Autonomy and children's reactions to being controlled: evidence that both compliance and defiance may be positive markers in early development

This study examined reactions of 1-year-olds and young 2-year-olds to being controlled by mothers. Mothers' supportive behavior predicted children's willing compliance. However, contrary to research with older children, defiance was also associated with variables linked to maternal competence, specifically, mothers' supportive behavior, autonomy-granting controls, and low depressive symptoms. At this age high-defiant children initiated positive interaction with mothers more than did low-defiant children. With age, children displayed more willing compliance and more active resistance (defiance, low passivity). However, developmental increases in active resistance were absent when mothers were high in depressive symptoms. Findings are consistent with the proposal that in early development active resistance to parents often reflects children's motivation to control events, not poor parenting or strained parent-child relationships.     

Do maternal concerns at delivery predict parenting stress during infancy?

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we found that new mothers could and would express concerns about their parenting, including concerns about maltreatment and poor care. In this study, we examine the utility of early maternal concerns for predicting parenting stress in the first year. Parenting stress is important because it has been shown to be related to maltreatment and poor parent-child relationships. METHOD: A sample of 246 mothers were interviewed shortly after delivery in a publicly funded hospital about their parenting concerns, and 93% were reinterviewed in their homes about their parenting when the infants were 6 to 12 months old. Standardized measures with demonstrated psychometric properties were employed, including a measure of parenting stress due to the demands of the parenting role, characteristics of the child that make him or her difficult to care for, and stress due to difficult interactions. RESULTS: Multiple regression results indicate that both mothers concerns at delivery and sociodemographic variables are significant predictors of all three types of parenting stress in infancy. Maternal concerns were more powerful than sociodemographics in predicting stress related to the demands of parenting, while sociodemographics were more powerful for the prediction of stress related to difficult child characteristics and difficult mother-infant interaction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that knowledge of new mothers' parenting concerns might be useful for predicting parenting problems, as well as for engaging mothers' in and enhancing the effectiveness of parenting services.     

The coping mechanisms of children with school refusal

There are a variety of ways in which the children of today cope with the stresses of modern life. This paper examines the mechanisms used by a sample of children who had established school refusal and found their mechanisms of coping to be quite different from those of a control group. The findings raise the question as to whether there is a connection between social isolation and poor socialisation in the aetiology of school refusal, and suggest a possible mechanism by which such problems are compounded by enmeshed family relationships. This work also indicates that some protection against the need to refuse school can be gained by establishing good social relationships, focusing upon improving coping strategies and increasing the young person's sense of belonging.     

Timing and Intensity of Tutoring: A Closer Look at the Conditions for Effective Early Literacy Tutoring

In this article we report data from a longitudinal study of one–to–one tutoring for students at risk for reading disabilities. Participants were at–risk students who received phonics–based tutoring in first grade, students who were tutored in comprehension skills in second grade, and students tutored in both grades 1 and 2. At second–grade posttest, there were significant differences in word identification and word attack between students who were tutored in first grade only compared to students who were also tutored in second grade, favoring students who were tutored in first grade only. Overall, there were no advantages to a second year of tutoring. For students tutored in second grade only, there were no differences at second–grade posttest compared to controls. Schools may have selected students who did not respond to first–grade tutoring for continued tutoring in second grade. Findings are discussed in light of decisions schools make when using tutors to supplement reading instruction for students with reading difficulties.