Suchergebnisse

AbstractForty‐eight mothers and their 5.5‐month‐olds participated in a series of face‐to‐face interactions consisting of a Normal plus three still‐face (SF) periods where mothers could touch their infants (SF with touch). The primary objective was to determine whether young infants are sensitive to subtle changes in maternal touch. Variations in infants' affective and attentional responses were revealed as a function of the different periods; infants smiled more when mothers were requested to maximize their smiling using touch alone, and gaze shifted from mothers' faces in the Normal period to their hands in the SF with touch periods. Results imply that: (1) infants are sensitive to subtle changes in their mothers' touching, (2) mothers are effective in using touch to elicit specific infant responses, (3) touch‐only interactions are positive, as reflected in infants' gaze and affective displays, (4) mothers use consistent types of touch when touching specific areas of their infants' bodies during brief interactions.

Co-rumination, or perseverating about problems aloud with another individual, is an emotion regulation strategy enacted within relationships. Despite its association with depressive symptoms, co-rumination may benefit friendships. For example, the independent emotion regulation tendencies of each individual in the dyad may interact with co-rumination to exacerbate or protect against its negative effects on depressive experiences. This interaction might be particularly important during the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood when friendships are in flux and emotion regulation capacity is increasing. Therefore, the current study assessed whether emerging adult friends' tendencies to enact rumination and reappraisal moderated the association between co-rumination and depressive symptoms. Path analyses revealed that the extent to which a co-ruminating individuals experienced depressive symptoms depended on the extent to which their friend reappraised: a positive, linear association between co-rumination and depressive symptoms emerged only for target participants whose friend was low in reappraisal use.

AbstractThis study examined the contribution of maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal to the prediction of mother–child social problem solving in the next generation. Fifty‐seven women (M = 37.32 years), previously rated (on a version of the pupil evaluation inventory) by their peers during childhood on measures of aggression and withdrawal, discussed conflicts with their 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children. Problem‐defining statements, solutions, and resolution strategies were coded using an observational measure developed by the authors. Maternal childhood histories of aggression and withdrawal predicted poorly sophisticated solutions in both mothers and children as well as antisocial solutions in children. Histories of withdrawal predicted solitary solutions in children as well as less guidance and structure during decision making. Findings suggest that mothers who were withdrawn, and those aggressive and withdrawn in childhood, display less sophisticated problem solving, which may be mirrored in children. Results have implications for the development of aggressive and withdrawn girls into parenthood and highlight a potential pathway for the transfer of risk.

AbstractChildren from poor neighbourhoods showing early aggressive behaviour are at risk for criminal offending. The role of education as a mediator, neighbourhood disadvantage and aggression as moderators for criminal offending were examined in a lower-income, community sample (n = 3,521; 48% males), across a 40-year period from childhood to mid-adulthood. Educational attainment accounted for 15–59% of the effect from childhood risk factors. Aggression was found to be a moderator such that aggressive children with low education had the highest odds of criminal offending. A protective effect was found where aggressive children who managed to obtain more education had reduced odds of offending. Research conceptualizing education as a 'control' variable does not address its role in the processes leading to criminal offending.

AbstractThis study evaluated a comprehensive model of factors associated with internalizing problems (IP) in early childhood, hypothesizing direct, mediated, and moderated pathways linking child temperamental inhibition, maternal overcontrol and rejection, and contextual stressors to IP. In a novel approach, three samples were integrated to form a large sample (N=500) of Canadian children (2–6 years; M=3.95 years; SD=.80). Items tapping into the same constructs across samples were used to create parallel measures of inhibited temperament, maternal positive, critical, and punitive parenting, maternal negative emotionality, family socioeconomic and structural stressors, and child's IP. Multiple‐groups structural equation modeling indicated that associations were invariant across samples and did not differ for boys and girls. Child inhibition, less positive and more critical parenting, maternal negative emotionality, and family socioeconomic disadvantage were found to have direct associations with IP. In addition, maternal negative emotionality was associated with IP through more critical parenting, and both maternal negative emotionality and socioeconomic stress were associated with IP through less positive parenting. Results highlight the multiple independent and cumulative risk factors for early IP and demonstrate the power of integrating data across developmental studies.