Emotional development in children with different attachment histories: the first three years

Developing the mother-child interaction inventory and uncovering mother-child interaction profiles in Türkiye

BACKGROUND

In this study, we aimed to design a mother-report inventory to comprehensively assess mother-child interaction in the 0-3 age range, focusing on maternal and child interaction behavior and mutual attunement.

METHODS

Our research involved three stages, with 1061 mothers and their 0-3-year-old children: 45 in the pilot study, 498 in exploratory factor analysis and latent profile analysis, and 518 in confirmatory factor analysis.

FINDINGS

The Mother-Child Interaction Inventory emerged as a valid and reliable measurement tool, comprising three distinct scales: 1) Maternal Interaction Behavior Questionnaire with sensitive structuring, hostility, and intrusiveness subscales; 2) Child Interaction Behavior Questionnaire with emotional-behavioral involvement and child characteristics; and 3) Mutual Attunement Questionnaire with reciprocity and problem-solving subscales. Latent profile analysis revealed four mother-child interaction profiles, indicating different characteristics in maternal and child interaction behavior and mutual attunement, categorized as "Excellent interaction quality," "Average interaction quality 1", "Average interaction quality 2," and "Poor interaction quality."

DISCUSSION

The study underscores the significance of maternal and child interaction behavior and mutual attunement in determining the quality of mother-child interaction. The mother-report The Mother-Child Interaction Inventory is a functional measurement tool to evaluate interaction separately and holistically, unveiling mother-child interaction profiles in the Turkish context.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The practical implications of this research are significant for health professionals, educators, and stakeholders working with children and families. The Mother-Child Interaction Inventory provides a valuable tool for assessing interaction dynamics, offering insights that can be directly applied to improve mother-child interaction.

Positive Parenting and Sociodemographic Factors Related to the Development of Chilean Children Born to Adolescent Mothers

The lack of economic resources has a negative effect on the maternal role of younger mothers. In Chile, the majority of adolescent pregnancies occur in socially and economically vulnerable contexts. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between demographic variables within the family context and parenting behaviors among Chilean adolescent mothers (including affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching). These factors were correlated with communication, problem-solving abilities, and personal-social development in typically developing infants. The study included a sample of 79 Chilean adolescent mother-child dyads with children aged 10 to 24 months. Communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development were assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3, along with a demographic information questionnaire. The parenting behaviors mentioned above were observed using the Spanish version of Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes. The findings indicated that mothers in employment and those who had not dropped out of school had children with better problem-solving skills. Additionally, children residing with their fathers and female children performed better in communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development. Maternal responsiveness was associated with communication and problem-solving, while maternal encouragement was linked to improved problem-solving skills. Maternal teaching was connected to communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development. The study emphasized the significance of parenting and sociodemographic factors among adolescent mothers and their influence on their children's development.

The Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences on People in Opiate Agonist Treatment: The Importance of Feeling Unloved

INTRODUCTION

Adults in opiate agonist treatment (OAT) often have a background of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and are more likely to be exposed to a variety of risks that may trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Summative ACE scores are often used to identify individuals at risk of PTSD and continued substance use. What has not been addressed is whether specific ACE factors are exerting a greater influence on the individual. This study investigated whether specific ACEs predicted PTSD, and current continued substance use among adults in long-term OAT.

METHODS

An analysis of data that were collected at the follow-up stage of a study among 131 adults who attended OAT was conducted. Participants attended one of six OAT settings, covering 45% (n = 890) of clients in a defined area of Dublin, Ireland in 2017. Interviews were conducted with 104 participants, 66 males (63%) and 38 females (37%), with an average age of 43 years (SD = 7.4). The Adverse Childhood Questionnaire (ACQ); PTSD checklist (PCL-5); heroin; tranquilliser; cannabis; alcohol; and cocaine used in the previous 28 days were measured using the quantity used score within the Opiate Treatment Index. Socio-demographics and age of first use of these four substances were also collected. The analysis has focussed on relating ACEs to PTSD, age of first drugs use, and current drug use of the participants.

RESULTS

Bivariate analysis showed that the summative ACQ score was significantly correlated with age of first opiate use (p = 0.004). Multiple regression analysis showed that the summative ACQ score and tranquilliser use predicted higher levels of PTSD (R2 = 0.50). Four specific ACEs predicted 54% of the variance in PTSD, these were feeling unloved (β = 0.328) living with a household member who had a problem with alcohol or used illicit street drugs (β = 0.280); verbal abuse (β = 0.219); and living with a person who had a mental illness (β = 0.197).

CONCLUSIONS

While a summation of all ten ACEs predicted higher levels of PTSD, the factor "feeling unloved" as a child provided the single strongest predictor and may represent an overarching risk of PTSD and continued substance use in later life among adults in treatment for an opiate use disorder.

The disclosure of children who exhibit problematic sexual behaviors

BACKGROUND

Practitioners mandated to protect child development are sometimes dealing with children's inappropriate sexual behaviors. This set of behaviors presents a potential hindering impact on the child's development and important consequences for all children involved. Denial during the questioning of the child complicates the investigation of these cases.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore and to identify the different contexts of questioning in which children disclose or deny having committed a sexual behavior that appears to be problematic for his/her development as well as identifying the individual and contextual variables that influence the outcome of the questioning.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample comprised of 120 instances of inappropriate sexual behavior exhibited by 85 children aged between 5 and 17 years old and reported to the Youth Protection Department at the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network in the province of Quebec, Canada.

METHODS

Bivariate statistical analyses were performed to investigate the association between the outcome of disclosure or non-disclosure, and contextual factors (questioning person's role, parents' reaction to the child's behavior, the child's expression of remorse, presence of a witness, use of coercion during the sexual behavior). Logistical regression (GLMM) was then used to determine the strength of the association between the covariates and the outcome of the questioning.

RESULTS

Results show that disclosure appears to be influenced by a combination of contextual variables, namely the role/status of the person questioning the child, expression of remorse reported by the child, and the presence of a witness to the behavior/s.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings point to the importance of developing more comprehensive and specialized knowledge about the questioning context that favors the disclosure of children who are thought to have exhibited inappropriate sexual behaviors.

Parent–Child Attachment and Dynamic Emotion Regulation: A Systematic Review

Although there is evidence parent–child attachment security is associated with trait-like emotion indices, trait perspectives do not fully capture children's responses to context, an important emotion regulation component. This paper evaluates whether attachment is associated with two dynamic emotion indicators: emotion reactivity and emotion recovery. We review conceptual and empirical connections, describe the dynamic emotion perspective, discuss hypotheses, and review evidence. Our review (15 studies) shows that secure attachment was more consistently related to recovery than reactivity, avoidant attachment was related to low emotion reactivity and recovery, ambivalent attachment was associated with greater emotion reactivity, and disorganized attachment was related to high reactivity and recovery difficulties. We close by comparing trait-like and dynamic emotion conclusions then propose future research directions.

Confirmatory composite analysis in human development research

Research in human development often relies on composites, that is, composed variables such as indices. Their composite nature renders these variables inaccessible to conventional factor-centric psychometric validation techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In the context of human development research, there is currently no appropriate technique available for assessing composites with the same degree of rigor comparable to that known from CFA. As a remedy, this article presents confirmatory composite analysis (CCA), a statistical approach suitable to assess composites. CCA is a special type of structural equation modeling that consists of model specification, model identification, model estimation, and model assessment. This article explains CCA and its steps. In addition, it illustrates CCA’s use by means of an illustrative example.

Early Attachment to Mothers and Fathers: Contributions to Preschoolers' Emotional Regulation

Children acquire and develop emotional regulatory skills in the context of parent-child attachment relationships, nonetheless empirical studies have focused mainly on mother and less information is available regarding the role of both parent-child attachment relationships. Furthermore, despite its importance, there is no information regarding preschool years. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the potential influences of both mother-child and father-child attachments on preschooler's later emotion regulation observed in the peer group. Fifty-three Portuguese nuclear families (mother, father and focal child) participated in the study; 47% of the children were boys and 53% were girls. Attachment Security was assessed at home using the Attachment Behavior Q-set when children were 3 years of age, and emotion regulation was observed in the preschool classrooms attended by the children at age 5, using the California child Q-sort to derive an Emotion Regulation Q-Scale. Results showed that the combined influence of both parent-child attachment security predicted better emotion regulation results, than did the specific contributions of each parent per se. Findings are consistent with integrative approaches that highlight the value of including both mother- and father-child attachment relationships, as well as their combined effect, when studying emotion regulation.

Impact of parent-child separation on children's social-emotional development: a cross-sectional study of left-behind children in poor rural areas of China

BACKGROUND

Parent-child separation is a considerable adversity for left-behind children (LBC), but there is little evidence on the association between detailed characteristics of parent-child separation and social-emotional development among LBC. This study examined the characteristics of parent-child separation and its impacts on developmental delay among under-3 LBC in poor rural China.

METHODS

We used data from 811 LBC surveyed in five poor counties in rural China in 2018. Detailed characteristics of their parental migration were recalled by their primary caregivers in face-to-face interviews. The children's social-emotional development was measured by using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association of detailed characteristics of parent-child separation with early social-emotional problems after adjusting for the children's and primary caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics.

RESULTS

287 (35.4%) children were left behind by fathers and cared for by mothers (FM-MC), while 524 (64.6%) were left behind by both parents and cared for by grandparents (PM-GC). The rate of social-emotional problems among LBC was 36.8% (PM-GC vs FM-MC: 40.6% vs 29.5%; aOR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.16). For paternal migration, the medians of the child's age at the first migration and average duration per migration were 3 months (IQR: 1 to 9 months) and 4.48 months (IQR: 2.38 to 7.54 months), respectively. For maternal migration, the corresponding values were 9 months (IQR: 6 to 13 months) and 4.65 months (IQR: 2.71 to 7.62 months), respectively. On average, LBC had been separated from fathers for 72% of their life due to paternal migration and from mothers for 52% of their life due to maternal migration. No significant association was found between the detailed characteristics of paternal migration and social-emotional development among LBC, while social-emotional problems among LBC were significantly associated with the proportion of cumulative duration of maternal migration in the child's lifetime (aOR 2.83; 95% CI: 1.13 to 7.10).

CONCLUSIONS

LBC under 3 years had a high risk of social-emotional problems in poor rural China. Cumulative exposure to maternal migration may be detrimental to LBC's early social-emotional development. Programs are necessary to support these children as well as their families.

Attachment characteristics and emotion regulation difficulties among maladaptive and normal daydreamers

Maladaptive daydreaming is an excessive form of daydreaming which causes significant distress and functional impairment to the affected individuals. Research on maladaptive daydreaming has intensified in recent years, but its pathogenesis has not yet been clearly elucidated. The aim of the study was to examine the attachment characteristics and the difficulties in emotion regulation among maladaptive and normal daydreamers. 717 individuals were recruited online, 106 of whom were screened as maladaptive daydreamers. The results of the Attachment Style Questionnaire revealed a specific attachment style among maladaptive daydreamers, who were characterized by ‘Ambivalent-fearful’ attachment characteristics, while normal daydreamers showed ‘Secure-independent’ attachment style. Regarding emotion regulation difficulties, maladaptive daydreamers showed a significantly higher level of deficit on each subscale of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale compared to normal daydreamers. The findings highlighted the potential role of early attachment experiences in the etiology and pathogenesis of maladaptive daydreaming, as well as the presence of severe emotion regulation deficits among problematic daydreamers. The results revealed by the present study might give contributions to the development of psychotherapeutical treatment of maladaptive daydreaming.

Anger in infancy and its implications: History of attachment in mother-child and father-child relationships as a moderator of risk

Growing research has documented distinct developmental sequelae in insecure and secure parent-child relationships, supporting a model of early attachment as moderating future developmental processes rather than, or in addition to, a source of direct effects. We explored maladaptive developmental implications of infants' anger proneness in 102 community families. Anger was assessed in infancy through observations in the Car Seat episode and parents' ratings. Children's security with parents was assessed in the Strange Situation paradigm at 15 months. At preschool age, child negativity (defiance and negative affect) was observed in interactions with the parent, and at early school age, oppositionality was rated by parents and teachers. Security was unrelated to infant anger; however, it moderated associations between infant anger and future maladaptive outcomes, such that highly angry infants embarked on a negative trajectory in insecure, but not in secure, parent-child dyads. For insecure, but not secure, mother-child dyads, infants' mother-rated anger predicted negativity at preschool age. For insecure, but not secure, father-child dyads, infants' anger in the Car Seat predicted father- and teacher-rated oppositional behavior at early school age. Results highlight the developmentally complex nature of the impact of attachment, depending on the relationship with mother versus father, type of measure, and timing of effects.

Demographic and Parental Factors Associated With Developmental Outcomes in Children With Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of the study was to examine the relation between demographic variables, parental characteristics, and cognitive, language and motor skills development in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 89 children with ID, aged 20-47 months, completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to measure cognitive, motor, and linguistic development. Parents were administered questionnaires about demographic information and parental anxiety, depression, parental stress, conjugality and familial functioning. Parenting behaviors (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching) were observed using the Spanish version of PICCOLO (Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes). A bivariate analysis showed that cognitive development in infants was significantly related to the mother's and father's responsiveness, and to the father's teaching scores. Infant language development was related to a variety of maternal factors (educational level, anxiety, depression, maternal responsiveness) and to the father's teaching scores. None of the factors were statistically related to child motor development. A multivariate regression analysis indicated that children's cognitive development can be predicted by a linear combination of maternal responsiveness and paternal teaching scores. Language development can be predicted by a linear combination of maternal anxiety and responsiveness, and paternal teaching scores. The present study provides evidence of the importance of paternal involvement for cognitive and language development in children with intellectual disabilities, and contributes to the increasing literature about fathering. Gaining knowledge about parental contributions to children's development is relevant for improving positive parenting in early intervention programs.

Predisposing Factors for Elevated Restricted and Repetitive Behavior in Typically Developing Toddlers

Little is known about the relation between levels of restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) in infants and parent factors. The present study investigated maternal and psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms, socio-economic status, social support) and mother-infant engagement factors (mind-mindedness, sensitivity, and infant-mother attachment security) as predictors of children's RRB at age 26 months in a sample of 206 mothers and children. Maternal depressive symptoms predicted levels of sensory and motor repetitive behavior and rigid, routinized, and ritualistic repetitive behavior. Lower socioeconomic status also predicted independent variance in children's sensory and motor repetitive behavior. The relations between maternal depressive symptoms and both types of RRB were not mediated through observational measures of maternal sensitivity or mind-mindedness at 8 months, or attachment security at 15 months. The results are discussed in terms of whether stress regulation, self-stimulation, and genetic susceptibility can help explain the observed link between maternal depressive symptoms and RRB in the child.

Attachment and Effortful Control in Toddlerhood Predict Academic Achievement Over a Decade Later

A child's attachment to his or her caregiver is central to the child's development. However, current understanding of subtle, indirect, and complex long-term influences of attachment on various areas of functioning remains incomplete. Research has shown that (a) parent-child attachment influences the development of effortful control and that (b) effortful control influences academic success. The entire developmental cascade among these three constructs over many years, however, has rarely been examined. This article reports a multimethod, decade-long study that examined the influence of mother-child attachment and effortful control in toddlerhood on school achievement in early adolescence. Both attachment security and effortful control uniquely predicted academic achievement a decade later. Effortful control mediated the association between early attachment and school achievement during adolescence. This work suggests that attachment security triggers an adaptive cascade by promoting effortful control, a vital set of skills necessary for future academic success.

Bidirectional associations between emotions and school adjustment

OBJECTIVE

We examined the relations of children's (N = 301) observed expression of negative and positive emotion in classes or nonclassroom school contexts (i.e., lunch and recess) to school adjustment from kindergarten to first grade.

METHOD

Naturalistic observations of children's emotional expressivity were collected, as were teachers' reports of children's school engagement and relationship quality with teachers and peers.

RESULTS

In longitudinal panel models, greater teacher-student conflict and lower student engagement in kindergarten predicted greater negative expressivity in both school contexts. School engagement and peer acceptance in kindergarten positively predicted first grade positive emotion in the classroom. Suggestive of possible bidirectional relations, there was also small unique prediction (near significant) from negative expressivity at lunch and recess to higher teacher-student conflict, from negative expressivity in the classroom to low peer acceptance, and from positive expressivity in the classroom to higher peer acceptance.

CONCLUSIONS

The pattern of findings suggests that the quality of experience at school uniquely predicts children's emotional expressivity at school more consistently than vice versa-a finding that highlights the important role of school context in young children's emotionality at school.

Positive Education for Young Children: Effects of a Positive Psychology Intervention for Preschool Children on Subjective Well Being and Learning Behaviors

Despite the flourishing in recent years in applications of positive psychology in the field of education, there is a paucity of research investigating positive psychology interventions for preschool children. The present study examined the effects of a positive psychology-based intervention conducted in Israel on children’s subjective well-being, mental health and learning behaviors. Twelve preschool classrooms of 3–6.5 year-olds were randomly assigned to a positive psychology intervention condition or a wait-list control condition. In the intervention condition, during one school year, 160 children experienced eight modules of basic concepts in positive psychology that were adapted to the developmental characteristics of young children and were compared to 155 children in demographically similar control classrooms. Children were administered a pre-test and post-test of subjective well-being measures. In addition, children’s mental health and emotional well-being were measured by parental questionnaires. Preschool teachers completed questionnaires concerning children’s learning behaviors. The findings showed significant increases in subjective well-being and positive learning behaviors among the intervention participants, with no significant changes in the control group. The results highlight the potential of positive psychology interventions for increasing subjective well-being and a positive approach to learning at young ages.

The role of sociodemographic risk and maternal behavior in the prediction of infant attachment disorganization

Predictors of infant attachment disorganization were examined among 203 primiparous mothers (52% European American, 48% African American) and their infants (104 female). The Strange Situation Procedure was administered at one year. Global maternal insensitivity and overtly negative maternal behavior were observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were six months and one year old. Mothers reported on their demographics to yield a measure of sociodemographic risk (i.e., age, education, income-to-needs). Overtly negative maternal behavior was positively associated with the infant attachment disorganization rating scale score, but did not predict being classified as disorganized. Global maternal insensitivity was associated with higher attachment disorganization, both the rating and the classification, when sociodemographic risk was high but not when sociodemographic risk was low. The pattern of results did not vary by maternal race. The results provide some support for the view that negative maternal behavior and the combination of sociodemographic risk and global maternal insensitivity play a role in the development of infant attachment disorganization.

The socio-behavioral development of children with symptoms of attachment disorder: An observational study of teacher sensitivity in special education

BACKGROUND

Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) have serious socio-behavioral problems and often rely on socially abnormal, aggressive, and manipulative forms of communication. Little is known, however, about the influence of teachers on the socio-behavioral development of children with symptoms of RAD.

AIMS

This longitudinal study examined the influence of teacher sensitivity on the socio-behavioral development of children with symptoms of RAD across one school year.

METHOD

The sample included 85 Belgian children and 70 teachers from special education schools. In the previous school year, teachers rated Inhibited and Disinhibited RAD symptoms. In the next school year, teacher Sensitivity was observed in interactions with individual children in the first trimester. Teacher-rated Overt aggression, Relational aggression, and Prosocial behavior was assessed in the first, second, and third trimester.

RESULTS

We found no effects of Sensitivity on Prosocial behavior. Also, no effects were found for children with Disinhibited RAD symptoms. For children with Inhibited RAD symptoms, increases in Overt and Relational aggression were observed when Sensitivity was low, whereas decreases were observed when Sensitivity was high.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The results suggest that teacher sensitivity is associated with the socio-behavioral development of children with Inhibited RAD symptoms but not with the socio-behavioral development of children with Disinhibited RAD symptoms.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) exhibit socio-behavioral problems that hinder their school adjustment. These socio-behavioral problems appear relatively stable and it is not known what influence special education teachers might have on the development of these problems across a school year. This study suggests that teacher sensitivity is associated with changes in the socio-behavioral development of children with Inhibited RAD symptoms. Whereas high sensitivity was associated with improvements, low sensitivity appeared to exaggerate the socio-behavioral problems of these children. As children with Inhibited RAD symptoms have difficulties communicating their needs and wishes in socially adaptive ways, it may not be easy for teachers to understand these children. Teachers may misinterpret a child's behavior and consequently will fail to respond to the child's underlying needs. This may reinforce the child's socio-behavioral problems and increase the child's reliance on egocentric and aggressive means in interactions with others. This study therefore highlights the need to support teachers in interactions with children with Inhibited RAD symptoms in order to help them understand how the children's observable behaviors in the classroom may convey their underlying socio-emotional needs and how they can respond to these needs. Importantly, teacher sensitivity was not associated with the socio-behavioral development of children with Disinhibited RAD symptoms (e.g., indiscriminate friendliness). Consistent with previous research, this study suggests that children with Inhibited RAD symptoms are more susceptible to the quality of the caregiving environment than children with Disinhibited RAD symptoms and extends this finding to the school context.

Infant negative emotionality and attachment: Implications for preschool intelligence

This longitudinal study examined the extent to which dimensions of infant negative temperament in the first year predicted IQ at age 3, and whether these associations depended on the quality of the infant–mother attachment relationship. In a sample of 63 infant–mother dyads, mothers completed Rothbart’s (1981) IBQ when infants were 4 and 12 months, mothers and infants participated in Ainsworth and Wittig’s (1969) Strange Situation at 12 months, and children completed the Stanford-Binet (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986) when they were 36 months of age. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that 4- or 12-month distress to limitations was not predictive of later IQ, but infants with greater distress to novelty at 4 months had higher IQs at 36 months. Furthermore, greater distress to novelty at 12 months predicted higher IQs but only for infants whose attachment was insecure. Differential implications of temperamental fear versus anger for social influences on cognitive development are discussed.

The neurobiology of mammalian parenting and the biosocial context of human caregiving

This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". Research on the neurobiology of attachment, pioneered by scholars in the generation that followed the discovery of social bonding, examined the biological basis of mammalian parenting through systematic experiments in animal models and their application to theories on human attachment. This paper argues for the need to construct a theory on the neurobiology of human attachment that integrates findings in animal models with human neuroscience research to formulate concepts based on experimental, not only extrapolative data. Rosenblatt's (2003) three characteristics of mammalian parenting - rapid formation of attachment, behavioral synchrony, and mother-offspring attachment as basis of social organization - are used to guide discussion on mammalian-general versus human-specific attributes of parental care. These highlight specific components of attachment in rodents, primates, and humans that chart the evolution from promiscuous, nest-bound, olfactory-based bonds to exclusive, multi-sensory, and representation-based attachments. Following, three continua are outlined in parental behavior, hormones, and brain, each detailing the evolution from rodents to humans. Parental behavior is defined as a process of trophallaxis - the reciprocal multisensory exchange that supports approach orientation and enables collaboration in social species - and includes human-specific features that enable behavioral synchrony independent of tactile contact. The oxytocin system incorporates conserved and human-specific components and is marked by pulsatile activity and dendritic release that reorganize neural networks on the basis of species-specific attachment experiences. Finally, the subcortical limbic circuit underpinning mammalian mothering extends in humans to include multiple cortical networks implicated in empathy, mentalizing, and emotion regulation that enable flexible, goal-directed caregiving. I conclude by presenting a philosophical continuum from Hobbes to Lorenz, which illustrates how research on the neurobiology of attachment can put in the forefront the social-collaborative elements in human nature and afford a new perspective on the mind-brain polarity.

Effortful control mediates relations between children's attachment security and their regard for rules of conduct

Although attachment security has been associated with children's rule-compatible conduct, the mechanism through which attachment influences early regard for rules is not well established. We hypothesized that effortful control would mediate the link between security and indicators of children's emerging regard for rules (discomfort following rule violations, internalization of parents' and experimenter's rules, few externalizing behaviors). In a longitudinal study, the Attachment Q-Set was completed by parents, effortful control was observed, and Regard for Rules was observed and rated by parents. The proposed model fit the data well: Children's security to mothers predicted their effortful control, which in turn had a direct link to a greater Regard for Rules. Children's security with fathers did not predict effortful control. The mother-child relationship appears particularly important for positive developmental cascades of self-regulation and socialization.

Focusing on the positive: a review of the role of child positive affect in developmental psychopathology

This review proposes a transactional model of child positive affect (PA) to reflect the ways that PA, in various contexts, may confer both risk and protection for psychosocial adjustment. Though research has largely explored the ways that low PA relates to maladjustment in youth, much less research has focused on the ways that PA can facilitate adjustment, particularly under conditions of risk. Yet, theory suggests that a greater emphasis on PA as a protective factor is an important endeavor in developmental psychopathology research; such conceptual issues are explored in this review. This review also seeks to spur a more nuanced approach to the study of child PA through the use of increased multi-method, longitudinal assessments as well as the consideration of contextual factors. Building upon this research base is important for aiding in the development of intervention and prevention efforts that attempt to promote positive psychosocial development and mitigate the course of psychopathology in youth at risk for PA difficulties.

An Examination of Changes in Emotion Co-Regulation Among Mother and Child Dyads During the Strange Situation

The present study applied State Space Grid analysis to describe how preschooler-mother dyads co-regulate emotion in the Strange Situation. Second-to-second mother and child affect during pre-separation play (baseline) and the final reunion (post perturbation) episodes of the Strange Situation were coded for 80 dyads. Change in emotion co-regulation across the two Strange Situation episodes was examined with linear mixed models for groups with secure and insecure classifications. The groups did not differ at baseline. Change in content-specific emotion co-regulation but not content-free emotion co-regulation was found to be significantly different within and between groups. Both secure and insecure dyads reduced the time spent in positive interaction but increased the time in negative interaction across two episodes; the change in secure dyads was less pronounced than in the insecure dyads. After the separation, secure dyads had more positive interactions and fewer negative interactions compared to insecure dyads. Results highlight how secure dyads adapted to the stressful change, whereas insecure dyads were more reactive and less resilient to the stress of the study's brief imposed separation.

Secure attachment promotes the development of effortful control in boys

Although effortful control (EC), a regulatory aspect of temperament, is associated with a wide range of developmental outcomes, knowledge about EC promoters is scarce. This study explored whether secure attachment promoted the development of EC from preschool to school age in a community sample of 903 Norwegian children. EC was measured using the parent-reported Children's Behavior Questionnaire at four (T1) and six (T2) years of age, and attachment was measured using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task at T1. Previous research has indicated that a child's gender and socioeconomic status are possible covariates of EC; hence, these factors were included in the analyses. Despite considerable rank-order stability in EC, secure attachment contributed to an increase in EC. Furthermore, gender moderated the effect of attachment: secure attachment promoted EC in boys only. These findings emphasize preschool boys' need for emotional security to facilitate effortful capacities in their transition to school.

Doing It With Feeling: The Emotion in Early Socioemotional Development

Carroll Izard’s theoretical and research contributions to the study of early socioemotional development are profiled. His studies of early emotional expression and the formulations of differential emotions theory have stimulated contemporary inquiry into the organization of early emotional life, the developmental processes by which distinct feelings and facial expressions become progressively concordant, and how the emotional expressions of others become imbued with emotion meaning. His work on emotion, attachment, and emotion–cognition relations has contributed to contemporary study of the emotional bases of attachment organization and the development of the internal working models associated with attachment security. Because of Izard’s contributions, developmental emotions research is theoretically richer, and emotion has a more central place in our understanding of development and motivation.

Romanian Children’s Representations of Negative and Self-Conscious Emotions in a Narrative Story Stem Technique

This research uses children’s story-stem play narratives to investigate dimensions of negative emotional expression. Fifty-one Romanian children between 6 and 11-years old participated in the study. Children’s narratives were coded for three basic negative emotions and five self-conscious emotions. Parents completed a general questionnaire for demographic data and the amount of time they spent with their children. Differences were found for frequencies of negative emotional representations in relation to the specific story-stems in which they occurred. Girls were more likely than boys to enact in their narratives guilt feelings coupled with apology following some wrongdoing. Children who spent more time with parents enacted significantly less anger and fear. Simultaneous expressions of multiple negative emotions were observed in the narrative responses of these middle childhood-aged Romanian children. While findings should be viewed with caution, owing to the small and homogeneous sample, new directions for future research with this assessment method are indicated.

Conscientiousness: origins in childhood?

In this review, we evaluate developmental and personality research with the aim of determining whether the personality trait of conscientiousness can be identified in children and adolescents. After concluding that conscientiousness does emerge in childhood, we discuss the developmental origins of conscientiousness with a specific focus on self-regulation, academic motivation, and internalized compliance/internalization of standards. On the basis of the accumulated body of evidence, we conclude that self-regulation fosters conscientiousness later in life, both directly and via academic motivation and internalized compliance with norms. We argue that elements of conscientiousness are evident by early childhood; self-regulation skills are likely a core developmental component of conscientiousness; and despite the contribution of heredity to the aforementioned aspects of functioning, environmental factors likely contribute to conscientiousness.

Understanding conscientiousness across the life course: an economic perspective

We discuss recent developments in the literature on the role of conscientiousness on healthy aging within an economic framework that helps to systematize and interpret the existing evidence.

Different early rearing experiences have long-term effects on cortical organization in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Consequences of rearing history in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have been explored in relation to behavioral abnormalities and cognition; however, little is known about the effects of rearing conditions on anatomical brain development. Human studies have revealed that experiences of maltreatment and neglect during infancy and childhood can have detrimental effects on brain development and cognition. In this study, we evaluated the effects of early rearing experience on brain morphology in 92 captive chimpanzees (ages 11-43) who were either reared by their mothers (n = 46) or in a nursery (n = 46) with age-group peers. Magnetic resonance brain images were analyzed with a processing program (BrainVISA) that extracts cortical sulci. We obtained various measurements from 11 sulci located throughout the brain, as well as whole brain gyrification and white and grey matter volumes. We found that mother-reared chimpanzees have greater global white-to-grey matter volume, more cortical folding and thinner grey matter within the cortical folds than nursery-reared animals. The findings reported here are the first to demonstrate that differences in early rearing conditions have significant consequences on brain morphology in chimpanzees and suggests potential differences in the development of white matter expansion and myelination.

Emotion: commentary. A biopsychosocial perspective on maternal psychopathology and the development of child emotion regulation

In this commentary, the authors note that Gratz and colleagues (2014) have made an important step in understanding the effect of maternal borderline personality (BP) pathology on children's developing emotion regulation. The emphasis on mechanisms of transmission in their article has implications for our understanding of the relationships between parental mental health and child functioning more generally. The authors of the commentary argue that using a biopsychosocial framework to understand the multiple levels that characterize the developmental system will push this kind of focus on behavioral mechanisms a step further. A biopsychosocial framework implies that a set of hierarchically organized, but reciprocally interacting, processes, from the genetic to the environmental, provide the essential elements of development (Gottlieb, 2007). Thus, in studying the effects of maternal BP pathology on child outcomes, consideration may also be given to the role of underlying biological processes that are influenced by maternal functioning and may alter child outcomes. Challenges to using this general approach in studying the effects of parental psychopathology are discussed.

Maternal oxytocin response predicts mother-to-infant gaze

The neuropeptide oxytocin is importantly implicated in the emergence and maintenance of maternal behavior that forms the basis of the mother-infant bond. However, no research has yet examined the specific association between maternal oxytocin and maternal gaze, a key modality through which the mother makes social contact and engages with her infant. Furthermore, prior oxytocin studies have assessed maternal engagement primarily during episodes free of infant distress, while maternal engagement during infant distress is considered to be uniquely relevant to the formation of secure mother-infant attachment. Two patterns of maternal gaze, maternal gaze toward and gaze shifts away from the infant, were micro-coded while 50 mothers interacted with their 7-month-old infants during a modified still-face procedure. Maternal oxytocin response was defined as a change from baseline in the mother's plasma oxytocin level following interaction with her infant. The mother's oxytocin response was positively associated with the duration of time her gaze was directed toward her infant, while negatively associated with the frequency with which her gaze shifted away from her infant. Importantly, mothers who showed low/average oxytocin response demonstrated a significant decrease in their infant gaze during periods of infant distress, while such change was not observed in mothers with high oxytocin response. The findings underscore the involvement of oxytocin in regulating the mother's responsive engagement with her infant, particularly in times when the infant's need for access to the mother is greatest. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav.

Infant cardiac surgery and the father-infant relationship: feelings of strength, strain, and caution

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the father-infant relationship in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD).

METHOD

Sixty-three fathers whose infants had cardiac surgery before 3 months of age reported on their attachment relationship with their infant within two months of hospital discharge using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

RESULTS

Mean scores on the Paternal Postnatal Attachment Scale and scores for patience and tolerance were not different from previously published community norms, ps>.05. Scores for pleasure and interaction (t[50]=-2.383, p=.021, CI: -2.93, -.25) and affection and pride subscale (t[56]=-2.935, p=.005, CI: -1.20, -.23) were significantly lower than community norms. Additionally, 37% of fathers described feeling a strong relationship with their infant whereas 17% reported initial apprehension or condition-specific worry. Fathers with infants who spent fewer days at home prior to admission reported feelings of relationship strain as well as lower pleasure in interaction, affection and pride, patience and tolerance, and overall attachment quality.

CONCLUSION

Having an infant with CHD affects some father-infant relationships differently than others with some fathers feeling closer to their infant and other fathers feeling reservation about getting too close. One explanation for these differences may be that spending a great deal of time in hospital restricts the number and quality of interactions infants have with their fathers. Opportunities for intervention include clinical psychosocial services encouraging fathers to interact with and provide physical care of their infant, especially if fathers perceive their infant as medically fragile.

Gender differences in emotion expression in children: a meta-analytic review

Emotion expression is an important feature of healthy child development that has been found to show gender differences. However, there has been no empirical review of the literature on gender and facial, vocal, and behavioral expressions of different types of emotions in children. The present study constitutes a comprehensive meta-analytic review of gender differences and moderators of differences in emotion expression from infancy through adolescence. We analyzed 555 effect sizes from 166 studies with a total of 21,709 participants. Significant but very small gender differences were found overall, with girls showing more positive emotions (g = -.08) and internalizing emotions (e.g., sadness, anxiety, sympathy; g = -.10) than boys, and boys showing more externalizing emotions (e.g., anger; g = .09) than girls. Notably, gender differences were moderated by age, interpersonal context, and task valence, underscoring the importance of contextual factors in gender differences. Gender differences in positive emotions were more pronounced with increasing age, with girls showing more positive emotions than boys in middle childhood (g = -.20) and adolescence (g = -.28). Boys showed more externalizing emotions than girls at toddler/preschool age (g = .17) and middle childhood (g = .13) and fewer externalizing emotions than girls in adolescence (g = -.27). Gender differences were less pronounced with parents and were more pronounced with unfamiliar adults (for positive emotions) and with peers/when alone (for externalizing emotions). Our findings of gender differences in emotion expression in specific contexts have important implications for gender differences in children's healthy and maladaptive development.

Evocative gene-parenting correlations and academic performance at first grade: an exploratory study

Academic performance during the first years of school lays the groundwork for subsequent trajectories of academic success throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study tests a model according to which a gene-parenting correlation in the first 3 years of life is associated with subsequent psychosocial adjustment and then academic performance in the first grade (as indicated by teachers' assessment of academic behavior and two subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement, Third Edition). Drawing on multiple waves of data from the Durham Child Health and Development Study, we find that risk alleles for dopamine receptor genes (dopamine receptor D4 for girls, dopamine receptor D2 for boys) are associated with less sensitive parenting. For girls, parenting mediates the link between dopamine receptor D4 and all academic outcomes. There is some indication that parenting also influences girls' withdrawn behavior in the classroom, which in turn influences teachers' assessments of academic performance. For boys, some evidence suggests that parenting is associated with emotion regulation, which is associated with teachers' assessments of academic behavior and both subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson. Replications of this exploratory study are necessary, but these findings provide a first step in understanding how evocative correlations in the home may predict indicators of psychosocial adjustment that in turn influence performance and achievement at school.

Gender and discipline in 5-12-month-old infants: a longitudinal study

We examined the effects of infant age and gender on the behaviors of infants and mothers during discipline interactions using longitudinal, naturalistic, home-based, taped observations of 16 mother-infant dyads (eight males and eight females). These observations were conducted between the child ages of 5 and 12 months and used a devised Maternal Discipline Coding System to code for the occurrence of discipline events. During discipline interactions, mothers vocalized longer, used harsher tones, and used more explanations with older compared to younger infants. Male infants were more likely than female infants to cry or whine during discipline events. Mothers of male infants used longer vocalizations, more words, and more affectionate terms than mothers of female infants. Male infants were more difficult during discipline interactions than female infants, but it appeared that mothers of males responded to this difficulty by using milder discipline techniques.

The development of negative reactivity in irritable newborns as a function of attachment

This longitudinal study builds on existing research exploring the developmental course of infants' negative reactivity to frustration in a sample of 84 irritable infants. We investigated whether infants' negative reactivity to frustration differed during the first year as a function of infant attachment classification. Various elements of the designs of previous studies investigating negative reactivity and attachment preclude the strong conclusion that negative reactivity develops differently as a function of attachment. Thus, we utilized the same observational assessment of infant negative reactivity, conducted without parental involvement, at 5 and 12 months. One proposition, based in attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982; Cassidy, 1994), is that relative to secure infants, insecure-avoidant infants come to minimize their negative emotional reactions, whereas insecure-ambivalent infants come to maximize their negative emotional reactions. As expected, we found that at 5 months, attachment groups did not differ in reactivity, but at 12 months, insecure-avoidant infants were the least reactive, followed by secure infants, and insecure-ambivalent infants were the most reactive. Results are discussed in terms of conceptualizing the development of emotion regulation and their implications for future research.

Maternal antenatal depression and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months

Although high rates of attachment disorganization have been observed in infants of depressed mothers, little is known about the role of antenatal depression as a precursor to infant attachment disorganization. The primary aim of this study was to examine associations between maternal antenatal depression and infant disorganization at 12 months in a sample of women (N = 79) at risk for perinatal depression. A secondary aim was to test the roles of maternal postpartum depression and maternal parenting quality as potential moderators of this predicted association. Among women with histories of major depressive episodes, maternal depressive symptoms were assessed at multiple times during pregnancy and the first year postpartum, maternal parenting quality was measured at three months postpartum, and attachment disorganization was assessed at 12 months postpartum. Results revealed that infants classified as disorganized had mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms during pregnancy compared to infants classified as organized. Maternal parenting quality moderated this association, as exposure to higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy was only associated with higher rates of infant disorganized attachment when maternal parenting at three months was less optimal. These findings suggest that enhancing maternal parenting behaviors during this early period in development has the potential to alter pathways to disorganized attachment among infants exposed to antenatal maternal depressive symptoms, which could have enduring consequences for child wellbeing.

Development of fear and guilt in young children: stability over time and relations with psychopathology

Extremes in fearful temperament have long been associated with later psychopathology and risk pathways. Whereas fearful children are inhibited and anxious and avoid novel events, fearless individuals are disinhibited and more likely to engage in aggressive behavior. However, very few studies have examined fear in infants from a multimethod and prospective longitudinal perspective. This study had the following objectives: to examine behavioral, maternal reported, and physiological indices of fearful temperament in infancy, together with their relations and stability over time; and to establish whether early indices of fear predict fear later in toddlerhood. We also examined the association between behavioral and physiological measures of fear and guilt and whether fear in infancy predicts guilt in toddlers. Finally, we investigated infant risk factors for later psychopathology. We recorded skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate (HR) and observed children's responses during a Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery fear paradigm across the first 3 years of life and during a guilt induction procedure at age 3 (N = 70). The results indicate that different measures of infant fear were associated across time. Observed fearlessness in infancy predicted observed fearlessness and low levels of SCL arousal to fear and guilt in toddlers. Low levels of HR and SCL to fear in infancy predicted low levels of physiological arousal to the same situation and to guilt 2 years later. Fear and guilt were significantly associated across measures. Finally, toddlers with clinically significant internalizing problems at age 3 were already notably more fearful in Year 1 as reflected by their significantly higher HR levels. The results indicated that assessments of children in infancy are predictive of how these children react 2 years later and therefore lend support to the idea that the emotional thermostat is set in the first 3 years of life. They also showed, for the first time, that infant fear is a predictor of guilt, which is an emotion that develops later. The implications of these findings for our understanding of developmental psychopathology are discussed.