Attachment Disorganization in Infancy: A Developmental Precursor to Maladaptive Social Information Processing at Age 8

This study examined infant attachment as a predictor of social information processing (SIP) in middle childhood (n = 82) while controlling for parental sensitivity in middle childhood. Attachment quality was assessed using the Strange Situation. Although attachment insecurity did not predict SIP, attachment disorganization positively predicted the early SIP steps of hostile attributional bias and aggressive goals. Children with disorganized attachments interpreted ambiguous provocations more negatively (as indicating more hostility, rejection, and disrespect and as resulting in more anger) and endorsed significantly more revenge and dominance goals than children with organized attachments. In contrast, parental sensitivity negatively predicted the later SIP step of positive expectations for aggressive responses. Results further our understanding of the adverse outcomes associated with attachment disorganization.     

Relational and Overt Aggression in Middle Childhood: Early Child and Family Risk Factors

This study investigated early child and family risk factors for relational and overt aggression in 207 children followed since birth. Risk factors were assessed during infancy and preschool, and aggression in Grades 1, 3, and 5. Independent risk factors for Aggression Severity (total of relational and overt aggression) included lower language abilities, lower levels of temperamental withdrawal/inhibition, and greater exposure to family environments characterized by maternal negativity toward the child, family negative expressiveness, and maternal depression. The major risk factor for Aggression Directionality (relative preponderance of relational versus overt aggression) was gender. Child temperament interacted with family risk factors in predicting Severity, and child gender moderated the associations of temperament and family risk factors in predicting both Severity and Directionality.     

Social Information Processing,Moral Reasoning,and Emotion Attributions: Relations With Adolescents’ Reactive and Proactive Aggression

Connections between adolescents’ social information processing (SIP), moral reasoning, and emotion attributions and their reactive and proactive aggressive tendencies were assessed. One hundred mostly African American and Latino 13‐ to 18‐year‐olds from a low‐socioeconomic‐status (SES) urban community and their high school teachers participated. Reactive aggression was uniquely related to expected ease in enacting aggression, lower verbal abilities, and hostile attributional biases, and most of these connections were mediated by adolescents’ attention problems. In contrast, proactive aggression was uniquely related to higher verbal abilities and expectations of more positive emotional and material outcomes resulting from aggression. Discussion focused on the utility of assessing both moral and SIP‐related cognitions, and on the potential influence of low‐SES, high‐risk environments on these findings.     

Harsh Parenting and Child Externalizing Behavior: Skin Conductance Level Reactivity as a Moderator

Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting and child externalizing behavior. Participants were 251 boys and girls (8–9 years). Mothers and fathers provided reports of harsh parenting and their children's externalizing behavior; children also provided reports of harsh parenting. SCLR was assessed in response to a socioemotional stress task and a problem-solving challenge task. Regression analyses revealed that the association between harsh parenting and externalizing behavior was stronger among children with lower SCLR, as compared to children with higher SCLR. SCLR may be a more robust moderator among boys compared to girls. Results are discussed with regard to theories on antisocial behavior and multiple-domain models of child development.     

Understanding Relations Among Early Family Environment, Cortisol Response, and Child Aggression via a Prevention Experiment

This study examined relations among family environment, cortisol response, and behavior in the context of a randomized controlled trial with 92 children ( M  =   48 months) at risk for antisocial behavior. Previously, researchers reported an intervention effect on cortisol response in anticipation of a social challenge. The current study examined whether changes in cortisol response were related to later child aggression. Among lower warmth families, the intervention effect on aggression was largely mediated by the intervention effect on cortisol response. Although the intervention also resulted in significant benefits on child engaging behavior, cortisol response did not mediate this effect. These findings demonstrate meaningful associations between cortisol response and aggression among children at familial risk for antisocial behavior.     

Research Supplement: Speed of Information Processing and the Visually Handicapped Child

Heather Mason is deputy head of the Priestley Smith School, Birmingham, and Mike Tobin is director of the Research Centre for the Education of the Visually Handicapped at Birmingham University. They present a preliminary report from a more extensive study of speed of processing visual information by visually handicapped children.     

电子信息类专业实验教学的几点思考

根据实验教学对学生知识、能力和素质培养的作用,结合自身的教学改革实践,提出了关于电子信息类专业实验教学的3个观点:①基础理论课程应以课堂教学为主,辅以实验加深学生对基本理论的理解;②技术性课程要加强实验教学,通过实验加强学生的能力培养;③专业课程要与工程实际结合,通过实验强化学生系统的概念.电子信息类专业实验教学的重点应放在学生的能力培养上.     

On the Relation between Social Information Processing and Socially Competent Behavior in Early School-Aged Children

This article tested the hypotheses that (1) children's behavioral competence is a function of patterns of social information processing; (2) processing correlates of behavior occur at each of 5 steps of processing within each of 3 social situations; (3) measures at each step uniquely increment each other in predicting behavior; (4) the relation between processing and behavior is stronger within than across domains; and (5) processing patterns are more sophisticated among older than younger children and the processing-behavior relation is stronger among older than younger children. Videorecorded stimuli were used to assess processing patterns (encoding, interpretational errors and bias, response generation, response evaluation, and enactment skill) in 3 domains (peer group entry, response to provocation, and response to authority directive) in 259 first-, second-, and third-grade boys and girls (ages 6–9 years). Ratings of behavioral competence in each domain were made by peers and teachers. Findings generally supported hypotheses, with the magnitude of relations being modest.     

Self-Reported Moral Emotions and Physical and Relational Aggression in Early Childhood: A Social Domain Approach

This study examined discrepancies between 4- and 7-year-olds’ (n = 135; M_age = 5.65) self-reported affect following hypothetical moral versus social-conventional transgressions and their associations with teacher-rated physical and relational aggression concurrently and 9-months later. Negative emotion ratings in response to prototypical moral transgressions were not associated with children's aggression. When transgressions were described as no longer prohibited by rules and authority figures, children reporting more negative affect in response to moral as compared to conventional violations were less physically aggressive at Wave 1 and showed relative and mean-level declines in physical aggression over time. Relational aggression was not associated with self-reported emotions. Findings indicate the importance of distinguishing between types of transgressions and forms of aggression in studying moral emotions.     

Social Information Processing in Aggressive and Depressed Children

Social information processing patterns of children who were identified as being aggressive or depressed, both, or neither were compared in order to address the issue of specificity and to explore whether children who are comorbid show a unique processing style. Subjects were 220 children in the third through sixth grade. Peer nomination and teacher ratings were used to assess level of aggression, and the Children's Depression Inventory was used to measure level of depression. Aggressive children showed a hostile attributional bias, were more likely to report that they would engage in aggressive behavior, and indicated that aggression would be easy for them. Depressed children similarly showed a hostile attributional bias, although they were more likely to attribute negative situations to internal, stable, and global causes. Depressed children also reported that they would be less likely to use assertive responses and that they expected that assertive behavior would lead to more negative and fewer positive outcomes. Children who were comorbid generally showed patterns similar to both aggressive and depressed children.     

嵌入与契合：社会工作的学科建设与本土化

中国社会工作专业化的发展路径不同于西方的经验,西方的社会工作是在助人实践中逐渐发展起来的,而中国的社会工作是以半专业化或称为行政性社会工作为起点的。在进行社会工作本土化实践的道路中,应结合中国自身的体制特征和文化特点,将专业的社会工作进行体制性的嵌入是加快本土化建设的一个行动策略;对文化背景的重视则有利于推动社会工作本土化的进一步发展。     

Cognitive Style and Individual Differences in EEG Alpha During Information Processing

Abstract When presented with a task, it was hypothesised that different people tend to process the same information in different ways, using different areas of the brain, depending upon their cognitive style. The study used 15 adult subjects, who received the computer‐presented Cognitive Styles Analysis to assess their positions on two basic cognitive style dimensions: the Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery. In a computer‐presented task, subjects were asked to view words presented singly at a rate of two, five and 10 words/second and in pairs at five and 10 word‐pairs/second and to press a key when a word appeared which was in a target conceptual category (e.g. a fruit). The task comprised eight 30‐second trials. During the task, alpha band EEG was monitored at 15 locations. For the Wholist‐Analytic style, Analytics had, over all tasks, lower alpha power relative to the Wholists at all locations, and particularly posteriorly. With the Verbal‐Imagery dimension, there was style‐hemisphere effect, with Verbalisers having relatively more suppression on the left posterior temporal location T5 compared to right T6, and Imagers having the reverse. These results justify further exploration of the cerebral basis of individual differences in cognitive style.     

Consequences of Retaliatory Aggression against Siblings and Peers: Urban Minority Children's Expectations

Expectations about the outcomes of retaliation against siblings were compared to those about peers in a group of 10–14-year-old, mostly African-American or Hispanic youth. Boys believed that parents would disapprove more of retaliation against siblings than friends, while girls believed parents would equally disapprove of retaliation against either target. Participants of both genders expected that retaliation would deter additional aggressive actions of friends more than of siblings. Participants expected younger siblings, especially brothers, to feel worse than older siblings following retaliation, and girls expected to feel worse retaliating against younger siblings. Siblings close in age expect fewer negative consequences of retaliation. Children's expectations seem to promote more aggression toward friends than siblings and to promote aggression toward siblings closer in age. No ethnic differences emerged in expectations about conflict. The findings are discussed in relation to research on expectations as a mediator of behavior.     

Relational and Overt Aggression in Disruptive Adolescents: Prediction from Early Social Representations and Links with Concurrent Problems

Children's representations of conflict and distress situations at 7 years were examined as developmental precursors to relational aggression, overt aggression, and psychiatric symptoms in early adolescence. Children were identified in early adolescence. Children were identified in preschool as normally developing or with behavior problems. Overt, but not relational, aggression, was correlated with concurrent disruptive symptoms in adolescence. Childhood predictors of adolescent aggression were found only for girls: Early hostile themes predicted more relational and overt aggression, while prosocial themes predicted less relational aggression. Also for girls only, early emotions foretold later functioning: Sadness predicted a higher ratio of relational to overt aggression, while inexpressiveness predicted disruptive, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Relational and overt aggression are discussed with regard to sex differences in symptom changes over time.     

Social Risk and Protective Child,Parenting, and Child Care Factors in Early Elementary School Years

Objective. African American children exposed to multiple social risk factors during early childhood often experience academic difficulties, so identification of protective factors is important. Design. Academic and school behavior trajectories from kindergarten through third grade were studied among 75 African American children who have been followed prospectively since infancy to test hypothesized protective factors: quality of home and child care environments during early childhood, child language and social skills at entry to kindergarten, and school characteristics. Results. Children exposed to multiple risks in early childhood showed lower levels of academic and social-emotional skills from kindergarten through third grade. Parenting mediated the association with risk. Children's language skills, parenting, and child care quality serve as protective factors in acquisition of mathematics skills and reduction in problem behaviors during the first 4 years of primary school for African American children facing multiple risks. Attending a school with a higher proportion of children from low-income families might predict increasing numbers of problem behaviors over time. Conclusions. Exposure to social risk in early childhood negatively predicted academic achievement and adjustment during early elementary school for African American children, in part through associations between exposure to social risk and less responsive and stimulating parenting. Furthermore, the negative associations between risk and academic outcomes were substantially weaker when children had more responsive and sensitive parents or child care providers or entered school with stronger language skills.     

Adolescent-to-Mother Psychological Aggression: The Role of Father Violence and Maternal Parenting Style

BackgroundAdolescent-to-parent psychological aggression is often a precursor to physical aggression toward their parents. Recently, there have been 4 high-profile matricide cases that happened in China. To date, there is limited research in Confucian filial piety culture on child-to-parent psychological aggression, especially toward the mother who is overwhelming the target of children’s aggression.ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to explore the prevalence of adolescent-to-mother psychological aggression and examine the role of father violence and maternal parenting style in contributing to these behaviors in Confucian filial piety culture.MethodsParticipants were 1134 students from 7 to 12 grade (M = 14 years, SD = 1.5) in Qingdao located in Shandong Province in east side of China where the Confucian Culture began. The instruments used were a demographics questionnaire, adolescent-to-mother psychological aggression questionnaire, father’s violent behavior questionnaire and maternal parenting style questionnaire.ResultsTwo types of adolescent-to-mother psychological aggression were assessed: contempt and rebellion. The prevalence of adolescent-to-mother contempt and rebellion was 30.7% and 18.7%, respectively. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that father’s conflict with grandparents, maternal control and over-protection were positively associated with adolescent’s contempt for mother. Parents divorced, father’s conflict with grandparents, father-to-mother physical violence and maternal rejection were positively associated with adolescent’s rebellion against mother. Maternal emotional warmth was negatively associated with adolescent’s contempt and rebellion against mother.ConclusionAdolescent-to-mother psychological aggression occurs within a broader family context of violence and disharmony. Observational learning of father’s conflict with grandparents or violent behaviors toward mother maybe the mechanism of violence passing from generations. However, maternal emotional warmth buffered the negative association between father’s conflict with grandparents and adolescent’s contempt for mother. But maternal control and over-protection exacerbated the positive relationships between father’s conflict with grandparents and adolescent’s contempt for mother.     

Discipline Policies in Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: Building an Infrastructure for Social and Academic Success

Research Findings: Preventing challenging behavior in young children is a national priority. The number of young children with behavioral problems is on the rise. Discipline policies can help early childhood programs build an infrastructure that promotes social and academic success. This study sought to document the extent to which existing early childhood program discipline policies implement the essential features for developing high-quality, system-wide (viz., program- and school-wide) discipline policies. Using the Early Childhood Discipline Policy Essentials Checklist, investigators assessed the quality of 65 discipline policies from state-licensed early childhood care and education programs. Practice or Policy: Results revealed that early childhood program discipline policies, for the most part, fail to sufficiently address those essential features known to contribute to reducing challenging behavior and promoting prosocial behavior in young children.     

Child Suicide and Harsh Punishment in Germany at the Turn of the Last Century

At the turn of the century in Germany, there was general disquiet concerning the increasing numbers of child suicides. This concern gave raise to two important questions: What kind of children commit suicide and what does this say about the way they are brought up? Figures indicated, that fear of punishment and maltreatment in general were the most frequent causes for children ending their lives. However, suicidal children were believed to be mentally ill as well as the weak product of a lax upbringing. So the concern about child suicide resulted in a plea for stricter upbringing. The child was blamed for its suicide, not the practice of harsh treatment.     

身体攻击幼儿和关系攻击幼儿的社会信息加工特点

本研究基于社会信息加工模型理论,运用问卷调查和个别访谈技术,对幼儿攻击行为的一般特征及其社会信息加工过程进行研究,以探讨身体攻击幼儿和关系攻击幼儿的社会信息加工特点。研究表明,3～6岁幼儿的攻击行为存在显著的性别差异,男孩的攻击行为多于女孩。身体攻击幼儿和关系攻击幼儿存在一定程度的社会信息加工缺陷。     

家风:一种源远流长的社会教育

"家风"是中国传统家庭文化的精髓,她用书面语言和口头语言界定出家庭道德规范,由印刷媒介将之凝聚成显性意义,超越时空代代相传。当现代人在背诵、认同、实践祖上传下来的家风时,也就意味着当时家族所规定的思想和道德有了生命,秩序和文化在民间实现了最可靠的传承。从这个意义上讲,家风是中国特有的源远流长的社会教育。