Human affection exchange: VII. Affectionate communication in the sibling/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triad

This study sought to investigate affectionate communication among members of sibHng/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triads as well as the influence of such communication on relational quality. Under the principles of Affectionate Exchange Theory, affectionate communication among these family members may ultimately serve the evolutionary mandates of viability and procreation. Three hundred twenty‐seven participants, comprising 109 sibling/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triads, completed surveys about their communication of affection, relational satisfaction, and closeness. Consistent with predictions, spouses reported communicating more affection to each other than did siblings, who reported communicating more affection than siblings‐in‐law. The communication of affection by spouses and siblings showed a significant correlation, as did the communication of affection by siblings and siblings‐in‐law, and these correlations were significant even when controlling for the affection communicated in the third relationship in the triad (except for nonverbal support communicated in the sibling and marital relationships). Finally, for all three relational types, affectionate communication was positively correlated with both relational satisfaction and closeness.     

The number of autonomy-supportive relationships: Are more relationships better for motivation,perceived competence,and achievement?

Does the perception of many close relationships as autonomy-supportive make students more motivated and competent? The goal of this study was to use latent class analysis (LCA) to compare the educational correlates of having one vs. several autonomy-supportive relationships. Participants were 1406 high school students (47% boys, 52% girls). LCA revealed three groups: Group 1 (17%) included students who perceived low autonomy support by their mother, father, and teacher; Group 2 (7%) included students who perceived low autonomy support by their father, but moderate autonomy support by their mother and teacher; and Group 3 (76%) included students who perceived all sources as moderately autonomy-supportive. Results of multiple comparisons suggest that more is not necessarily better: Students in Group 2, who perceived low autonomy support by fathers, reported equivalent autonomous (intrinsic and identified) and controlled (external and introjected) regulations and perceived competence to those of students in Group 3, who perceived all sources as moderately autonomy-supportive. One difference was that Group 3 showed better academic achievement than Group 2. Results are discussed in light of research on close relationships and self-determination theory (SDT).     

Outcome of abuse during childhood among pregnant low income women

The outcome of experiencing abuse as a child was studied by comparing pregnant women who did recall versus those who did not recall this type of maltreatment. Fourteen hundred low income women were interviewed in prenatal clinic; those who said they were both punished by abuse and beaten by caretakers as children were considered abused. Abuse was recalled by more white than black women but families were followed after delivery and protective service reports of abuse for their offspring were equal. Because of low numbers, black subjects were dropped and the 95 white women who recalled abuse during childhood were compared to the remaining 832 white subjects. The groups did not differ in attitude about current pregnancy, age or marital status, and no differences were found for their children at birth. Abused mothers were more likely to have felt unwanted and unloved as children and to have lower self-images and more isolation than controls. Abused mothers had greater stress, and many of their stresses reflected disturbances in interpersonal relationships. Thus, women abused as children had some characteristics similar to those of known child abusers. Although abused women had more aggressive tendencies, their children were reported to protective services for abuse at the same frequency as control children. Intergenerational transmission of abuse was therefore not demonstrated prospectively. Classic theories of child abuse suggest a special child, special parent and stress act as independent agents to cause abuse. The above data suggest, alternatively, that abuse during childhood may lead to other risk characteristics and to greater stress. These may act together to increase risk for abuse. The special child may have an independent influence on abuse.     

Within-family differences in Head Start participation and parent investment

There is limited understanding of how parents’ allocation of investments across their children are affected by differences in their children's participation in programs that promote early development. I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine whether parents reinforce or compensate for differences in their children's access to an early education program, Head Start. I use a family fixed effects approach to contrast measures of parental investment, when children were age 5 through 14, for children who attended Head Start relative to their siblings who did not attend preschool. I find that parents provided lower levels of cognitive stimulation and emotional support to children who attended Head Start relative to their siblings who did not attend preschool. Although impacts are relatively small in magnitude (0.05 SD), results suggest that parent compensate for differences in access to early childhood educational opportunities.     

Early education teachers’ conceptualizations and strategies for managing closeness with the class in child care

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of closeness during interactions with the group of children in child care. Structured interviews were conducted with 24 female teachers who were teaching children between the ages of three and five (mean age = 3.9) regarding their perceptions of closeness with the group of children in the class. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed a group solidarity domain of teacher–group relationships composed of three dimensions which comprise emotional solidarity, consensual solidarity, and functional solidarity, with emotional solidarity most dominant in the teachers’ perceptions. This group solidarity domain was interpreted as being consistent with qualities found in Grusec and Davidov’s group participation domain. The findings that, teachers’ closeness with the group of children in the class were dominated by the emotional dimension is similar to previous research results which report the predominance of personal and intimate interactions in relational closeness between teachers and individual children. Teachers described intentional strategies for managing close group relationships that made use of interactional histories between the teachers and children in the class. These discoveries provide a new perspective on teacher closeness with groups, an area of research not often investigated. It also provides insights into the importance teachers place on connecting emotionally with children when they are with the collective group in the classroom.     

Childhood sexual abuse and revictimization in adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the link between childhood experiences of sexual abuse and subsequent revictimization in adolescence. METHOD: A sample of 281 female adolescents between 17-20 years of age, who participated in a prevalence survey of unwanted sexual contacts, completed the Sexual Experiences Survey as a measure of unwanted sexual contacts in adolescence and indicated whether or not they had experienced childhood sexual abuse. RESULTS: Childhood experiences of sexual abuse were reported by 8.9% of the respondents, a further 8.5% indicated they were not sure if they had been sexually abused as children. Both abused women and women uncertain about their victimization status were significantly more likely to report unwanted sexual contacts as adolescents than women who did not state abuse. The link between childhood abuse and subsequent victimization was mediated by a higher level of sexual activity among the abuse victims. CONCLUSIONS: The results support existing evidence on the impact of childhood sexual abuse on sexual relationships in subsequent developmental stages and underline the need to consider childhood sexual abuse as a risk factor of adolescent sexual victimization.     

How communication context impacts judgments of a potential peer mentor

Disclosure is a critical element of interpersonal relationships and individuals are often evaluated on what they share with others, whether in personal, professional, or learning contexts. Technology now allows for many different outlets for communicating with other people. We used experimental methods to explore the impact of communication medium (i.e. print diary, online diary, blog, or email) on psychosocial perceptions of a potential peer mentor. Female participants gave more positive mentor ratings on likeability, likeliness to disclose to the mentor, and perceived closeness than did males, but not on judgments of the mentor’s privacy. Participants judged the mentor to be more private when they viewed the print diary than in the online conditions and when reading the online diary than the blog (the least private condition). We also found that women were more likely to reciprocate disclosure when they viewed disclosures in the print condition than in the blog.     

Intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: understanding intra- and intergenerational connections

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which intimate partner violence and different forms of child maltreatment occur within and across childhood and adulthood for a high-risk group of women. METHOD: Low-income adult women were interviewed, retrospectively, regarding their experiences with intimate partner violence and child maltreatment in childhood and adulthood, and intra- and intergenerational relationships between multiple forms of family violence were identified. RESULTS: Analyses demonstrated weak to moderate associations between various forms of violence within generations. Only weak support was found for the transmission of violence hypothesis that maltreated children are more likely to grow up to maltreat their own children. Stronger support was found for the theory of learned helplessness, whereby children maltreated or witness to violence during childhood are more likely to be victimized as an adult. CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggest that interventions with children who are identified for one form of victimization should be assessed for other forms of victimization, and interventions should also address learned behaviors or beliefs associated with continued or future victimization.     

Children's Interventions into Family Conflict: Links With the Quality of Sibling Relationships

The goals of the present research were: a) to characterize children's interventions into disputes involving mothers and siblings, b) to examine symmetry between siblings' intervention behaviors, and c) to investigate how children's conflict interventions were linked to the quality of sibling relationships. During home observations of 50 families observers audiotaped family conversations, including conflicts that simultaneously involved 33-month-old younger siblings, their elder siblings and their mothers. Siblings' interventions most often concerned rules of the house, and were most likely to occur when mothers were not upset. Opposition was the most common strategy for both siblings, however alliances were asymmetrical, eldest siblings offered greater support to younger siblings. Alliances between siblings were linked to more harmonious sibling relationships. Results were discussed with regard to children's responses to anger and conflict in the home. The development of mediation skills within the family and their implication for family relationships was also considered.     

Children's Understanding of Parental Differential Treatment

This study examined whether established associations between perceptions of parental differential treatment and sibling relationship quality are moderated by children's perceptions and attributions about parental behavior. Sixty-one children, aged 11–13 years, and their siblings were interviewed separately about parental differential treatment. Children did not perceive PDT in two-thirds of the instances they reported about, and 75% of the children who acknowledged that differential treatment was occurring in their homes did not find this to be " unfair." Children justified differential parental behaviors by identifying ways that they and their sibling differ from one another, that is, in terms of differences in their age, personal attributes, needs, relationship with parents, or strategic behaviors. Children who perceived their parents' differential behavior to be justified generally experienced more positive appraisals about their sibling relationship. Results reinforce the importance of examining how children construct their experiences in their families.     

Earned-secure attachment status in retrospect and prospect

Past research with the Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview demonstrates that retrospectively defined earned-secures (who coherently describe negative childhood experiences) parent as effectively as do continuous-secures (who coherently describe positive childhood experiences), but manifest liabilities in the form of depressive symptomatology. This article presents data from a 23-year longitudinal study that replicate and extend prior research, testing a key premise that earned-secures so defined actually have a history of insecure attachments that change over time and/or endure consistently harsh or ineffective parenting in their youth. Discrepant with assumptions, retrospective earned-secures were not more likely than continuous-secures to have been anxiously attached in infancy and were observed in childhood and adolescence to have encountered among the most supportive and structured maternal parenting in a high-risk sample. Prospectively defined earned-secures (operationalized using participants' infant attachment classifications) did indeed go on to have success in their close relationships, many without reporting relatively high levels of internalizing distress in adulthood.     

Attributions and emotional competence: why some teachers experience close relationships with disruptive students (and others don’t)

ABSTRACT

Disruptive student behaviour is a major concern for teachers, causing classroom conflict and emotional fatigue. Whilst student-teacher closeness is known to reduce student aggression and improve behaviour, it is not yet known why some teachers experience close relationships with disruptive students and others do not. This qualitative study therefore examined relational closeness between elementary teachers and disruptive students in Sydney, Australia. Using a teacher speech sample task, we identified eight disruptive students with ‘complicated’ student-teacher relationships: high in both closeness and conflict. Eleven classroom teachers and seven support teachers each spoke about their relationships with the eight students. Speech samples were analysed using an inductive content analysis to determine characteristics that may facilitate relational closeness in spite of student-teacher conflict. Findings revealed two characteristics of teachers’ speech that guided relational closeness: attributions for disruptive behaviour and emotional competence. Not all teachers, however, described a close relationship. These findings provide new directions for interventions that aim to improve student-teacher relationship quality.     

Rural classroom environments as contexts for teacher-child relationships

The authors examined the associations between observed classroom management and teacher-child relationships with individual children during kindergarten and Grade 1. We used a sample of nonstruggling and struggling readers and their teachers in rural schools in the Southeastern United States to examine whether gender and struggling reader status explained associations between classroom management and conflictual or close teacher-child relationships. After controlling for child- and teacher-level characteristics, results from multilevel model analyses indicated that stronger classroom management was significantly related to less teacher-rated conflict, but was not related to teacher-rated closeness. Gender was a significant moderator, with boys who were in classrooms with lower levels of classroom management having poorer teacher-child relationships as rated by their teachers. Struggling reader status was not a significant moderator of the association between classroom management and teacher-child relationships.     

Child abuse: Betrayal and disclosure

ObjectiveThe current study tested several hypotheses about disclosure of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse derived from Betrayal Trauma Theory [Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press]. We predicted that the duration of time from abuse to its disclosure would vary as a function of victim–perpetrator closeness.MethodsData collected from 202 undergraduate participants using a survey methodology were submitted to logistic regression analyses. The relative variance explained by other variables was also examined.ResultsCompared to survivors of emotional abuse (EA) who were in not very close (NVC) victim–perpetrator relationships, EA survivors in very close (VC) victim–perpetrator relationships were significantly more likely to wait 1 or more years to disclose, or never to disclose, than to wait a period of time less than 1 year (OR = 2.65). Further, survivors of physical abuse (PA) in VC victim–perpetrator relationships were significantly more likely to wait 1 or more years to disclose their abuse, if it was disclosed at all, than PA survivors of NVC victim–perpetrator relationships (OR = 3.99). Results for sexual abuse were not significant.ConclusionsFor EA and PA, VC victim–perpetrator relationships predicted longer durations of time from abuse to its disclosure than NVC victim–perpetrator relationships.Practice implicationsAlthough delayed disclosure may support necessary (albeit abusive) attachments with caregivers, it may also prolong the abuse and prevent receipt of support. Increased awareness that VC victim–perpetrator relationships may predict longer durations of time from abuse to its disclosure, and that these delays may serve a functional purpose, can help guide supportive and empathic responses to traumatic disclosures.     

The role of elementary teachers’ conceptions of closeness to students on their differential behaviour in the classroom

While many studies have documented the importance of supportive student–teacher relationships, particularly during students’ formative education experiences, few studies have systematically examined teachers’ conceptions of their relationships. The purpose of this project was to examine elementary school teachers’ conceptions of closeness using a structured interview protocol. Participants included three Caucasian teachers from the United States. Specifically, as part of the protocol, teachers were asked to (1) rate their feelings of closeness for each of the students in their class, (2) describe each relationship, (3) identify patterns of interpersonal closeness and distance across their class, and (4) talk about their understanding of what it means to be close to students. Findings were organised into a grounded model of teacher closeness in which teachers described how their feelings of closeness to students were related to five different teacher's approach orientations. Teachers’ approach orientations may have important implications for the way in which children in the class are privileged or marginalised by their teacher relationship.     

Behavior problems in elementary school among low-income boys: The role of teacher–child relationships

The authors identified trajectories of teacher–child relationship conflict and closeness from Grades 1 to 6, and associations between these trajectories and externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 11 years old among low-income, urban boys (N = 262). There were three main findings. Nagin cluster analyses indicated five trajectories for conflict with all children evidencing increases in conflict, and four trajectories for closeness with all children demonstrating decreases in closeness. Trajectories with higher levels of conflict and lower levels of closeness were associated with higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at 11 years old. Moreover, conflictual teacher–child relationships exacerbated the effects of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in early childhood; children with conflictual teacher–child relationships had higher levels of behavior problems in middle childhood relative to children with low conflictual teacher–child relationships. Implications of targeting teacher–child relationships as interventions to help prevent behavior problems are discussed.     

Associations between teacher–child relationships and children's writing in kindergarten and first grade

When children experience conflict in relationships with their teachers during early education, they perform more poorly on measures of language development and overall academic competence. Whereas children who have close relationships with teachers, often perform better on these measures. A close teacher–child relationship may be important for children learning to write, given the complex and personal nature of writing. Yet, scholars have not examined associations between teacher–child relationship quality and children's early success in writing. The current study examined associations between quality of the teacher–child relationship (defined as teachers’ perceptions of closeness and conflict and children's feelings about teachers) and children's writing quality in kindergarten and first grade. Children's receptive language was also investigated as a moderator of these associations. Results indicated teacher–child conflict was significantly associated with children's writing quality, after accounting for grade level, initial reading status, and type of instruction. Findings of the study have important implications for future research and practice. Attention to the importance of conflict in teacher–child relationships and its’ influence on children's literacy learning and development should be included in future research studies.     

Children's Interventions into Family Conflict: Links With the Quality of Sibling Relationships

The goals of the present research were: a) to characterize children's interventions into disputes involving mothers and siblings, b) to examine symmetry between siblings' intervention behaviors, and c) to investigate how children's conflict interventions were linked to the quality of sibling relationships. During home observations of 50 families observers audiotaped family conversations, including conflicts that simultaneously involved 33-month-old younger siblings, their elder siblings and their mothers. Siblings' interventions most often concerned rules of the house, and were most likely to occur when mothers were not upset. Opposition was the most common strategy for both siblings, however alliances were asymmetrical, eldest siblings offered greater support to younger siblings. Alliances between siblings were linked to more harmonious sibling relationships. Results were discussed with regard to children's responses to anger and conflict in the home. The development of mediation skills within the family and their implication for family relationships was also considered.     

Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Transition Classes

Teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of transition classes and the potential relationships between these perceptions and demographic variables were investigated. Seventy-eight first grade teachers from the six New England states completed questionnaires that asked them (a) to rate how children who have participated in transition classes compared in academic achievement, social- emotional development, and attitudes toward school with similar "unready" children who did not participate; (b) to indicate if they would recommend a transition program for their best friends' children; (c) to indicate how they would vote if asked whether their school should continue transition classes; and (d) to supply demographic information. The results clearly indicated that this sample of first grade teachers overwhelmingly supported transition classes and perceived them as beneficial despite the lack of empirical evidence to support these beliefs. No relationships between various background or demographic variables (e.g., certification, degree, membership in professional organizations) and perceptions of effectiveness were found, as evidenced by the support of all types of teachers for transition programs. The findings are attributed to a lack of communication between the primary school practitioners and the early childhood research community.     

Conflict,Understanding, and Relationships: Developments and Differences in the Preschool Years

Children's conflict management in three close relationships was studied longitudinally in 38 second born children, observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 months and at 47 months, and with friends at 47 months. Children used significantly more other-oriented argument with friends than with their mothers or siblings. Their use of reasoned argument with their siblings, but not their mothers, was related to their emotional understanding assessed formally at 40 months. The emotional context of conflict interactions was found to be important as an influence on children's use of reasoned argument, with less reasoning shown by children when they were upset at 33 months. The differences in patterns over time and in links with emotional understanding for these different relationships is discussed, and the significance of child-child interaction in the development of social understanding is highlighted.