Assessing anxiety problems in a community sample during toddlerhood: The impact of child temperament and maternal intrusiveness

Previous research indicates that child temperament and maternal behaviors are related to internalizing behaviors in children. We assessed whether maternal intrusiveness (MI) observed at 10-months would moderate the impact of temperamental fear and the impact of inhibitory control (IC) at 24 months on anxiety problems at 36 months. A mother-child interaction task was coded for MI. Behavioral tasks were given to assess children's IC. Parents completed questionnaires about their children's temperamental fear and anxiety problems. Results showed that greater temperamental fear reported at 24 months predicted greater anxiety problems reported at 36 months, regardless of MI levels. Lower levels of IC at 24 months predicted more anxiety problems reported at 36 months when children experienced greater MI. These findings illustrate the importance of examining both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, independently and interactively, that contribute to children's anxiety problems in toddlerhood.

The successful use of a search strategy improves with visuospatial working memory in 2- to 4.5-year-olds

Using spatial cues such as shape, orientation, and pattern aids visuospatial working memory because it allows strategies that reduce the load on this cognitive resource. One such strategy, namely taking advantage of patterned spatial distributions, remains understudied to date. This strategy demands keeping track of already-searched locations and excluding them from further search and so correlates with visuospatial working memory. The use of such strategies should, in principle, develop in early childhood, but because most studies focus on chunking, the development of other strategies reducing the load on working memory is understudied in young children. Therefore, in this study we tested whether children aged 2 to 4.5 years (N = 97) could take advantage of spatial cues in their search and whether this ability correlated with their age, verbal ability, and visuospatial working memory. The results showed that the ability to use a patterned spatial distribution (searching a row of locations from one side to the other instead of a random search) significantly improved with visuospatial working memory but not with age or verbal ability. These results suggest that visuospatial abilities may rapidly develop from 2 to 4.5 years of age, and given their impact on later mathematic achievement, demand increased attention in cognitive developmental research and early childhood education.

Household chaos, child temperament, and structure-related feeding practices in toddlerhood: A moderation analysis

Structure-related feeding practices may promote intuitive child eating behaviors and foster responsiveness to internal cues of hunger and satiety. Caregivers' ability to engage in structure-related feeding practices likely depends on a complex ecology of factors, including household- and child-characteristics. This study examined associations between household chaos and structure-related feeding practices, and the moderating effect of child temperament. Data were from 275 caregiver-toddler dyads from central Ohio. Child temperament was reported by caregivers when children were 18 months of age, whereas household chaos and structure-related feeding practices were reported by caregivers when children were 36 months of age. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to assess the relationship between chaos and structure-related feeding practices. Interaction terms between household chaos and three dimensions of child temperament were tested to determine whether temperament moderated the relationship between chaos and structure-related feeding practices. Household chaos was not independently associated with structure-related feeding practices, but higher levels of child effortful control were associated with greater mealtime structure. There was a statistically significant interaction between household chaos and child temperamental surgency, such that greater levels of chaos were associated with less structured mealtimes, but only when children had low-surgency. Findings suggest household chaos and child temperament inform caregiver feeding practices, but the influence of chaos may depend on more proximal factors, like child temperament. Recommendations to improve caregiver-child feeding interactions should be sensitive to characteristics of the broader family home environment.

Parental sensitivity to toddler's need for autonomy: An empirical study on mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions during feeding and play

During the second year of life, children's need for autonomy grows, and their behaviors become increasingly complex. Parental sensitivity to children's different cues is important in supporting adaptive psycho-emotional development. The present study assumes that mothers and fathers may respond with varying levels of sensitivity to the child's different cues, with particular attention to requests for greater autonomy. The study also examines the possible role played by interactive contexts (ie., play and feeding) and children's and parents' individual factors. The sample comprised N = 91 families with children aged between 12 and 24 months. Mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions were assessed during feeding and play. Parents completed questionnaires assessing children's temperament, psychopathological risk, and parenting stress. RESULTS: showed that toddlers' demands for autonomy were the most frequent cues in both play and feeding contexts, both with mothers and fathers. Furthermore, parents were more sensitive to toddlers' requests for cooperation than their requests for autonomy, in both interactive contexts. Moreover, mothers and fathers showed higher sensitivity to toddlers' demands for greater autonomy in the play context rather than in the feeding context. Mothers were more sensitive than fathers to toddlers' cues of resistance to parents' actions and to toddlers' requests for cooperation. Results showed differences and specificities in mother-toddler and father-toddler interactions in the two interactive contexts, showing associations between child negative emotionality, parental psychopathological risk and parenting stress, and maternal and paternal sensitivity to toddlers' demands for greater autonomy during play and feeding, respectively. These results confirm the initial hypotheses regarding parental sensitivity and its differential expression according to child cues. Implications are discussed.

Expectations of Processing Ease, Informativeness, and Accuracy Guide Toddlers' Processing of Novel Communicative Cues

Discovering the meaning of novel communicative cues is challenging and amounts to navigating an unbounded hypothesis space. Several theories posit that this problem can be simplified by relying on positive expectations about the cognitive utility of communicated information. These theories imply that learners should assume that novel communicative cues tend to have low processing costs and high cognitive benefits. We tested this hypothesis in three studies in which toddlers (N = 90) searched for a reward hidden in one of several containers. In all studies, an adult communicated the reward's location with an unfamiliar and ambiguous cue. We manipulated the processing costs (operationalized as inferential chain length) and cognitive benefits (operationalized as informativeness) of the possible interpretations of the cues. Toddlers processing of novel communicative cues were guided by expectations of low processing costs (Study 1) and high cognitive benefits (Studies 2 and 3). More specifically, toddlers treated novel cues as if they were easy to process, informative, and accurate, even when provided with repeated evidence to the contrary. These results indicate that, from toddlerhood onward, expectations of cognitive utility shape the processing of novel communicative cues. These data also reveal that toddlers, who are in the process of learning the language and communicative conventions of people around them, exert a pressure favoring cognitive efficiency in communicative systems.

Parental Discipline Techniques and Changes in Observed Temper Tantrum Severity in Toddlers

Although temper tantrums are considered a normal part of emotional development in toddlerhood, for some they foreshadow more serious behavioral and emotional problems. Parental discipline techniques may play a role in explaining why this behavior worsens for some children whereas for others it fades away. With this three-wave longitudinal study, we examined bidirectional associations between specific discipline techniques - ignoring, power assertion, and consistency - and intra-individual changes in the severity of tantrum behavior. We observed tantrum behavior in a standardized clean-up task, overcoming the limitation of most earlier work that relied on parent-report for associated changes in parenting and child behavior over time. For 94 children (53 boys; M_age = 30 months, range 20-43 months), mothers filled out the Parenting Dimensions Inventory, and temper tantrum severity (i.e., duration and aggressiveness) was coded three times across one year. Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models suggested parent-effects rather than child-effects: more maternal power assertion and less consistency predicted increases in tantrum severity over time (ignoring did not), but temper tantrum severity did not predict changes in parenting over time. Results indicate that reducing power assertion and increasing consistency may be especially helpful in reducing temper tantrums in children. Findings add to previous findings indicating that mothers' parenting may be driven less by objective child behavior than by her own perceptions of her child's behavior.

Developmental cascades of behavior problems and cognitive ability from toddlerhood to middle childhood: A 9-year longitudinal study

Little is known about the direction, ordering, and uniqueness of longitudinal associations between behavior problems and cognitive ability, from toddlerhood to middle childhood. A developmental cascade model was tested in the present study to examine the transactional processes in 103 Chinese children at the ages of 1, 2, 7, and 9 years. Behavior problems were assessed using the maternal reported Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment at the ages of 1, 2 and parental reported Children Behavior Checklist at the ages of 7, 9. Cognitive ability was measured using Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development at the ages of 1, 2 and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at the ages of 7, 9. The results revealed the stability of behavior problems and cognitive ability from age 1 to age 9 years and concurrent associations between externalizing and internalizing problems. Unique longitudinal associations were identified between (1) age 1 cognitive ability and age 2 internalizing problems, (2) age 2 externalizing problems and age 7 internalizing problems, (3) age 2 externalizing problems and age 7 cognitive ability, (4) age 7 cognitive ability and age 9 externalizing problems. The results indicated essential targets for future interventions aimed at reducing children's behavior problems at 2 years old and promoting cognitive ability at 1 year old and 7 years old.

Maternal anxiety and toddler depressive/anxiety behaviors: The direct and moderating role of children's focused attention

Attention mechanisms have a pertinent role in shaping developmental pathways to anxiety and depressive disorders. The current study examined the direct and interactive associations between maternal anxiety symptoms, children's focused attention, and children's anxiety and depression behaviors in early toddlerhood. Participants were 150 mother-child dyads (50 % female) that were assessed at two time points. At 12 months of child age, mothers reported about their anxiety symptoms and children's focused attention. Children's focused attention was also observed and rated from an individual play task. At 18 months of age, mothers reported about children's anxiety and depression behaviors. Focused attention predicted child anxiety and depressive behaviors, with different patterns of associations between observed and reported measures of attention. There was also a significant interaction between maternal anxiety symptoms and observed children's focused attention. A positive association between maternal anxiety symptoms and child anxiety and depression symptoms was evident only for children with above-average levels of observed focused attention during play. Results suggest that different aspects of focused attention play a role in maternal reported anxiety and depression behaviors in early development and may modulate the intergenerational transmission of anxiety.

Change over time in interactions between unfamiliar toddlers

The frequency and length of games, conflicts, and contingency sequences that took place between toddlers as they got to know one another were studied using archival data. The sample consisted of 28 unfamiliar 20- and 30-month-old toddlers (predominantly White, 16 males) who met separately with each of two other toddlers for 18 play dates. The frequency of games increased over time, while the frequency of conflict and contingency sequences decreased. The length of games increased over time while the length of conflicts and contingency sequences were stable. Age and language ability predicted changes in frequency and length of the different types of sequences. Thus, toddlers engage in less structured interactions when they first meet; their interactions become increasingly more organized and positive as the relationship evolves.

Parenting self-efficacy instruments for parents of infants and toddlers: A review

Background

Parenting Self-Efficacy, a concept first described in Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, is a parent's belief in their ability to successfully parent their child. The concept of parenting self-efficacy is used by researchers to increase our understanding of parenting abilities and influences on child health and developmental outcomes. Numerous instruments exist for measuring parental self-efficacy; but little is known about the specific topics included in the measures and consistency across instruments. Therefore, this scoping review sought to compare parenting self-efficacy instruments for parents of infants and toddlers, focusing on comparison of parenting topics, scale format, and administration with the goal of providing guidance and recommendations for measurement selection.

Methods

Our sample included 25 instruments and items from every instrument was evaluated and coded using NVIVO Qualitative Software. We reviewed the instruments' target population, subscales, number of items, response options, scoring range and instructions, theoretical background, and parenting topics across each instrument.

Results

This review found three common factors across all instruments: parent, social and family, and child factors. Parent personal factors were addressed most frequently to evaluate self-efficacy and included topics such as, perception of parenting abilities, emotional reactions, and perceived successes. From our synthesis, we also offer recommendations for instrument selection and provide a conceptual model of parenting self-efficacy.

Conclusions

The findings from this scoping review highlight the presence of key factors (parent, social & family, and child) necessary for the evaluation of parenting self-efficacy in parents of infants and toddlers. Given our results, a meta-analysis is needed to compare parenting self-efficacy scores across studies to better understand the associations between self-efficacy and parent and child outcomes.

Cortisol and testosterone concentrations during the prenatal and postpartum period forecast later caregiving quality in mothers and fathers

Given that parental caregiving quality affects child development from birth onwards, it is important to detect parents who are at risk for low-quality caregiving as early as possible, preferably before or soon after birth. This study investigated whether cortisol (CORT) and testosterone (T) measured during the last trimester of pregnancy and six weeks postpartum were associated with observed caregiving quality at child age 3 in mothers (N = 63) and fathers (N = 45). CORT and T were measured during an interaction with a simulator infant (pregnancy) and their own infant (postpartum). In mothers, no associations were found with CORT and T during pregnancy, but higher postpartum CORT during a mother-infant interaction was related to higher caregiving quality during toddlerhood. In fathers, the association between T during pregnancy and caregiving quality in toddlerhood was more negative for fathers with low CORT. In contrast to mothers, higher postpartum CORT in fathers was associated with lower caregiving quality in toddlerhood. These findings proved robust after applying the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure to control for false discovery rate. Our findings indicate that CORT and T during the perinatal period can forecast caregiving quality in both mothers and fathers. Moreover, our results provided evidence for the dual-hormone hypothesis, but only in fathers. These findings contribute to our growing understanding on how endocrine measures explain individual differences in caregiving quality in mothers and fathers.

Associations between maternal eating behaviors and feeding practices in toddlerhood

Few studies have examined the associations between parents' own eating behaviors and their feeding practices. We aimed to study the associations between maternal eating behaviors and feeding practices in toddlerhood. In this cross-sectional analysis, maternal eating behaviors and feeding practices were assessed at 2-year follow-up by using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21) and the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ), respectively, among mothers of 1322 children from the EDEN mother-child cohort. Depending on their distributions, scores from the two questionnaires were considered continuous or binary variables, according to the median. Linear or logistic regression models were used as appropriate to assess the associations between maternal eating behaviors, considered simultaneously in a combined model, and their feeding practices. Maternal cognitive restraint was positively associated with maternal restriction for health and restriction for weight. Maternal uncontrolled eating was positively associated with pressure to eat and use of food to regulate the child's emotions. Maternal uncontrolled eating was also negatively associated with restriction for weight, but only among boys. This study supports that mothers' own eating behaviors are associated with their feeding practices in toddlerhood. Further studies are needed to understand the role of parental feeding practices in the familial transmission of eating behavior.

Stability and structure of infant and toddler temperament in two longitudinal studies in Germany

The present study investigated the factor structure and longitudinal stability of infant and toddler temperament measured with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R) and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) in two German samples. Since the few studies using the German IBQ-R failed to replicate the commonly assumed three factors of infant temperament, another exploration of its factor structure was necessary. Whereas previous stability measurements are usually based on groups with relatively large age ranges, we investigated stability between concrete ages. In Study 1, the IBQ-R was applied in 9- and 12-month-old infants. In Study 2, both questionnaires were applied in 12-, 18-, and 24-month-olds. Factor analyses of the IBQ-R in both studies revealed a two-factor solution comprising Surgency/ Extraversion and Negative Affectivity, replicating earlier findings with German infants. The Orienting/ Regulation factor was not replicated for the IBQ-R, whereas analysis of the ECBQ revealed a three-factor solution for toddlers. The results showed stability of temperament ratings within infancy (Study 1) and toddlerhood (Study 2) as well as between the developmental periods within the second year of life (Study 2). Taken together, the present findings indicate that temperament stability emerges early in life and can be reliably measured using the IBQ-R and ECBQ, whereas the factor structure of temperament in infancy requires further validation.

Early development of social attention in toddlers at high familial risk for autism spectrum disorder

The present study explored the early development of social attention of toddlers at high familial risk (HR) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eighteen HR toddlers and twenty-two toddlers at low familial risk for ASD (LR) between 11 and 24 months were asked to watch paired social and non-social videos. We found that: (1) the initial social preference in HR group decreased with age, but not in LR group; (2) both groups showed significant social habituation across trials, but HR group habituated slightly slower as age increased. These findings suggest that atypical social attention could be an early characteristic of toddlers at high familial risk for ASD.

Do motor skills impact on language development between 18 and 30 months of age?

Despite recent evidence on the relation between motor development and language development in infancy, this relation is still little explored in the late second and third year. This study investigated whether gross and/or fine motor skills affect language outcomes in this age range and whether any such effects narrow over time to specific language categories related to motor experience, such as spatial vocabulary. Thirty-six Italian monolingual toddlers (58% girls) participated, divided into two groups based on their age. They were assessed twice: the younger group at 18 (Time-1) and 24 months (Time-2); the older group at 24 (Time-1) and 30 months (Time-2). At Time-1 motor and language abilities were measured using the Griffiths Mental Development Scales. At Time-2, only language outcomes (three vocabularies: nouns, predicates, and spatial terms) were assessed, using the Picture Naming Game-PiNG. Hierarchical linear regressions show that motor skills affect language abilities also in the late second and third year, but the impact varies according to the type of motor skills (gross vs. fine) and children's age. At 18 months, controlling for linguistic abilities, a global score of gross motor skills predicted predicate production, and a specific gross-motor coordination skill: general dynamic coordination (GDC) predicted noun production at 24 months. At 24 months, controlling for linguistic abilities, GDC predicted predicate production, and a combination of fine- and gross-motor coordination skills (bilateral coordination and GDC) predicted spatial vocabulary comprehension at 30 months. Overall, results suggest that the relation between motor and language development is not simple or stable over time, but rather dynamic.

Caregiver and Young Child Biological Attunement In Distress Contexts: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis

The objective of the current study was to systematically review the literature on caregiver-child biological attunement within distress contexts during the first three years of life. A total of 9932 unique abstracts were identified through Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus databases. Thirty-six studies provided data from caregivers and their infants or toddlers within a distress paradigm, used biological indicators of distress, and assessed the relations between caregiver and child biological indicators. Findings were synthesized based on biological indicators, type of analysis, and measurement epochs pre- and post-distress. Most articles examined cortisol. Associations between caregiver and child cortisol indicators were moderate to large, though findings varied depending on the analysis used and measurement epochs examined. Many of the findings examining relations between mother and child cardiac, sAA, and EEG indicators were weak or inconsistent, likely due to the limitations of methodological approaches used to capture the complexity of the caregiver-child attunement process. Gaps in the literature and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Insight into toddlers' motivation to help: From social participants to prosocial contributors

What drives toddlers' helping behavior? And do toddlers' helping motivations change across time? In line with Dahl and Paulus (2019), we propose that initially, toddlers start helping in ongoing chores driven by their interest in social interactions, and, later on, their helping becomes more concern based, or based on a sense of responsibility. To test this assumption, we used a longitudinal approach to examine the role that social interaction plays in toddlers' motivation to help as they grow older. As such, we investigated whether a disruption to an experimenter during a shared chore task affected toddlers' motivations to continue helping at the ages of 18, 21 and 24 months. Results showed that toddlers at 18 months were less likely to continue helping when the experimenter was disrupted from the shared task, in comparison to toddlers at 21 and at 24 months. These findings support the idea that toddlers develop from socially based participators into more prosocially based contributors.

Negative affectivity moderated by preterm birth predicted toddlers' behavior problems

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to examine the predictive effect of temperament moderated by preterm childbirth on behavioral problems in toddlerhood.

METHOD

The sample comprised 100 toddlers of 18-36 months of chronological age and their mothers. They were divided into two groups: 50 toddlers born preterm and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PT group), and 50 toddlers born full-term (FT group) and recruited from day-care centers. Mothers completed questionnaires about toddlers' temperament and behavior. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire was used to assess temperament, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1¹/²-5) to evaluate the total, internalizing, and externalizing behavior problems. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the moderation effects of preterm childbirth and temperament factors after controlling for toddlers' age and socioeconomic level.

RESULTS

There was a moderation effect between preterm childbirth and temperament. Temperament with more Negative Affectivity, moderated by preterm birth, and less Effortful Control explained the total, internalizing, and externalizing behavior problems.

CONCLUSION

The findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of preterm childbirth and the dispositional traits of temperament on behavioral problems of toddlers born preterm.

Maternal Parenting and Toddler Temperament: Predictors of Early School Age Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Related Behaviors

Detection of early risk for developing childhood attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) symptoms, inattention and hyperactivity, may be critical for prevention and early intervention. Temperament and parenting are two promising areas of risk, representing potential targets for preventive intervention; however, studies have rarely tested these factors longitudinally using multiple methods and reporters. In a longitudinal sample of 312 low-income boys, this study tested the hypothesis that negative emotionality (NE) and effortful control (EC) in toddlerhood (1.5-3.5 years old) would predict mother- and teacher-reported ADHD-related behaviors at school age (5-7 years old). Direct effects of observed warm, supportive and harsh maternal parenting were tested in relation to ADHD-related behaviors and as moderators of associations between NE and EC and ADHD-related behaviors. Several predictions were supported: 1) Greater maternal-reported toddler NE positively predicted mother-reported ADHD behaviors; 2) Greater observed EC was associated with fewer mother- and teacher-reported ADHD-related behaviors; 3) Warm, supportive parenting predicted fewer teacher-reported ADHD-related behaviors, and harsh parenting predicted more ADHD-related behaviors as reported by parents and teachers; 4) Harsh parenting moderated the association between observed EC and mother-reported ADHD-related behaviors. Together, the findings suggest that lower child EC, lower warm/supportive parenting, and greater harsh parenting in toddlerhood independently signal increased risk for later ADHD-related behaviors; further, the association between low EC and ADHD-related behaviors was amplified in the context of high levels of harsh parenting.

Prosocial television and prosocial toddlers: A multi-method, longitudinal investigation

How screen use might affect early childhood outcomes is an important question for parents, but existing research is patchy. In particular, screen time is often examined in relation to sleep and aggression, but much less is known about its links with prosocial behaviour. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured observations and interviews / questionnaires with both mothers and fathers in a sample of 195 (predominantly affluent and educated) British families tracked across three time-points, when the first-born child was 14-, 24-, and 36-months old. We also applied an objective coding scheme to assess the relative frequency of prosocial behaviour in the programmes and films children were watching at age 24-months. While our results showed no overall associations between prosocial behaviour and either screen time or screen content, there were interaction effects. Specifically, children whose favourite programmes were slow-paced and rich in prosocial content were particularly likely to show developmental gains in sharing. We discuss these findings in terms of their implications for parents, researchers, and policy makers.

Promoting prosocial behavior in toddlerhood: A conversation-based intervention at nursery

The awareness that prosocial skills begin to develop during the early years, with lasting implications for social lives, underpins increasing efforts to find ways of promoting prosocial behavior in children. Nevertheless, few such intervention studies have been conducted with toddlers in educational settings. Following the line of inquiry that examines the role of conversation about inner states in the early development of socioemotional competence, the current study makes an original contribution by evaluating the efficacy of a conversational intervention (TEPP, Toddlers Empathy Prosociality Program) in fostering prosocial conduct in young children. A total of 142 toddlers (M_age = 29.78 months, range = 22-36) participated in a 2-month program during which specially trained teachers read prosocial stories to small groups of children and then involved the children in conversations about inner states and prosocial behavior (Condition 1), in conversations about concrete actions and physical states (Condition 2), or in free play activities (Condition 3). Children in Condition 1 were found to outperform their peers in Conditions 2 and 3 on both direct and indirect measures of prosocial behavior. Gender had a further slight influence on the study outcomes. Overall, the results confirmed that intervention based on conversation about inner states and prosocial actions can enhance the development of prosocial skills in toddlers, encouraging the implementation of early education programs targeting prosociality among peers.

The Impact of a Preventive Intervention on Persistent, Cross-Situational Early Onset Externalizing Problems

The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) home visiting intervention for low-income first-time mothers was evaluated for its preventive impact on persistent, cross-situational early-onset externalizing problems (EXT). Seven hundred thirty-five women in the Denver, CO, area were randomly assigned into one of two active conditions (nurse or paraprofessional home visiting from pregnancy through child age 2) or a control group in which children were screened and referred for behavioral and developmental problems. Externalizing behavior was assessed by parent report when the children were 2, 4, 6, and 9 years old; teachers provided reports at ages 6 and 9. Latent profile analyses suggested the presence of persistent, cross-situational early onset EXT in approximately 6 to 7% of girls and boys. The intervention deflected girls away from these EXT and toward a pattern marked by a persistent moderate elevation of externalizing behavior that was evident at home and not at school. This finding should be interpreted cautiously given the small number of girls with the elevated EXT. Surprisingly, the intervention also moved girls away from stable low level externalizing behavior toward the moderately elevated pattern. Both of the significant effects on girls' externalizing behavior were modest. No statistically significant effects were found for boys' externalizing behaviors, which exhibited a somewhat different patterning across time and reporter. Effect sizes were generally similar for the nurse and paraprofessional-visited groups. The results are discussed in the context of prior efforts to prevent early EXT and emerging evidence on the normative development of externalizing behavior.

Observing third-party ostracism enhances facial mimicry in 30-month-olds

Mimicry is suggested to be one of the strategies via which we enhance social affiliation. Although recent studies have shown that, like adults, young children selectively mimic the facial actions of in-group over out-group members, it is unknown whether this early mimicry behavior is driven by affiliative motivations. Here we investigated the functional role of facial mimicry in early childhood by testing whether observing third-party ostracism, which has previously been shown to enhance children's affiliative behaviors, enhances facial mimicry in 30-month-olds. Toddlers were presented with videos in which one shape was ostracized by other shapes or with control videos that did not show any ostracism. Before and after this, the toddlers observed videos of models performing facial actions (e.g., eyebrow raising, mouth opening) while we measured activation over their corresponding facial muscles using electromyography (EMG) to obtain an index of facial mimicry. We also coded the videos of the sessions for overt imitation. We found that toddlers in the ostracism condition showed greater facial mimicry at posttest than toddlers in the control condition, as indicated by both EMG and behavioral coding measures. Although the exact mechanism underlying this result needs to be investigated in future studies, this finding is consistent with social affiliation accounts of mimicry and suggests that mimicry may play a key role in maintaining affiliative bonds when toddlers perceive the risk of social exclusion.

Parental gentle encouragement promotes shy toddlers' regulation in social contexts

Gentle encouragement to approach appears to reduce risk for anxiety and is commonly incorporated into parenting interventions for inhibited preschoolers, yet little is known regarding whether gentle encouragement facilitates in-the-moment regulation as shy or inhibited children face social novelty, particularly during the toddler period. The current study used a sample of 55 temperamentally shy toddlers (21-24 months old) to examine toddler regulation in novel social contexts in relation to parental gentle encouragement to engage. Contexts included low-threat social novelty (i.e., a clown and puppets) and moderately threatening social novelty (i.e., strangers). Using an experimental design, parents were randomly assigned to provide behaviors thought to represent gentle encouragement: warm responsiveness to toddler fear and encouragement of toddler autonomy, prompt to engage, both warmth and prompt, or remaining uninvolved (no-encouragement control). Relative to toddlers in the no-encouragement control condition, toddlers whose parents were instructed to provide warmth showed less fear and more engagement in moderately threatening social contexts, and toddlers whose parents were instructed to provide both warmth and prompts showed greater suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in low-threat social contexts. Findings suggest that parental gentle encouragement may promote regulated responses in social contexts in shy toddlers. Encouragement of toddler autonomy and warm responsiveness to toddlers in particular may help shy toddlers to engage with, rather than withdraw from, new people.

Infant frontal EEG asymmetry moderates the association between maternal behavior and toddler negative affectivity

Relatively little work has examined potential interactions between child intrinsic factors and extrinsic environmental factors in the development of negative affect in early life. This work is important because high levels of early negative affectivity have been associated with difficulties in later childhood adjustment. We examined associations between infant frontal electroencephalogram (EEG), maternal parenting behaviors, and children's negative affect across the first two years of life. Infant baseline frontal EEG asymmetry was measured at 5 months; maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed during mother-child interaction at 5 and 24 months; and mothers provided reports of toddler negative affect at 24 months. Results indicated that maternal sensitive behaviors at 5 months were associated with less negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. Similarly, maternal sensitive behaviors at 24 months were associated with less toddler negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. In contrast, maternal intrusive behaviors at 5- and 24-months were associated with greater toddler negative affect, but only for infants with right frontal EEG asymmetry at 5-months. Findings suggest that levels of negative affect in toddlers may be at least partially a result of interactions between children's own early neurophysiological functioning and maternal behavior during everyday interactions with children in the first two years of life.

Empathic distress and concern predict aggression in toddlerhood: The moderating role of sex

Impaired empathy is an important risk factor of aggression, but results are contradictory in toddlerhood. The association between empathy and aggression may differ for empathic distress and empathic concern in response to empathy-evoking situations, and for boys and girls. Therefore, the current study investigated whether empathic distress and empathic concern at age 20 months (N = 133, 69 boys) predicted aggression at ages 20 and 30 months (N = 119, 62 boys), while taking a potential moderating effect of sex into account. Empathic behavior was observed during a distress simulation task 20 months post-partum. Physical aggression was assessed through maternal report, using the Physical Aggression Scale for Early Childhood. Linear regression analyses revealed sex differences in the associations between empathic distress and concern on the one hand and physical aggression at age 20 months on the other. Furthermore, physical aggression at age 30 months was predicted by the interaction of sex with empathic distress at age 20 months, while controlling for aggression at age 20 months. More empathic distress and concern were associated with less physical aggression in girls, but not in boys. The findings indicate that the prediction of physical aggression by empathic distress was more robust over time than for empathic concern. This study sheds new light on the intricate relationship between empathy, aggression, and sex from a developmental perspective.

Independent Contributions of Early Positive Parenting and Mother-Son Coercion on Emerging Social Development

In the current study, we explored associations between parent-child coercion and positive parenting in the toddler period in relation to children's social-behavioral development during the school-age period. The data were drawn from the Pitt Mother & Child Project, a sample of 310 low-income, ethnically diverse boys. Drawing on tenets of both attachment and social learning theory, it was hypothesized that coercive mother-son interaction would lead to reductions in positive maternal parenting in the toddler period, and that both positive parenting and mother-son coercion in the toddler period would contribute to children's conduct problems at school entry and lower social skills and peer rejection in middle childhood. The results were largely confirmed, such that mother-son coercive interaction at 18 months was related to decreases in positive parenting at 24 months. Additionally, mother-son coercive interaction and positive parenting at 24 months were linked to child conduct problems at age 5, which in turn predicted child social skills and peer rejection during middle childhood. In addition to indirect effects through child conduct problems, mother-son coercion continued to be independently related to school-age peer rejection. The findings are discussed with respect to the importance of early coercive interactions in the growth of child social-behavioral development from early to middle childhood.

Testing Reciprocal Links Between Trouble Getting to Sleep and Internalizing Behavior Problems, and Bedtime Resistance and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Toddlers

Sleep problems are associated with problematic adjustment in toddlers, but less is known regarding the direction of association between specific sleep problems and adjustment. To address this gap, we used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1001) to examine reciprocal associations between sleep problems and behavior problems from 24- to 36-months. Results from cross-lagged path models suggested specificity of associations between type of sleep problem and behavior problem. Specifically, there were reciprocal associations between trouble getting to sleep and internalizing problems, and unidirectional links between externalizing problems and bedtime resistance from 24- to 36-months. Internalizing and externalizing problems at 24 months, however, predicted increases in bedtime resistance from 24- to 36-months for boys, but not girls. Findings highlight specific relations between sleep problems and internalizing and externalizing problems during toddlerhood, and the importance of examining sex differences.

Impact of neonatal risk and temperament on behavioral problems in toddlers born preterm

Children born preterm are at risk for later developmental disorders. The present study examined the predictive effects of neonatal, sociodemographic, and temperament characteristics on behavioral outcomes at toddlerhood, in children born preterm. The sample included 100 toddlers born preterm and with very-low-birth-weight, and their mothers. Neonatal characteristics were evaluated using medical records. The mothers were interviewed using the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire for temperament assessment, and the Child Behavior Checklist for behavioral assessment. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Predictors of 39% of the variability of the total behavioral problems in toddlers born prematurely were: temperament with more Negative Affectivity and less Effortful Control, lower family socioeconomic status, and younger mothers at childbirth. Temperament with more Negative Affectivity and less Effortful Control and lower family socioeconomic status were predictors of 23% of the variability of internalizing behavioral problems. Additionally, 37% of the variability of externalizing behavioral problems was explained by temperament with more Negative Affectivity and less Effortful Control, and younger mothers at childbirth. The neonatal characteristics and stressful events in the neonatal intensive care unit did not predict behavioral problems at toddlerhood. However, temperament was a consistent predictor of behavioral problems in toddlers born preterm. Preventive follow-up programs could assess dispositional traits of temperament to provide early identification of preterm infants at high-risk for behavioral problems.

When the body reveals the mind: Children's use of others' body orientation to understand their focus of attention

A considerable amount of research has examined children's ability to rely on explicit social cues such as pointing to understand others' referential intentions. Yet, skillful social interaction also requires reliance on and learning from implicit cues (i.e., cues that are not displayed with the explicit intention to teach or inform someone). From an embodied point of view, orienting movements and body orientation are salient cues that reveal something about a person's intentional relations without being explicit communicative cues. In three experiments, the current study investigated the development of the ability to use body information in a word learning situation. To this end, we presented 2-year-old children, 3.5-year-old children, and adults with movies on an eye-tracking screen in which an actor oriented her upper body to one of two objects while uttering a novel word. The results show that the 3.5-year-old children and adults, but not the 2-year-old children, related the novel word to the referred object (Experiments 1 and 2). Yet, when the actor oriented her body to one object while pointing to the other object, children of both age groups relied on the pointing cue (Experiment 3). This suggests that by 3.5 years children use another's body orientation as an indicator of her intentional relations but that they prioritize explicit social cues over the implicit body posture cues. Overall, the study supports theoretical views that an appreciation of others' intentional relations does not emerge as an all-or-nothing ability but rather emerges gradually during the course of early development.

The Emergence of Parent-Child Coercive Processes in Toddlerhood

Parent-child coercion typically emerges in toddlerhood with the child's first acts of willful defiance and the parent's first disciplinary attempts. We explored how parents and children may contribute to this process by examining bidirectional and interactive effects between child and maternal negative behavior in 310 low-income, ethnically diverse boys. Using multiple informants and methods, child negative emotionality and maternal negative control were assessed at 18 months and child disruptive behavior and maternal negative control were measured at 24 months. Indicative of parent effects, maternal negative control at 18 months amplified the relation between children's negative emotionality at 18 months and disruptive behavior at 24 months. Child effects were found in an unexpected direction such that children's negative emotionality at 18 months predicted decreases in mothers' negative control at 24 months. Findings are discussed within a transactional framework that emphasizes mutual influence of children and parents over the course of development.

Infant frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry and negative emotional reactivity as predictors of toddlerhood effortful control

Given the importance of children's self-regulation, relations were examined between two fundamental components of self-regulation, specifically temperamentally based reactivity and regulation. Infant negative emotional reactivity and regulation, measured via frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, were examined as potential precursors to understanding toddlerhood regulation, conceptualized as effortful control. Our longitudinal design allowed for examination of two perspectives on the interplay of reactivity and regulation, namely that (a) early negative affectivity interferes with the development of later regulation and (b) regulation is necessary to modulate negative affectivity and, thus, would buffer the effects of negative affectivity on later regulation. Mother-child dyads participated in a three-wave longitudinal study. Baseline frontal EEG asymmetry was assessed at 10months (T1). Mothers rated children's negative reactivity at both 10 and 24months (T2). Children's effortful control, measured at 30-36months (T3), was a composite score of maternal ratings and observed behavior during a snack delay. Negative affectivity was related to effortful control; however, significant interactions between negative affect and frontal EEG asymmetry were found. Higher levels of negative affectivity at both T1 and T2 were associated with lower levels of effortful control at T3, but only for toddlers who also had right frontal EEG asymmetry. Negative affectivity was not associated with effortful control for the left frontal EEG asymmetry group. Our moderation findings highlight the complex relations of negative affect and frontal EEG asymmetry in understanding children's development of self-regulation, specifically effortful control. The interaction between early reactivity and physiological regulation indicates that both may be important precursors of effortful control.

Happy babies, chatty toddlers: infant positive affect facilitates early expressive, but not receptive language

Eighty-three mother-infant dyads participated in this study. Positive affect (PA) broadly, along with fine-grained aspects of PA, was measured at 10 months of age. Language was measured at 14 months. Infant PA predicted expressive, but not receptive, language. The implications of these findings are discussed.

A longitudinal study of temperament continuity through IBQ, TBAQ and CBQ

The aim of this work was to study the continuity of temperament in a Spanish sample (n = 60), covering the developmental stages of infancy, toddlerhood and childhood. Temperamental dimensions showed, with few exceptions, as much homotypic as heterotypic continuity as was to be expected. At the level of latent superconstructs continuity, we found that Anger and Fear followed different developmental paths and showed continuity over all the periods evaluated. Positive Affect/Regulation superconstruct showed continuity from infancy to toddlerhood. From toddlerhood, Positive Affect/Regulation showed continuity with the superconstruct of Effortful Control but not with the superconstruct of Surgency/Extraversion. At an ipsative level, we found two groups of subjects, labeled 'nonexpressive/controlled' and 'noncontrolled/expressive'. Generally, these results confirm the stability of temperament in the periods analyzed and underline the importance of toddlerhood as a transitional period in the maturity of self-regulatory capabilities shown in childhood.