was associated with children's behavior problems and preschool ability. Specifically, mothers with higher scores on the HOME scale, our measure of involved, supportive parenting, had children with fewer behavior problems and better preschool ability.
Predicting the Outcomes of Physical Events: Two‐Year‐Olds Fail to Reveal Knowledge of Solidity and Support
Authors: Hood Bruce , Carey Susan , Prasada Sandeep
Published: March 2003

Two‐year‐olds' (N= 153) knowledge of solidity was tested in four search tasks adapted from infant looking‐time experiments. In Experiment 1, 2‐year‐olds failed to search in the correct location for a falling ball after a hidden shelf that blocked its trajectory had been inserted in the apparatus. Experiment 2 extended this finding by showing that 2‐year‐olds failed to take into account the effects of either removing or inserting a shelf in their search for a toy dropped behind a screen. Experiment 3 examined sensitivity to the constraint provided by a solid barrier on horizontal motion. In all three experiments, 2‐year‐old children searched initially at the location where they saw the object during familiarization. Experiment 4, using multiple test trials but no familiarization to a pretest location, also showed that 2‐year‐olds failed to take the presence or absence of a barrier into account when planning where to search for a toy they had seen dropped behind a screen. In all of these studies, 2‐year‐olds showed no evidence of representing solidity and support constraints on the trajectories of falling objects. Experiments 1 and 3 also included 2H‐year‐olds (N= 31), who succeeded on these search tasks. The implications of the poor performance of 2‐year‐olds, in the face of success by very young infants on looking‐time measures of sensitivity to similar constraints on object motion, are discussed.
Children's Attention to Rigid and Deformable Shape in Naming and Non‐Naming Tasks
Authors: Samuelson Larissa K. , Smith Linda B.
Published: March 2003

In four experiments with three‐year‐olds (N= 67), we investigate children's understanding of the differential importance of shape for categorization of solid rigid objects with fixed shapes and solid but deformable objects with shapes that can be changed. In a non‐naming task we find that young children categorize rigid and deformable things differently and know that material is important for deformable things and shape for rigid things. In two naming tasks, however, children generalize names for both solid and deformable objects by shape similarity and disregard rigidity. To understand this pattern of results we examine a corpus of early‐learned nouns and the kinds of rigid and nonrigid things named by nouns in that corpus. The results suggest that names for categories of solid, rigid objects in which instances are similar in shape dominate children's early noun vocabularies. We suggest that children's novel word generalizations for deformable things may be overgeneralizations of this dominant pattern.
God's Beliefs versus Mother's: The Development of Nonhuman Agent Concepts
Authors: Barrett Justin L. , Richert Rebekah A. , Driesenga Amanda
Published: March 2003

Little research exists on how children understand the actions of nonhuman agents. Researchers often assume that children overgeneralize and attribute human properties such as false beliefs to nonhuman agents. In this study, three experiments were conducted to test this assumption. The experiments used 24 children in New York (aged 2,11 – 6,11 years), 52 children in Michigan (aged 3,5 – 6,11 years), and a second group of 45 children in Michigan (3,4 – 8,5 years) from Christian backgrounds. In the first two experiments, children participated in false‐belief tests in which they were asked about human and various nonhuman agents including animals and God. Experiment 3 consisted of a modified perspective‐taking task, also including nonhuman agents. The results of the study suggest that children do not consistently use human agent concepts but instead can use different agent concepts for some nonhuman agents like God and special animals. Children are not bound to anthropomorphize, but they often do.
Thinking about the Past: Early Knowledge about Links between Prior Experience, Thinking, and Emotion
Authors: Lagattuta Kristin Hansen , Wellman Henry M.
Published: March 2003

In two studies the authors investigated the situations where 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds and adults (N = 152) will connect a person's current feelings to the past, especially to thinking or being reminded about a prior experience. Study 1 presented stories featuring a target character who felt sad, mad, or happy after an event in the past and who many days later felt that same negative or positive emotion upon seeing a cue related to the prior incident. For some story endings, the character's emotion upon seeing the cue matched, or was congruent, with the current situation, whereas for others, the emotion mismatched the present circumstances. Participants were asked to explain the cause of each character's current feelings. As a further comparison, children and adults listened to behavior cuing stories and provided explanations for characters' present actions. Study 2 presented emotional scenarios that varied by emotion‐situation fit (whether the character's emotion matched the current situation), person‐person fit (whether the character's emotion matched another person's), and past history information (whether information about the character's past was known). Results showed that although there were several significant developments with increasing age, even most 3‐year‐olds demonstrated some knowledge about connections between past events and present emotions and between thinking and feeling. Indeed, children 5 years and younger revealed strikingly cogent understanding about historical‐mental influences in certain situations, especially where they had to explain why a person, who had experienced a negative event in the past, was currently feeling sad or mad in a positive situation. These findings help underwrite a more general account of the development of children's coherent understandings of life history, mind, and emotion.
Separation Anxiety in Parents of Adolescents: Theoretical Significance and Scale Development
Authors: Hock Ellen , Eberly Mary , Bartle‐Haring Suzanne , Ellwanger Pamela , Widaman Keith F.
Published: March 2003

Parents of adolescents commonly face separation‐related issues associated with children's increasing independence and imminent leave‐taking. The aims of this investigation were (1) to develop a reliable and valid measure of parental emotions associated with separation and (2) to validate the measure by relating it to other attributes (attachment relationship quality, parent – child communication, and parent – adolescent differentiation) assessed in mothers, fathers, and their adolescents. The newly constructed, 35‐item Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale (PASAS) was administered to 686 parents of teenagers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 or college‐bound freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported formation of two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both subscales showed distinctive patterns of change with child age. Parents' reports indicated that healthy adult attachment styles were associated with lower AAD and higher CSBR scores; children of parents who had higher AAD scores reported lower quality of attachment to both mothers and fathers.
Modifying the Distribution of Attention in Infants
Authors: Jankowski Jeffery J. , Rose Susan A. , Feldman Judith F.
Published: March 2003

In three experiments, the distribution and malleability of infant visual attention were studied in 5‐month‐olds (N= 72) while they inspected large geometric designs. In Experiment 1, we established that infants maintained their distribution of attention from a pretest to a familiarization phase. We also replicated and extended our previous findings that infants who examined targets with briefer, more numerous looks and shifts —short lookers —had novelty scores above chance, whereas long lookers demonstrated chance responding. In Experiment 2, different portions of the display were successively illuminated with red light. This manipulation induced long lookers to scan like short lookers during familiarization; they then showed novelty scores well above chance. A third experiment ruled out the simple presence of a red light as the source of this effect. In sum, then, these results suggest that the distribution of attention is malleable, and that a broader distribution of attention, as reflected in briefer and more numerous looks and shifts, can improve processing.
The Development of Memory for Location: What Role Do Spatial Prototypes Play?
Authors: Plumert Jodie M. , Hund Alycia M.
Published: March 2003

Two experiments investigated the role of spatial prototypes in estimates of location. In Experiment 1 (N= 144), children and adults learned the locations of 20 objects in an open, square box designed to look like a model house. In two conditions, opaque lines or walls divided the house into four regions, and in the other condition, no boundaries were present. Following learning, the dots marking the locations were removed, and participants attempted to replace the objects. Children and adults overestimated distances between target locations in different regions. Contrary to Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Duncan's hierarchical theory of spatial memory, none of the groups displaced the objects toward the region centers. In Experiment 2 (N == 96), boundaries were removed during testing to determine whether children and adults were more likely to displace objects toward region centers when uncertainty about location increased. Again, all age groups overestimated distances between target objects in different regions. In addition, adults and 11‐year‐olds in the most salient boundary condition displaced objects toward the region centers. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding how children and adults estimate location.
Meta‐Analysis of Theory‐of‐Mind Development: The Truth about False Belief
Authors: Wellman Henry M. , Cross David , Watson Julanne
Published: March 2003

Research on theory of mind increasingly encompasses apparently contradictory findings. In particular, in initial studies, older preschoolers consistently passed false‐belief tasks — a so‐called “definitive” test of mental‐state understanding — whereas younger children systematically erred. More recent studies, however, have found evidence of false‐belief understanding in 3‐year‐olds or have demonstrated conditions that improve children's performance. A meta‐analysis was conducted (N= 178 separate studies) to address the empirical inconsistencies and theoretical controversies. When organized into a systematic set of factors that vary across studies, false‐belief results cluster systematically with the exception of only a few outliers. A combined model that included age, country of origin, and four task factors (e.g., whether the task objects were transformed in order to deceive the protagonist or not) yielded a multiple R of .74 and an R2 of .55; thus, the model accounts for 55% of the variance in false‐belief performance. Moreover, false‐belief performance showed a consistent developmental pattern, even across various countries and various task manipulations: preschoolers went from below‐chance performance to above‐chance performance. The findings are inconsistent with early competence proposals that claim that developmental changes are due to tasks artifacts, and thus disappear in simpler, revised false‐belief tasks; and are, instead, consistent with theoretical accounts that propose that understanding of belief, and, relatedly, understanding of mind, exhibit genuine conceptual change in the preschool years.
Learning Proper and Common Names in Inferential versus Ostensive Contexts
Authors: Jaswal Vikram K. , Markman Ellen M.
Published: March 2003

A single, indirect exposure to a novel word provides information that could be used to make a fast mapping between the word and its referent, but it is not known how well this initial mapping specifies the function of the new word. The four studies reported here compare preschoolers' (N= 64) fast mapping of new proper and common names following an indirect exposure requiring inference with their learning of new names following ostension. In Study 1, 3‐year‐olds were shown an animate – inanimate pair of objects and asked to select, for example, Dax, a dax, or one. Children spontaneously selected an animate over an inanimate object as the referent for a novel proper name, but had no animacy preference in common name or baseline conditions. Next, the children were asked to perform actions on, for example, Dax or a dax, when presented with an array of three objects: the one they had just selected, another member of like kind, and a distracter. An indirectly learned proper name was treated as a marker for the originally selected object only, whereas a new common name was generalized to include the other category member. Study 2 showed that mappings made by inference were as robust as those made by ostension. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that even 2‐year‐olds can learn as much about the function of a new word from an indirect exposure as from ostension.
Preschool Children's Difficulty Understanding the Types of Information Obtained through the Five Senses
Authors: O'Neill Daniela K. , Chong Selena
Published: March 2003

Two studies explored 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds' (N= 60) understanding that the five senses can each lead to different types of knowledge. In Study 1, 40 children engaged in five scenarios in which they could only perform one sensory action to identify the property of an object (e.g., color, scent). After performing the action, children were asked how they found out the property and to show the experimenter how they had found it out. Using a Mr. Potato Head doll, children were also asked to indicate the sensory organ the doll would need to use to identify the property. In Study 2, 20 children presented with five Mr. Potato Head dolls, each sporting only one sensory organ (e.g., a nose), were asked which Mr. Potato Head could find out the property in question. The 3‐year‐olds performed significantly poorer than the 4‐year‐olds on all tasks, suggesting a marked transition in children's ability to recognize the origin of their modality‐specific knowledge during the time period between 3 and 4 years of age.
A Meta‐Analysis of Measures of Self‐Esteem for Young Children: A Framework for Future Measures
Authors: Davis‐Kean Pamela E. , Sandler Howard M.
Published: March 2003

The objective of this study was to synthesize information from literature on measures of the self in young children to create an empirical framework for developing future methods for measuring this construct. For this meta‐analysis, all available preschool and early elementary school self‐esteem studies were reviewed. Reliability was used as the criterion variable and the predictor variables represented different aspects of methodology that are used in testing an instrument: study characteristics, method characteristics, subject characteristics, measure characteristics, and measure design characteristics. Using information from two analyses, the results indicate that the reliability of self‐esteem measures for young children can be predicted by the setting of the study, number of items in the scale, the age of the children being studied, the method of data collection (questionnaires or pictures), and the socioeconomic status of the children. Age and number of items were found to be critical features in the development of reliable measures for young children. Future studies need to focus on the issues of age and developmental limitations on the complicated problem of how young children actually think about the self and what methods and techniques can aid in gathering this information more accurately.
Planar Asymmetry Tips the Phonological Playground and Environment Raises the Bar
Authors: Eckert Mark A. , Lombardino Linda J. , Leonard Christiana M.
Published: March 2003

Reading readiness varies as a function of family and environmental variables. This study of 11‐year‐old children (N=39) was designed to determine if there was an additional or interactive contribution of brain structure. Evidence is presented that both environmental and biological variables predict phonological development. Temporal lobe (planar) asymmetry, hand preference, family history of reading disability, and SES explained over half of the variance in phonological and verbal performance. The results demonstrate a linear association between cerebral organization and phonological skill within socioeconomic groups. These data provide concrete evidence to support the commonly held assumption that both environmental and biological factors are independent determinants of a child's ability to process linguistic information.
Prior Knowledge and Exemplar Encoding in Children's Concept Acquisition
Authors: Carmichael Catherine A. , Hayes Brett K.
Published: March 2003

Three experiments examined how children's domain knowledge and observation of exemplars interact during concept acquisition and how exposure to novel exemplars causes revision of such knowledge. In Experiments 1 (N=126) and 2 (N=64), children aged 4 to 10 years were shown exemplars of fictitious animal categories that were either unrelated to, or consistent with, their prior knowledge in 25% or 75% of presented exemplars. In Experiment 3, children (N=290) saw fictitious animal, artifact, or unfamiliar social categories that were either consistent or inconsistent with their prior knowledge in 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80% of exemplars. In the test, children made judgments about the likely co‐occurence of features. In all experiments, prior knowledge and exemplar observation independently influenced children's categorization judgments. Utilization of prior knowledge was consistent across age and domain, but 10‐year‐olds were more sensitive to observed feature covariation. Training with larger categories increased the impact of observed feature covariation and decreased reliance on prior knowledge.
Young Children's Feelings about School
Authors: Valeski Tricia N. , Stipek Deborah J.
Published: March 2003

This study examined factors associated with young children's feelings about school in kindergarten and first grade, using a new measure, the Feelings about School (FAS). The FAS measures children's perceptions of academic competence, their feelings about the teacher, and their general attitudes toward school. Findings provided support for the reliability and validity of the FAS for kindergartners (N=225) and first graders (N=127). Variables presumed to predict children's feelings about school were the classroom structure, academic performance, and relationships with teachers. Feelings about school were expected to predict academic engagement. Correlational analyses indicated that kindergartners' and first graders' feelings about school were associated with their academic skills, as measured by direct assessments and teacher ratings. The evidence for first graders was stronger than for kindergartners. Kindergartners' general attitudes toward school were more negative in highly structured, teacher‐directed classroom environments. First graders' perceptions of competence were more negative in classrooms lacking structure and control. First graders', but not kindergartners', perceptions of competence were significantly associated with academic engagement.
Who’s in the Mirror? Self–Other Discrimination in Specular Images by Four‐ and Nine‐Month‐Old Infants
Authors: Rochat Philippe , Striano Tricia
Published: March 2003

This research investigated the early determinants of self‐other discrimination in infancy. Ninety‐six 4‐ and 9‐month‐old infants were placed facing a live image either of themselves or of another person (experimenter) mimicking them. The specular image was either contingent (on‐line), or contingent with a 2‐s delay. After a first 1‐min presentation, the video image of either the self or the other was suddenly frozen for 1 min (still‐face episode). This was followed by a last minute of live presentation. From 4 months of age, infants appeared to perceive and act differentially when facing the specular image of themselves or the mimicking other. In general, infants tended to smile more, look more, and have more protracted first‐look duration toward the mimicking other compared with the self. Developmentally, 9‐month‐olds showed markedly more social initiatives toward the mimicking other compared with the self during the still‐face episode. In all, these results indicate that infants develop self‐other discrimination in specular images long before mirror self‐recognition, which is typically reported by the second year. Discrimination of the self from other is interpreted as a precursory ability and a perceptual foundation of later conceptual self development.
Group Identification in Early Adolescence: Its Relation with Peer Adjustment and Its Moderator Effect on Peer Influence
Authors: Kiesner Jeff , Cadinu Mara , Poulin François , Bucci Monica
Published: March 2003

This study was conducted to test whether group identification (importance of the group to the individual) covaried with individual‐group similarity on problem behavior; and whether group identification moderated peer group influence on the individual’s development of delinquent behavior across a 1‐year period. The level of reciprocated nominations within the individual’s self‐nominated group was controlled for in all analyses. Participants were 190 sixth and seventh graders (during the first year of the study) from the north of Italy. Level of reciprocated nominations within the group, but not identification, was found to covary with individual‐group behavioral similarity (group behavior interacted with reciprocity of group nominations in predicting individual behavior). Group identification, but not reciprocated nominations, was found to moderate peer group influence on the individual’s change in delinquent behavior, across 1 year. The individual’s peer status within the classroom, level of reciprocated nominations, and gender all were related to the individual’s level of group identification. Results are discussed in terms of understanding peer group influence on the individual.
The ADHD Spectrum and Everyday Life: Experience Sampling of Adolescent Moods, Activities, Smoking, and Drinking
Authors: Whalen Carol K. , Jamner Larry D. , Henker Barbara , Delfino Ralph J. , Lozano Jorie M.
Published: March 2003

Using an experience sampling methodology, the everyday lives of 153 adolescents with low, middle, or high levels of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) characteristics as assessed by either parent or teen were examined. Twice each hour, across two 4‐day recording intervals, participants in a longitudinal study of stress and health risks logged their behaviors, moods, and social contexts. Those with high, in contrast to low, ADHD symptom levels recorded more negative and fewer positive moods, lower alertness, more entertaining activities relative to achievement‐oriented pursuits, more time with friends and less time with family, and more tobacco and alcohol use. Fewer associations emerged with parent‐defined than with teen‐defined subgroups, although the differences in alertness, peer and family contexts, entertainment versus achievement activities, and substance use were consistent across sources. Even at subclinical levels, ADHD characteristics were associated with behavioral patterns and contexts that may promote peer deviancy training, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and vulnerability to nicotine dependence.
Stability and Social–Behavioral Consequences of Toddlers’ Inhibited Temperament and Parenting Behaviors
Authors: Rubin Kenneth H. , Burgess Kim B. , Hastings Paul D.
Published: March 2003

A prospective longitudinal design was employed to ascertain whether different types of behavioral inhibition (i.e., traditional, peer–social) were stable from toddler to preschool age, and whether inhibited temperament and/or parenting style would predict children’s subsequent social and behavioral problems. At Time 1, 108 toddlers (54 males, 54 females) and their mothers were observed in the Traditional Inhibition Paradigm and in a toddler–peer session; then at age 4 years, 88 children were observed with unfamiliar peers, and maternal ratings of psychological functioning were obtained. How mothers and their toddlers interacted was also observed. Results revealed meaningful connections between toddler inhibition, maternal intrusive control and derision, and nonsocial behaviors at age 4. Both forms of toddler inhibition predicted socially reticent behavior during free play at 4 years. If mothers demonstrated relatively high frequencies of intrusive control and/or derisive comments, then the association between their toddlers’ peer inhibition and 4‐year social reticence was significant and positive; whereas if mothers were neither intrusive nor derisive, then toddlers’ peer inhibition and 4‐year reticence were not significantly associated. Thus, maternal behaviors moderated the relation between toddlers’ peer inhibition and preschoolers’ social reticence.
Domain‐Specific Antecedents of Parental Psychological Control and Monitoring: The Role of Parenting Beliefs and Practices
Authors: Smetana Judith G. , Daddis Christopher
Published: March 2003

This research examined the effects of domain‐differentiated beliefs about legitimate parental authority and ratings of restrictive parental control on adolescent‐ and mother‐reported psychological and behavioral control. The influence of parenting beliefs and practices regarding socially regulated (moral and conventional) and ambiguously personal (multifaceted and personal) issues was examined in 93 middle‐class African American early adolescents (M= 13.11 years, SD= 1.29) and their mothers, who were followed longitudinally for 2 years. Domain‐specific parenting beliefs and ratings predicted adolescent‐reported maternal psychological control and parental monitoring, but the nature and direction of the relations differed. Adolescents who rated parents as more restrictive in their control of personal issues and who believed that parents should have less legitimate authority over these issues rated their mothers as higher in psychological control. In contrast, more adolescent‐reported parental monitoring was associated with gender (being female) and adolescents’ beliefs that parents have more legitimate authority to regulate personal issues. As expected, adolescent age and gender influenced mother‐reported monitoring and psychological control; in addition, the effects of mothers’ ratings of restrictive control on both psychological control and monitoring were moderated by gender. The results indicate that psychological control and monitoring can be understood in terms of the particular behaviors that are controlled, as well as the style in which control is exercised.
Hostility, Hostile Detachment, and Conflict Engagement in Marriages: Effects on Child and Family Functioning
Authors: Katz Lynn Fainsilber , Woodin Erica M.
Published: March 2003

This study examined the relations between patterns of marital communication, child adjustment, and family functioning. Couples with a 4‐ or 5‐year‐old child were divided into three groups (N= 126) based on observed patterns of emotional communication: Hostile couples showed a cumulative increase in negative speaker behaviors over the course of a high‐conflict marital discussion; hostile‐withdrawn couples showed a cumulative increase in both negative speaker and negative listener behaviors over the course of the interaction; and engaged couples showed a cumulative increase in both positive speaker and listener behaviors over the course of the interaction. The families of these three types of couples were then compared on child outcomes (i.e., peer relations, behavior problems), parenting quality, co‐parenting quality, and family‐level functioning. Differences in marital violence and marital satisfaction between marital couples were also examined in relation to family risk. Families in which couples were hostile‐detached showed the most negative outcomes. Hostile‐detached couples were more likely than hostile or conflict‐engaging couples to use more power‐assertive methods of discipline; to be ineffective in co‐parenting their child; to have family units that were less cohesive, less playful, and more conflictual; and to have children that exhibited behavior problems. Results also indicated that marital typology still accounted for significant variance in child outcome after controlling for marital violence and marital satisfaction. Differences in the absolute degree of negative behaviors also did not account for results. Findings are discussed in terms of the detrimental impact of marital conflict on child and family functioning.
Cultural Differences in Children's Emotional Reactions to Difficult Situations
Authors: Cole Pamela M. , Bruschi Carole J. , Tamang Babu L.
Published: March 2003

Although cultures vary in terms of how their members appraise situations, communicate emotions, and act on them, little is known about how culture influences children's emotional reactions. This study examined beliefs about revealing emotion in 223 second‐, fourth‐, and fifth‐grade children from three cultures (Brahman, Tamang, and the United States). Interviews yielded descriptions of how children would feel, whether they would want others to know their feelings, why they would or would not, and what they would do in difficult interpersonal situations. Findings revealed three distinct cultural patterns. Tamang were more likely to appraise difficult situations in terms of shame than were Brahman and U.S. children, who endorsed anger. Brahman children, however, were more likely to not communicate negative emotion than were Tamang and U.S. children. The responses of U.S. children appeared to be more problem focused and action oriented than those of Brahman and Tamang children. Age influenced the degree to which children used emotion‐focused coping, and affected decisions about communicating anger in Tamang and U.S. children. Features of cultural contexts that influence children's sense of appropriate emotional behavior are discussed.
United States and Indonesian Children’s and Adolescents’ Reports of Relational Aggression by Disliked Peers
Authors: French Doran C. , Jansen Elizabeth A. , Pidada Sri
Published: March 2003

Descriptions of disliked peers provided by U.S. (N = 104) and Indonesian (N= 120) 11– and 14–year–old children were coded for references to physical, verbal, and three types of relational aggression (i.e., relationship manipulation, social ostracism, and malicious rumors). Physical aggression was mentioned more frequently by boys, adolescents, and Indonesians, whereas no significant differences emerged for verbal aggression. Girls in both countries described peers as engaging in the three types of relational aggression more frequently than did boys. Findings that relational aggression was spontaneously mentioned suggests that this is a salient feature of children’s lives and its emergence is not attributable to the use of questionnaires and imposed category systems. The widespread existence of this gender difference is suggested by its prominence in two cultures that differ in individualism and collectivism, gender roles, and attitudes toward aggression.
Family Adversity, Positive Peer Relationships, and Children’s Externalizing Behavior: A Longitudinal Perspective on Risk and Resilience
Authors: Criss Michael M. , Pettit Gregory S. , Bates John E. , Dodge Kenneth A. , Lapp Amie L.
Published: March 2003

Peer acceptance and friendships were examined as moderators in the link between family adversity and child externalizing behavioral problems. Data on family adversity (i.e., ecological disadvantage, violent marital conflict, and harsh discipline) and child temperament and social information processing were collected during home visits from 585 families with 5–year–old children. Children’s peer acceptance, friendship, and friends’ aggressiveness were assessed with sociometric methods in kindergarten and grade 1. Teachers provided ratings of children’s externalizing behavior problems in grade 2. Peer acceptance served as a moderator for all three measures of family adversity, and friendship served as a moderator for harsh discipline. Examination of regression slopes indicated that family adversity was not significantly associated with child externalizing behavior at high levels of positive peer relationships. These moderating effects generally were not qualified by child gender, ethnicity, or friends’ aggressiveness, nor were they accounted for by child temperament or social information–processing patterns. The need for process–oriented studies of risk and protective factors is stressed.
“No! The Lambs Can Stay Out Because They Got Cozies”: Constructive and Destructive Sibling Conflict, Pretend Play, and Social Understanding
Authors: Howe Nina , Rinaldi Christina M. , Jennings Melissa , Petrakos Harriet
Published: March 2003

Associations among constructive and destructive sibling conflict, pretend play, internal state language, and sibling relationship quality were investigated in 40 middle–class dyads with a kindergarten–age child (M age = 5.7 years). In 20 dyads the sibling was older (M age = 7.1 years) and in 20 dyads the sibling was younger (M age = 3.6 years). Dyads were videotaped playing with a farm set for 15 min; transcribed sessions were coded for (1) five types of conflict issues; (2) constructive, destructive, and passive resolution strategies; and (3) verbal and physical aggression. Measures of pretend play enactment, low– and high–level pretense negotiation strategies, and internal state language were also based on the transcripts. The Sibling Behavior and Feelings Questionnaire was used to assess both siblings’ perceptions of sibling relationship quality. Findings revealed that conflict issues, aggression, and internal state language were associated with specific resolution strategies. Associations were evident between conflict issues and resolutions. Moreover, conflict issues and resolutions were associated with (1) relationship quality, (2) high–level pretense negotiation, and (3) internal state language employed in both play and conflict. Findings are discussed in light of recent theory on developmental processes operating within children’s relationships.
Impact of Child Maltreatment and Interadult Violence on Children’s Emotion Regulation Abilities and Socioemotional Adjustment
Authors: Maughan Angeline , Cicchetti Dante
Published: March 2003

The present investigation sought to examine the unique and interactive effects of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children’s developing strategies of emotion regulation and socioemotional adjustment, as well as the mediational role of emotion dysregulation in the link between children’s pathogenic relational experiences and behavioral outcomes. Person–oriented emotion regulation patterns (EMRPs) were determined based on children’s emotional behavioral and self–reported responses to simulated interadult anger. One hundred thirty–nine 4– to 6–year–olds (88 maltreated, 51 nonmaltreated) and their mothers served as participants. Maltreatment history predicted children’s EMRPs, with approximately 80% of the maltreated preschoolers exhibiting dysregulated emotion patterns (i.e., undercontrolled/ambivalent and overcontrolled/unresponsive types) compared with only 37.2% of the nonmaltreated controls. Undercontrolled/ambivalent EMRPs were associated with maternal reports of child behavior problems, and were found to mediate the link between maltreatment and children’s anxious/depressed symptoms. The present study’s findings increase understanding of process relations in pathogenic relational environments, and provide insight into emotion regulation deficits that may impede the development of psychological well–being in maltreated children with varying histories of interadult violence exposure.
Mutual Antipathies and Their Significance in Middle Childhood and Adolescence
Authors: Abecassis Maurissa , Hartup Willard W. , Haselager Gerbert J.T. , Scholte Ron H.J. , Van Lieshout Cornelis F.M.
Published: March 2003

Mutual antipathies (when two children or adolescents dislike one another) were studied among 2,348 school–age children and 2,768 adolescents to determine incidence, gender and age differences, and implications for social adjustment. The children were more frequently involved than were the adolescents in same–sex antipathies but not mixed–sex ones. Boys were involved more frequently than were girls in same–sex antipathies, but involvement in mixed–sex antipathies was comparable for the two genders. With peer rejection scores used as a covariate, same–sex antipathies were associated with antisocial behavior and social withdrawal among children and adolescents of both genders and, in addition, to emotionality and lack of friendship support among adolescents. Mixed–sex antipathies were related to social adjustment depending on gender: these antipathies were related to antisocial and bullying behavior in boys but not girls; and to nonaggressiveness, victimization, lesser cooperation, shyness, and depression in girls but not boys. Mutual antipathies thus appear to be concomitants of adaptational risk in both childhood and adolescence.