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.     

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 Income Dynamics,Early Childhood Education and Care,and Early Child Behavior Problems in Norway

The sociopolitical context of Norway includes low poverty rates and universal access to subsidized and regulated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In this context, the association between family income dynamics and changes in early child behavior problems was investigated, as well as whether high‐quality ECEC buffers children from the effects of income dynamics. In a population‐based sample (N = 75,296), within‐family changes in income‐to‐needs predicted changes in externalizing and internalizing problems (from ages 18 to 36 months), particularly for lower income children. For internalizing problems, ECEC buffered the effect of income‐to‐needs changes. These findings lend further support to the potential benefits of ECEC for children from lower income families.     

儿童行为问题产生的原因及家庭干预

本文阐述了儿童行为问题的界定及国内外发展心理学家关于儿童行为问题产生原因的研究成果 ,针对上述研究成果提出了家庭早期干预的具体措施     

Maternal Attitudes and Knowledge of Child-Rearing: Associations with Family and Child Outcomes

A prospective, longitudinal study of a low birthweight, preterm cohort examined the effects of maternal knowledge of child development and concepts of child rearing on the quality of home environment and on child cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Measures of maternal knowledge at 12 months were found to be significantly associated with the quality of the home environment, the number of child behavior problems, and to a small but significant extent child Stanford-Binet IQ at 36 months. Maternal characteristics were associated with both maternal knowledge and maternal behavior. Child characteristics, including birthweight, were not associated with maternal knowledge or concepts of development for most of the cohort. Subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity revealed a similar pattern of results. However, a measure of neonatal health status was shown to be significantly associated with cognitive outcome in the African-American subgroup at 24 and 36 months.     

Associations Between Child Disabilities and Caregiver Discipline and Violence in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries

Using nationally representative samples of 45,964 two‐ to nine‐year‐old children and their primary caregivers in 17 developing countries, this study examined the relations between children's cognitive, language, sensory, and motor disabilities and caregivers' use of discipline and violence. Primary caregivers reported on their child's disabilities and whether they or anyone in their household had used nonviolent discipline, psychological aggression, and physical violence toward the target child and believed that using corporal punishment is necessary. Logistic regression analyses supported the hypothesis that children with disabilities are treated more harshly than children without disabilities. The findings suggest that policies and interventions are needed to work toward the United Nations' goals of ensuring that children with disabilities are protected from abuse and violence.     

Mother and Child Ratings of Child Anxiety: Associations With Behavioral Avoidance and the Role of Family Accommodation

Objective. This study compared mother and child ratings of child anxiety to each other and to an objective measure of the child’s avoidant behavior, using a novel motion-tracking paradigm. The study also examined the moderating role of family accommodation for the link between mother ratings of child anxiety and child behavioral avoidance. Design. Participants were 98 children (7- to 14-years-old) and their mothers. Children met criteria for a primary anxiety disorder. Measures included parent and child versions of the Multi-Dimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. Children also completed the Spider Phobia Questionnaire for children and the Family Accommodation Scale for Anxiety—Child Report. The Yale Interactive Kinect Environment Software platform was used to measure children’s behavioral avoidance of spider images. Results. Mother and child ratings of child anxiety were moderately correlated. Only child ratings of child anxiety were associated with child behavioral avoidance. Child-rated family accommodation moderated the association between parent ratings and child avoidance. When accommodation was low parent ratings correlated with child avoidance, but not when accommodation was high. Conclusions. The findings contribute to understanding commonly reported discrepancies between mother and child ratings of child anxiety symptoms.     

Associations Between Family Relationships and Psychiatric Symptomatology in Undergraduate Students:

The present study investigated whether or not gender differences moderate the association between family relationships and psychiatric symptomatology in undergraduate students. One hundred ninety-eight undergraduate students (115 females and 83 males) completed self-report instruments assessing primary psychiatric symptomatology, personality disorder symptomatology, and family relationship closeness/distance. The results of this research indicated that family relationship closeness/distance was consistently associated with both of the psychiatric sumptom measures in the female subsample. Family love, understanding, companionship, and advice were negatively associated with psychiatric symptoms, while family problems, the desire for privacy and freedom from the family, ideological differences, and tensions involving friends were positively associated with psychiatric symptoms. In contrast, family relationships were infrequently correlated with psychiatric symptoms in the male subsample. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of previous research on the association between family relationships and psychological well-being in female and male late adolescents.     

Before Head Start: Income and Ethnicity,Family Characteristics,Child Care Experiences,and Child Development

The present study describes the early life histories of a large sample of three-year-old children from different ethnic backgrounds living in three levels of family income—poverty, near-poverty, and above-poverty. The study examined the developmental characteristics of children in the three groups and related them to family characteristics and experiences in child care. To no one's surprise, significant differences associated with income were found for most of the family measures. Poverty and near-poverty families were more likely to have mothers with lower education, less sensitivity, more depression, and lower HOME scores. Correlatively, for the child development measures, there was an upward progression associated with income. Poverty children consistently showed the greatest deviation from established norms for cognitive and social behavior. A striking finding, however, was the considerable variability found on all the measures—a pattern not sufficiently stressed in related research. This finding has major implications for curriculum planning in Head Start programs. The analysis also showed that child care experience cannot be disregarded as a significant aspect of the history of a prospective enrollee in Head Start or other intervention programs geared to low-income children. Fewer of these children are likely to have a child care history, as families that used at least 10 hours of child care per week were less likely to be either poor or near-poor and thus eligible for enrollment. While this may reflect selection factors associated with child care usage, it also indicates that availability of child care is essential for borderline families that try to stay out of poverty. Number of hours of care per week and age of enrollment did not predict developmental level when the full income sample was considered. However, when only poor and near-poor children in care for at least 20 hours a week were used in the analysis, higher quality of care was associated with more favorable developmental outcomes in the children.     

Before Head Start: Income and Ethnicity, Family Characteristics, Child Care Experiences, and Child Development

The present study describes the early life histories of a large sample of three-year-old children from different ethnic backgrounds living in three levels of family income—poverty, near-poverty, and above-poverty. The study examined the developmental characteristics of children in the three groups and related them to family characteristics and experiences in child care. To no one's surprise, significant differences associated with income were found for most of the family measures. Poverty and near-poverty families were more likely to have mothers with lower education, less sensitivity, more depression, and lower HOME scores. Correlatively, for the child development measures, there was an upward progression associated with income. Poverty children consistently showed the greatest deviation from established norms for cognitive and social behavior. A striking finding, however, was the considerable variability found on all the measures—a pattern not sufficiently stressed in related research. This finding has major implications for curriculum planning in Head Start programs. The analysis also showed that child care experience cannot be disregarded as a significant aspect of the history of a prospective enrollee in Head Start or other intervention programs geared to low-income children. Fewer of these children are likely to have a child care history, as families that used at least 10 hours of child care per week were less likely to be either poor or near-poor and thus eligible for enrollment. While this may reflect selection factors associated with child care usage, it also indicates that availability of child care is essential for borderline families that try to stay out of poverty. Number of hours of care per week and age of enrollment did not predict developmental level when the full income sample was considered. However, when only poor and near-poor children in care for at least 20 hours a week were used in the analysis, higher quality of care was associated with more favorable developmental outcomes in the children.     

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.     

Reciprocal Relations Between Maternal Depression and Child Behavior Problems in Families Served by Head Start

This study used longitudinal cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems. Data were drawn from 3,119 children (40% Hispanic, 30% African American, 20% White, and 10% other) from the Family and Child Experiences Survey of 2009 (a nationally representative sample of children served by Head Start). Results documented reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems across early childhood (i.e., child age 3–5). Furthermore, the effect of child behavior problems on maternal depression was moderated by child race/ethnicity during children’s first year in Head Start, such that the negative effect of child behavior problems on African American mothers’ depression was more pronounced compared to Hispanics and other racial/ethnic groups.     

Parent-Child Relationships, Family Problem-Solving Behavior, and Sibling Relationship Quality: The Moderating Role of Sibling Temperaments

In this study we sought to determine whether sibling temperaments moderated the associations of parent-child relationship quality and family problem-solving behavior with sibling relationship quality. Observational assessments of mother-child and father-child relationship quality, family problem-solving behavior, and sibling relationship quality were obtained from the families of 49 pairs of brothers and 46 pairs of sisters. Mean ages were 10-2 for older siblings and 7-6 for younger siblings. Parent-reported child temperament assessments were also obtained. The links among mother–older child relationship quality, father–older child relationship quality, and sibling relationship quality were moderated by the older sibling's temperament. The younger and older siblings' temperaments moderated the associations between the quality of the father–younger sibling and sibling relationships. The association between family problem-solving behavior and sibling relationship quality was not moderated by sibling temperaments.     

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.     

The Relationship Between Adult Self-Efficacy and Scientific Competencies: the Moderating Effect of Gender

This study investigated the relationship between adult self-efficacy in science and scientific competencies of Taiwanese citizens. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to select 1830 participants between the ages of 18 and 70. The research methods employed was survey research; analysis was conducted using hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that gender and self-efficacy have an explanatory power for scientific competencies. The predictive power of self-efficacy for scientific competencies was different for male and female groups. This study proposes several suggestions regarding science education policies in accordance with the research findings.     

Adolescent Civic and Political Engagement: Associations Between Domain-Specific Judgments and Behavior

Judgments and justifications for different forms of civic involvement and their associations with organized and civic behavior were examined in 312 middle-class primarily White adolescents ( M  = 17.01 years). Adolescents applied moral, conventional, and personal criteria to distinguish involvement in community service, standard political, social movement, and social gathering activities. Males judged standard political involvement to be more obligatory and important than did females, who judged community service to be more obligatory and important than did males. For each form of civic involvement, greater involvement was associated with more positive judgments and fewer personal justifications. Structural equation modeling indicated that adolescents' judgments about specific types of civic involvement were associated with similar forms of civic behaviors.     

缓冲与催化:希望在大学生自杀行为中的调节作用

研究大学生自杀行为机制及其保护性因素,对于大学生自杀行为的预防和临床具有重要现实意义。本研究采用结构方程建模方法,以自杀的人际关系理论为依据,考察希望在大学生自杀行为中的作用机制。研究发现,自杀人际关系理论的潜变量模型能较好拟合我国大学生自杀行为数据。自我累赘感知和归属感受挫显著影响大学生自杀行为,且具有叠加效应。习得的自杀能力,尤其是死亡恐惧感的降低,对大学生自杀行为也有显著影响。希望对大学生自杀行为存在缓冲和催化两种调节作用。当个体心理状态恶化时,高希望水平会起到一个缓冲的作用,降低自杀意愿和行为产生的可能;但在同样情况下,如果个体缺乏希望或绝望悲观,则会起到一个催化作用,放大对自杀行为的影响力度。随着个体心理状态恶化程度的提高,这两种机制的作用逐渐增强。研究发现对我国高校大学生自杀行为的临床或预防具有重要现实指导意义。     

Predicting Behavior Problems in Children with Epilepsy: Child Factors, Disease Factors, Family Stress, and Child-Mother Interaction

This study examines the relative role of parent-child relationships, family stress, and disease factors in predicting behavior problems in children with epilepsy. It extends existing literature on parent-child relationships and behavior problems by examining children with biological risk. Child-mother interaction was observed for 51 children with epilepsy ages 7–13 years and related to teacher- and parent-reported behavior problems. Child's self-reliance correlated with parent-reported problems; expression of affect related to teacher-reported externalizing problems. A child self-reliance factor accounted for behavior problems after partialing age, gender, IQ, epilepsy variables, and family stress. The term child gender × quality of mother-child interaction predicted teacher-reported externalizing problems, with mother-child interaction correlated with behavior problems for boys. Child-parent relationships predict the development of behavior problems over and above the influence of disease-related factors, even for children at considerable biological risk.     

民族地区收入约束下的家庭教育投资能力:问题与对策

民族地区家庭教育投资能力大小的最大约束是收入,本文分析了民族地区农村家庭收入的存量和增量,证明家庭收入存量的差异直接导致其教育投资能力的低下,收入增量不足限制其教育投资方向和规模,最终形成了一个"家庭收入低--家庭教育投资能力低--教育投资水平低--家庭收入低"的恶性循环.因而,打破这一循环必须创新制度安排,保证收入稳定增长,从而扩大民族地区农村家庭的教育投资能力.     

Geographic Variations in Cost of Living: Associations With Family and Child Well‐Being

The effects of geographic variations in cost of living and family income on children’s academic achievement and social competence in first grade (mean age = 86.9 months) were examined, mediated through material hardship, parental investments, family stress, and school resources. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,565), higher cost of living was associated with lower academic achievement. For poor children only, higher cost of living was also detrimental to parental investments and school resources. Parental investments and school resources were more strongly associated with achievement for lower income than higher income children. Results suggest that cost of living intersects with income in meaningful ways for family and child well‐being and should be accounted for in the poverty measure.