Parental dysphoria and children's internalizing symptoms: marital conflict styles as mediators of risk

Parents' marital conflict styles were investigated as mediators in the associations between parental dysphoria and children's internalizing symptoms. A community sample of 267 children, ages 8 to 16, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents' interactions during marital conflict resolution tasks. Questionnaires assessed parents' dysphoria and children's internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling indicated that marital discord, in particular, depressive conflict styles, mediated the relationship between parental dysphoria and children's internalizing problems. Furthermore, whereas for dysphoric mothers, depressive conflict styles partially mediated the links with children's internalizing, for fathers, depressive conflict styles fully mediated the links. Destructive and constructive marital conflict were associated with parental dysphoria (positively and negatively, respectively) but did not mediate the relations with children's internalizing.     

The relationship between childhood adversity,attachment, and internalizing behaviors in a diversion program for child-to-mother violence

Very little research has been conducted on the role of childhood adversity in child-to-parent violence. Childhood adversity places youth at risk for internalizing behaviors (i.e. anxiety and depression) and externalizing behaviors (i.e. aggression). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between childhood adversity, child–mother attachment, and internalizing behaviors among a sample of 80 youth who have been arrested for domestic battery against a mother. This study reported high prevalence rates of childhood adversity (mean score of 10 out of 17 events). Multiple regression analysis indicated that insecure attachment predicted depression among females (F(6, 73) = 4.87, p < 0.001), and previous experience with child maltreatment and/or witness to parental violence predicted anxiety among females (F(6, 73) = 3.08, p < 0.01). This study is the first study to explore childhood adversity among a sample of perpetrators of child-to-mother violence and notably adds to our understanding of the multiple pathways connecting childhood adversity, child–mother attachment, and depression and anxiety among a difficult to treat youth population.     

The relations of regulation and emotionality to children's externalizing and internalizing problem behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of different types of negative emotion and regulation and control to 55- to 97-month-olds' internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Parents and teachers provided information on children's (N = 214) adjustment, dispositional regulation and control, and emotion, and children's regulation was observed during several behavioral tasks. Internalizing was defined in two ways: as social withdrawal (to avoid overlap of items with measures of emotionality) or, more broadly, as anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic complaints. In general, children with externalizing problems, compared with children with internalizing problems and nondisordered children, were more prone to anger, impulsivity, and low regulation. Children with internalizing symptoms were prone to sadness, low attentional regulation, and low impulsivity. Relations between internalizing problems and emotionality were more frequent when the entire internalizing scale was used. Findings suggest that emotion and regulation are associated with adjustment in systematic ways and that there is an important difference between effortful control and less voluntary modes of control.     

‘The funeral’: a study of children's shared meaning‐making and its developmental significance

This article argues the need to examine communication in joint play situations rather than individual assessments in solitary play situations when children's development is focused. Informed by Bakhtin's dialogical and Moscovici's interactionist perspectives, observations were made of the interaction between two girls, aged 3½ and 4, playing at holding a funeral ceremony, in the setting of a Swedish pre‐school. The analysis shows that new knowledge occurred through negotiations of appropriate actions in play. The children's interactions resulted in shared meaning‐making of the funeral as a ritual of revival.     

Development and factor structure of a self-report measure for assessing internalizing symptoms of elementary-age children

The development and factor structure of the Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC), a new self-report measure for assessing internalizing symptomatology in children, is detailed. Development of the ISSC was driven by the lack of a children's self-report instrument designed specifically to assess the broad domain of internalizing symptomatology, as well as research findings showing a high degree of comorbidity among internalizing syndromes (e.g., depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, social withdrawal). Thorough and methodologically rigorous procedures were employed during the development of the ISSC to ensure strong content validity as well as clinical utility. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic procedures were utilized on the 54-item ISSC research protocol, resulting in a strong two factor solution for the 48 items retained. Factor 1, Negative Affect/General Distress, includes items that indicate the presence of internalizing symptoms, or in some cases, the absence of optimistic or functional emotional states. Factor 2, Positive Affect, includes items describing positive affect incompatible with internalizing symptoms, or in some cases, items that reflect the absence of internalizing symptoms. Results of the factor analyses are discussed in terms of previous research on affectivity and specific internalizing syndromes or disorders. Potential uses of the ISSC, as well as further research needed, are described. Implications of the present investigation for future assessment and classification studies in the area of child psychopathology are reviewed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Student satisfaction in higher education: a meta-analytic study

This paper discusses the results of a meta-analysis performed to identify key antecedent and consequent constructs of satisfaction in higher education. We offer an integrated model to achieve a better understanding of satisfaction in the context of higher education. To accomplish this objective, we identified 83 studies that were valid and relevant to the research objective of the current study, generating a total of 469 observations. We identified studies published from 1986 to 2016 and analyzed six antecedent dimensions (perceived value of educational services, resources provided to the student, service quality perception, marketing orientation, identity of the higher education institution, university environment) and one consequent dimension related to satisfaction. The 7 dimensions exhibited a total of 51 relationships. We believe that the originality of the findings clearly contributes to future academic research in higher education.     

Foster children's attachment behavior and representation: Influence of children's pre-placement experiences and foster caregiver's sensitivity

Although the majority of foster children have been exposed to early adversity in their biological families and have experienced one or more disruptions of attachment relationships, most studies surprisingly found foster children to be as securely attached as children in low-risk samples. However, attention has been paid almost exclusively to attachment formation in young children up to two years of age, and the majority of studies solely investigated attachment behavior whereas few is known about foster children's representations about attachment relationships. To extend findings on attachment in foster children and its predictors, our study examined both attachment behavior and representations in foster children aged between 3 and 8 years. Diverse potential predictors including child variables, birth parents’ variables, pre-placement experiences, and foster caregiver's behavior were included in the analyses. Results revealed that foster children showed both lower attachment security and higher disorganization scores than children in low-risk samples. Attachment behavior and representation were found to be widely independent from each other. Different factors contributed to attachment behavior and representation: whereas foster children's attachment behavior was mainly influenced by foster parents’ behavior, pre-placement experiences did predict hyperactivation and disorganization on the representational level. The results indicate that, when intervening with foster families, it seems crucial to focus not exclusively on the promotion of secure attachment behavior but also to develop interventions enhancing secure and organized attachment representations.     

Paradise Restored: The significance of coincidence in some children's books

Pat Pinsent is a Principal Lecturer in English at the Roehampton Institute, London, where she teaches children's literature to undergraduates as well as courses on language and literacy for in-service teachers.     

Assessing attachment security with the Attachment Q Sort: meta-analytic evidence for the validity of the observer AQS

The reliability and validity of the Attachment Q Sort (AQS; Waters & Deane, 1985) was tested in a series of meta-analyses on 139 studies with 13,835 children. The observer AQS security score showed convergent validity with Strange Situation procedure (SSP) security (r = .31) and excellent predictive validity with sensitivity measures (r = .39). Its association with temperament was weaker (r = .16), which supports the discriminant validity of the observer AQS. Studies on the stability of the observer AQS are still relatively scarce but they have yielded promising results (mean r = .28; k = 4, n = 162). It is concluded that the observer AQS, but not the self-reported AQS, is a valid measure of attachment.     

Young children's perceptionsof scientists: a preliminary study

Background

Since the 1950s, there has been a growing body of research dealing with perceptions children have of scientists. Typically, research studies in this area have utilized children's drawings in an effort to discern what those perceptions are. Studies assessing perceptions children have of scientists have shown that children have stereotypical images of scientists. Although there is no direct evidence to demonstrate the link between children's images of science and scientists with their career choice, several researchers (including this researcher) have assumed that children's attitudes towards science are greatly influenced by their perceptions of science and scientists.

Purpose

This study aimed to find out if there was a difference in the way 5- to 8-year-old children drew scientists, taking account of age, gender and socio-economic status.

Sample

For this study a convenience sample of 30 young children was used. Participants included young children between the ages of 5 and 8 years from a public elementary school in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Although the sample of the study was obtained from one school in a metropolitan area, children involved in this preliminary study were from very different socio-economic backgrounds. As the sample size is very small for making comparisons, it was intended to have a similar number of children from different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds and both genders.

Design and methods

The researcher worked individually with each child who participated in this study in an interview setting. Although each child was asked a set of standard questions, and given a standard set of directions, each interview session was informal enough to allow the researcher to gain additional information about children's drawings and to clarify any of their responses. During the interview sessions, children's responses were noted by the researcher. Before the children were asked to draw their picture of a scientist, they were offered a set of coloured pencils or crayons and told to feel free to colour their drawing or any parts of it they would like to accentuate. At the end of the interview and drawing sessions, the researcher went through all the drawings and notes to get a ‘feel’ for and ascertain what was being said, identifying key themes in each drawing.

Results

The most common scientist type drawn in this study was the stereotypical scientist type: someone who conducts research, or someone who tries to invent a new material. But unlike previous studies, around 35% of the scientist figures drawn (n = 15) were of the social scientist type. Stereotypical images drawn by the current study participants included symbols of research, such as scientific instruments and laboratory equipment of all kinds, and symbols of knowledge, principally books and cabinets, technology and the products of science. An interesting finding of this study was that perceptions of young children differed due to their age. Children at the age of 8 years drew non-stereotypical scientist images, and they drew more detail than did their younger peers. When children were compared in terms of their gender, no significant differences were observed between girls and boys. But on the other hand, none of the boys drew female scientists, and five out of 30 children who were girls drew female scientists. While children of parents with lower socio-economic status drew more stereotypical scientist images, children of parents with higher economic status drew different images of scientists, a result which showed us that the scientist perceptions of young children differ with socio-economic status.

Conclusions

Emergent from this research has been a non-stereotypical perception of scientists, and some evidence exists that such a non-stereotypical perception differs due to age and socio-economic status. While these images may seem amusing, they also provide a reflection of the image that children have about what a scientist looks like. These images may have a powerful impact on present functioning and future plans of young children.     

Exposure to intimate partner violence and internalizing symptoms: The moderating effects of positive relationships with pets and animal cruelty exposure

BackgroundIt is estimated that more than half of children living in households where intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs are also exposed to animal cruelty (AC). Although prior research links bonds with pets with higher levels of socioemotional competence among school-age children, exposure to AC may negate the protective effects of pet ownership and/or exacerbate the potentially deleterious effect of IPV on children’s mental health.ObjectiveThe current study evaluates whether and to what extent the associations between exposure to IPV and several indicators of children’s mental health vary as a function of children’s positive engagement with pets and exposure to AC.Participants and SettingParticipants included 204 children (aged 7–12 years; 47% female; 57% Latinx) and their maternal caregiver who were recruited from domestic violence agencies in a western U.S. state.MethodMultiple moderation analysis evaluated whether the association between children’s exposure to IPV and internalizing and posttraumatic stress symptoms vary as a function of children’s positive engagement with pets and exposure to AC.ResultsAnalyses revealed several moderation effects for positive engagement with pets (e.g., internalizing problems: [b = −.15, t(195) = −2.66, p = .008]; posttraumatic stress symptoms: [b = −.13, t(195) = −2.24, p = .026]), whereas exposure to AC only moderated the association between IPV and anxious/depressed symptoms (b = .32, t(195) = −2.41, p = .017).ConclusionsThese findings highlight the potential protective effects of positive engagement with pets and importance of screening for exposure to AC when engaging in trauma-informed work with children exposed to IPV.     

Dynamic assessment and teachers' knowledge of children's mathematical thinking: a case study in children's mathematics

This paper considers the kind of pedagogical knowledge and principles involved in the operationalisation of knowledge of children's mathematical thinking as a process of dynamic assessment. Using a case study of a particular child, this paper explores planning and instruction for a child determined by a detailed and informed interpretation of the child's conceptual understanding through a dynamic process. It presents as a case study the observations of a teacher who had undertaken professional development in children's mathematical thinking, theoretically informed by Cognitively Guided Instruction and Maths Recovery. The observations revealed the child's mathematical understanding and how the teacher used this knowledge dynamically to inform teaching. The paper outlines the kind of knowledge required of teachers to enact this dynamic process in mathematics teaching and argues for the centrality of this to the development of inclusive practice.     

母亲语言的特征及其对儿童语言习得的重要性

成人在儿童的语言习得中扮演着更为积极的角色,而非仅仅是提供语言模型。成人总是以儿童能够接受的程度来使用语言,而且会根据儿童对语言的敏感度的进步而加大话语的难度。因此对于简单、形式完美、内容详实的母亲语言(mothers’speech)研究是儿童最初语言输入研究的重点,母亲语言特征对于婴儿的社会交际发展具有重要意义。本文根据母亲语言的三个特征:简约化、表达性鉴别化、澄清化来展示母亲语言对儿童语言习得的重要性。     

Childhood sexual abuse, attachment, and trauma symptoms in college females: the moderating role of attachment

OBJECTIVE: The present study tests a model linking attachment, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and adult psychological functioning. It expands on previous work by assessing the degree to which attachment security moderates the relationship between a history of child sexual abuse and trauma-related symptoms in college females. METHOD: Self-reports of attachment, childhood sexual abuse, and adult psychological functioning were obtained from 324 female undergraduate students attending a Southeastern U.S. university. Separate analyses were conducted examining the potential moderating role for close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment styles. RESULTS: In this sample, 37.7% of participants reported sexually abusive experiences prior to age 16. History of child sexual abuse was consistently associated with higher levels of trauma-related symptoms and lower levels of attachment security in close-adult, parent-child, and peer relations. Additionally, attachment security was consistently associated with trauma-related symptoms. Close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment differentially moderated trauma-related symptoms. Specifically, in peer relationships, the strength of the relationships between attachment measures and trauma symptoms were greater for CSA survivors than for non-abused participants. The opposite pattern of results was found for attachment in parental and close-adult relationships. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that attachment security in peer and parent relationships protects against the negative effects of CSA, while only weak, marginally significant protective effects were observed for close-adult relationships. Only modest support was found for the conceptualization of attachment as a moderator of the relationship between CSA and trauma-related symptoms. However, the results suggest that attachment security at least partially protects against negative CSA outcomes.     

Links between preschool children's prosocial skills and aggressive conduct problems: The contribution of ADHD symptoms

The aim was to examine the relationship between prosocial behavior and conduct problems, especially aggression, in early childhood. In Phase 1 of the study, teachers reported on 93 3–5-year-old children's prosocial behavior and psychological problems, using a screening instrument, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In Phase 2, 65 parents completed the SDQ and were interviewed in depth, using a clinical interview, the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Children with clinically significant symptoms of conduct disorder and ADHD were significantly less prosocial than other children. However, aggressive conduct symptoms were unrelated to prosocial behavior, once symptoms of ADHD were taken into account. The findings suggest that problems in regulating activity and attention interfere with prosocial development.     

The role of attachment in Facebook usage: a study of Canadian college students

Considering the increasingly ubiquitous and frequent use of Facebook among college students, this study sought to explicate and unravel the salient determinants of Facebook use. Specifically, the main goal was to ascertain the factors influencing Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) students’ Facebook use, for which a structural equation model was proposed to examine the relationships between constructs affecting this process. Using a recently proposed extended technology acceptance model, Dhammic Technology Acceptance Model (DTAM) for Facebook use, proposed by Teo and Jarupunphol [2015. Dhammic technology acceptance model (DTAM): Extending the TAM using a condition of attachment in Buddhism. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 52(1), 136–151. doi:10.1177/0735633114568859], we present results of the study using 233 completed survey data from a sample of CEGEP students in Montreal, Quebec. The DTAM was originally tested using a sample of Thai university students; this leads to a natural question as to whether this extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) model holds in a Western sample. The findings from the present study support the validity of the DTAM for explicating Facebook use, and add empirical evidence to the DTAM, according to which the condition of attachment exerts influence on Facebook use. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations, and future extensions of the study.     

The importance of shared environment in mother-infant attachment security: a behavioral genetic study

In a sample of 157 monozygotic and dizygotic twins, genetic and environmental influences on infant attachment and temperament were quantified. Only unique environmental or error components could explain the variance in disorganized versus organized attachment as assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure. For secure versus nonsecure attachment, 52% of the variance in attachment security was explained by shared environment, and 48% of the variance was explained by unique environmental factors and measurement error. The role of genetic factors in attachment disorganization and attachment security was negligible. Genetic factors explained 77% of the variance in temperamental reactivity, and unique environmental factors and measurement error explained 23%. Differences in temperamental reactivity were not associated with attachment concordance.     

User study of a new smart toy for children's storytelling

This article introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that offers children a mixed reality environment in which to tell imaginative stories. During usability testing, an empirical study was carried out with 90 child participants. The findings indicated that StoryTech creates a rich storytelling experience, especially for ages five and six.