Relations of Emotional Competence and Effortful Control to Child Disruptive Behavior Problems

Research in child development suggests that emotional competence and effortful control are important for the prevention of conduct disorder, although studies regarding their effects in relation to each other are limited. This investigation examined the additive contribution of specific components of emotional competence and effortful control to child disruptive behaviors, after controlling for IQ and symptoms of inattention/hyperactivity. The sample consisted of 357 Australian five- to nine-year-old children who were identified through a school-wide screening procedure as at risk for developing conduct disorder. Five independent variables were evaluated including emotion identification, emotion understanding, emotion regulation, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Outcome variables measured child disruptive behavior problems and were based on parent and teacher assessment. Results indicated that deficits in emotion regulation and cognitive flexibility are significantly related to risk for disruptive behavior problems, according to parent but not teacher report. These deficits outweighed inhibitory control, emotion identification, and emotion understanding in their association with problem behavior. Findings may enhance the content and delivery of preventative programs.     

Temperamental Qualities at Age Three Predict Personality Traits in Young Adulthood: Longitudinal Evidence from a Birth Cohort

In an unselected sample of over 800 subjects we studied whether behavioral styles at age 3 are linked to personality traits at age 18. We identified 5 temperament groups (labeled Undercontrolled, Inhibited, Confident, Reserved, and Well-adjusted) based on behavioral ratings made by examiners when the children were 3. These groups were reassessed at 18, and their personality styles were measured with the self-report Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Results pointed to continuities across time. As young adults, Undercontrolled children scored high on measures of impulsivity, danger seeking, aggression, and interpersonal alienation; Inhibited children scored low on measures of impulsivity, danger seeking, aggression, and social potency; Confident children scored high on impulsivity; Reserved children scored low on social potency; and Well-adjusted children continued to exhibit normative behaviors.     

Technoference: Parent Distraction With Technology and Associations With Child Behavior Problems

Heavy parent digital technology use has been associated with suboptimal parent–child interactions, but no studies examine associations with child behavior. This study investigates whether parental problematic technology use is associated with technology‐based interruptions in parent–child interactions, termed “technoference,” and whether technoference is associated with child behavior problems. Parent reports from 170 U.S. families (child M_age = 3.04 years) and actor–partner interdependence modeling showed that maternal and paternal problematic digital technology use predicted greater technoference in mother–child and father–child interactions; then, maternal technoference predicted both mothers’ and fathers’ reports of child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results suggest that technological interruptions are associated with child problem behaviors, but directionality and transactional processes should be examined in future longitudinal studies.     

Family Conflict and Children's Behavior Problems: The Moderating Role of Child Temperament

Child temperament was examined as a moderator of the link between family conflict and child behavior problems. Temperament assessed in early childhood was used to predict the relation between family conflict and externalizing behavior problems measured during the early elementary school years. For children with difficult temperament, a strong association between subsequent family conflict and behavioral adjustment was predicted; for children with easy or intermediate temperaments, low to moderate associations were predicted. These hypotheses were tested across 3 temperament groups (easy, intermediate, and difficult). Data were collected from 108 children and families participating in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study at ages 3 through 10 years. Consistent with the hypotheses, the data provided support for the moderating role of temperament in predicting the association between family conflict and child externalizing behavior problems. These findings suggest that temperamental difficultness operates as a vulnerability factor with respect to the development of children's behavior problems in families with high conflict.     

Linking Extreme Marital Discord, Child Rearing, and Child Behavior Problems: Evidence from Battered Women

Relations between marital discord, parental behavior, and child behavior were investigated in a sample of 37 battered women and 37 comparison mothers and their children, aged 2-8 years. It was hypothesized that violent fathers would be more irritable but less involved, battered women more stressed and inconsistent in discipline, and both parents would reportedly use fewer positive and more negative child-rearing responses than comparison families. Based on maternal self-reports and mother-child observations, the only robust self-report difference between the groups of mothers were the level of stress and reports of inconsistency in parenting; in contrast, all of the expected differences were found between the mothers' reports of the 2 groups of fathers. Group effects on child behavior problems were also found. Children from violent families were reported to have more internalizing behavior problems, more difficult temperaments, and to be more aggressive than the comparison children. In the violent families, maternal stress and paternal irritability were the 2 significant predictors of child behavior problems, whereas in the comparison families only maternal stress was a reliable predictor.     

The Protective Role of Group Identity: Sectarian Antisocial Behavior and Adolescent Emotion Problems

The protective role of strength of group identity was examined for youth in a context of protracted political conflict. Participants included 814 adolescents (M_age = 13.61, SD = 1.99 at Time 1) participating in a longitudinal study in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, the results show that the effect of exposure to sectarian antisocial behaviors has a stronger effect on youth emotion problems for older adolescents. The results also show that youth with higher strength of group identity reported fewer emotion problems in the face of sectarian antisocial behavior but that this buffering effect is stronger for Protestants compared to Catholics. Implications are discussed for understanding the role of social identity in postaccord societies.     

The Prevalence of Behavior Problems Among Toddlers in Child Care

A random sample of 94 toddlers in child care were rated by parents on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3). Toddlers received nonparental care an average of 33 hours per week, and the majority began child care by six months of age. Although no comparison group was used, scores on the CBCL/2-3 for the present sample were compared with scores for the CBCL/2-3 normative sample and to prevalence data in the literature for children in child care. Fewer children with behavior problems were found in the present sample than in the normative group. The present sample consisted of middle-class toddlers in medium sized cities in Connecticut. Child care providers were relatives or nonrelatives in the home, in licensed and unlicensed family day care homes, and in day care centers. The findings point to the importance of considering contextual factors of family, child care, and social support before suggesting deleterious effects from early nonparental care.     

Early Attachment Organization With Both Parents and Future Behavior Problems: From Infancy to Middle Childhood

Links between children's attachment security with mothers and fathers, assessed in Strange Situation with each parent at 15 months (N = 101), and their future behavior problems were examined. Mothers and fathers rated children's behavior problems, and children reported their own behavior problems at age 8 (N = 86). Teachers rated behavior problems at age 6½ (N = 86). Insecurity with both parents had a robust effect: “Double‐insecure” children reported more overall problems, and were rated by teachers as having more externalizing problems than those secure with at least 1 parent. Security with either parent could offset such risks, and security with both conferred no additional benefits. High resistance toward both parents in Strange Situation may confer “dual risk” for future externalizing behavior.     

Judgments Regarding Appropriate Child Supervision to Prevent Injury: The Role of Environmental Risk and Child Age

Parents, social service workers, and medical personnel failed to differ in the amount of time they estimated that children of 11 differing ages should be left without adult supervision within 5 different supervision domains. More hazardous circumstances dramatically reduced the amount of time respondents said children should be left unsupervised. Amount of unsupervised time increased with age, with clear developmental cutoffs that varied by level and type of risk. When the moderate center of the distribution was examined, 3 clear areas of consensus emerged. For most domains, constant supervision was recommended for preschool children. For early elementary school children, nearly constant (0–5 min without supervision) or close (0–15 min without supervision) supervision was recommended in safer locations, with constant supervision still recommended in high-risk situations. Only with older children was there an absence of consensus regarding supervision. The implications of these results for future injury prevention research are discussed.     

Parent and Child References to Letters During Alphabet Book Reading: Relations to Child Age and Letter Name Knowledge

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of extratextual references to letters made by parents and preschoolers during shared reading of an alphabet book. The frequency of letter references was also examined in relation to child age and knowledge of letter names. Participants consisted of 44 preschoolers and their primary caregivers. Videotaped book-reading data were transcribed verbatim and coded for their inclusion of 14 types of letter references (e.g., naming requests, labels, repetitions). Significant findings included the following: Parent labels were significantly correlated with child age; and child knowledge of letter names was significantly correlated with parent naming requests, corrections, and repetitions, and child answers and initiations. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in reference to the literature regarding parental sensitivity to child age and knowledge in educational interactions with their child.     

Children with Severe Behavior Problems: A Survey of Texas Child Care Centers' Responses

This article presents the findings of an exploratory study designed to look at the issue of removal of children from childcare due to behavior problems. A survey was sent to a random sample of nonresidential licensed day care centers (DCCs) in Texas. Results from the survey indicate that 50% of DCCs have removed a child from care due to behavior problems. In most cases, parents were left to figure out for themselves what to do with their children following their dismissal from care. This and other relationships found in the data are discussed as well as the need for future research in this area.     

147例青少年学生心理行为问题的质性分析

青少年学生在成长过程中可能会习得各种各样的心理和行为问题,而这些问题对他们身心的健康发展是极为不利的。因此,研究者将对青少年的心理行为问题进行深入解析,并在研究方法上突破以往惯用的范式,从质性研究的角度出发,借助QSR Nvivo10.0完成分析。最终,研究结果得到当前青少年身上存在的六大心理行为问题,三个引发问题的主要原因以及教师针对问题重点采用的六种教育措施,以此引发广大教师的思考。     

Associations Between Family Structure Change and Child Behavior Problems: The Moderating Effect of Family Income

This study investigated conditions under which family structure matters most for child well‐being. Using data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (n = 3,936), a national sample of U.S. families, it was estimated how changes in family structure related to changes in children's behavior between age 3 and 12 separately by household income level to determine whether associations depended on families' resources. Early changes in family structure, particularly from a two‐biological‐parent to single‐parent family, predicted increases in behavior problems more than later changes, and movements into single and stepparent families mattered more for children of higher versus lower income parents. Results suggest that for children of higher income parents, moving into a stepfamily may improve, not undermine, behavior.     

儿童、青少年、童工及其他——一组儿童史概念术语辨析

通过对经常使用的儿童、少年等概念术语进行辨析,可以发现彼此之间的不同。不同词典辞书和法律法规的不同解释是导致出现混用的根源。与此相似,在儿童劳动、童工、未成年工等概念术语的使用方面也有类似的情况。明确这些概念术语各自的含义和指称对象,对确定被保护的对象及其范围有积极的意义,同时也可以最大限度地保护儿童的权利。     

From Parent to Child to Parent: Associations Between Parent and Offspring Psychopathology

Parental psychopathology can affect child functioning, and vice versa. We examined bidirectional associations between parent and offspring psychopathology in 5,536 children and their parents. We asked three questions: (a) are parent-to-child associations stronger than child-to-parent associations? (b) are mother-to-child associations stronger than father-to-child associations? and (c) do within- and between-person effects contribute to bidirectional associations between parent and offspring psychopathology? Our findings suggest that only within-rater bidirectional associations of parent and offspring psychopathology can be consistently detected, with no difference between mothers and fathers. Child psychopathology was hardly associated with parental psychopathology. No evidence for cross-rater child-to-parent associations was found suggesting that the within-rater child-to-parent associations reflect shared method variance. Moreover, within-person change accounted for a part of the variance observed.     

Predictors of Behavior Problems in Preschool Children of Inner-City Afro-American and Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers

Maternal reports on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3) were used to evaluate child, maternal, and environmental predictors of behavior problems in 83 preschool children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers. CBCL/2-3 scores correlated modestly with independent ratings of child difficult behaviors observed in videotaped mother-child play interactions. 13% of children had scores in the clinical range. Significant correlations were consistently found between CBCL/2-3 ratings and maternal depressive symptoms, social supports, and life stress—assessed 3 times during the first year postpartum. In hierarchical regression analyses, maternal depressive symptoms, residence with the adolescent's mother, and perceived emotional support from friends contributed most to the explained variance. A significant ethnicity and child gender interaction term also suggested that African American mothers of male children reported more behavioral problems. Findings evidence the heterogeneity of outcomes for children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers but also demonstrate how correlates of poverty negatively affect their socioemotional development.     

Preventative Counseling for the Gifted Adolescent: From Words to Action

A reliable preventive counseling program is one that recognizes the distinct affective needs of the gifted adolescent and one that becomes an integral part of the curriculum.     

从加尔各答到卡拉奇:巴基斯坦华人社群的历史起源

巴基斯坦卡拉奇地区的华人社群在南亚华人研究中极少被关注。本文通过梳理印度加尔各答和孟加拉国吉大港和达卡,以及卡拉奇华人社群之间的历史联系,尝试还原南亚各港口城市之间存在过的华人社群网络。本文认为,只有将卡拉奇华人社群放在跨国移民网络、英帝国殖民进程、以及印巴分治的脉络下,其历史起源和特征才能够被更好理解。     

From Romance to Magical Realism: Limits and Possibilities in Gay Adolescent Fiction

Authors of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) adolescent novels have recently moved away from addressing the “problem” of sexual identity and have instead focused on personal and societal “acceptance” of non-normative sexualities. Within the increasing number of “acceptance” titles published depicting gay males, there are two distinct means of representing forms of gayness. In this article, I illustrate that what distinguishes these forms from one another is their handling of homophobia and the extent to which they subvert heteronormativity, the implicit belief that heterosexuality is the only “normal” self-identity. While some authors use homophobia as the foil against which queer characters struggle in order to find happiness as a couple, others work to suspend “reality” by imagining away homophobia—showing queer characters building relationships in an environment relatively free of discrimination. Despite their differences, I argue that both methods ultimately reinscribe heteronormativity through the assumption that monogamous coupling is the goal of LGBTQ youth.