学前儿童情绪理解的发展及其与父母元情绪理念的关系

通过对341名3～5岁儿童情绪理解的测查及问卷调查,考察儿童情绪理解的发展特点及其与父母元情绪理念的关系。结果表明:(1)女孩的情绪识别显著优于男孩;(2)学前儿童的情绪理解具有显著的年龄差异,年长儿童显著优于年幼儿童;(3)母亲情绪不干涉的元情绪理念对儿童情绪识别具有促进作用,而情绪紊乱的理念则对儿童情绪识别有阻碍作用;(4)与日常经验不同,父亲情绪紊乱的元情绪理念可能反而对儿童情绪识别、情景情绪理解具有正向作用。     

父母心理弹性与自闭症谱系障碍儿童情绪行为问题的关系：一个有调节的中介模型

本研究采用问卷法对306名自闭症谱系障碍(autism spectrum disorder, ASD)儿童的父母进行调查,考察了教养能力感在父母心理弹性和儿童情绪行为问题间的中介作用,同时检验了父母自尊对该路径的调节作用。结果表明：(1)父母心理弹性可直接预测ASD儿童情绪行为问题;(2)教养能力感在父母心理弹性和ASD儿童情绪行为问题之间起部分中介作用;(3)心理弹性与教养能力感的关系受自尊的调节,即心理弹性对教养能力感的预测作用在自尊水平较高的父母中更大。     

基于气质视角的情绪调节与儿童问题行为

问题行为作为儿童期的异常行为妨碍儿童正常的社会适应, 通常包括内化和外化问题行为。儿童情绪调节功能的异常被认为是其主要影响因素, 相关成因亦源于儿童自身的气质特征。在对国内外相关研究梳理的基础上, 从气质的四个维度出发(积极情感/接近、恐惧/行为抑制、愤怒/烦躁、努力控制)分析了情绪调节与常见调节策略对儿童问题行为的影响及相应的情绪调节训练干预。未来研究应结合儿童气质特征, 深入探讨气质各维度之间的交互作用与儿童情绪调节以及问题行为之间的关系, 并在纵向研究中加入神经生理相关技术, 考察三者在儿童发展过程中的关系, 此外还应开展国内本土化研究, 开发适合我国问题行为儿童的实践干预方案, 促进儿童情绪社会化的健康发展。     

父母元情绪理念、情绪表达与儿童社会能力的关系

对341名学前儿童及其父母进行问卷调查, 考察父母元情绪理念、情绪表达与儿童社会能力的直接与间接关系。结果表明：(1) 父亲情绪教导对儿童社会能力有促进作用, 而情绪紊乱对儿童社会能力有阻碍作用; 父亲的积极情绪表达对儿童社会能力有促进作用, 消极情绪表达则有负向作用; 此外, 父亲情绪教导、情绪紊乱除了对儿童社会能力具有直接作用外, 还通过其情绪表达对儿童社会能力具有间接影响。(2) 母亲情绪教导对儿童社会能力具有积极作用, 而情绪紊乱则具有消极影响; 母亲积极情绪表达对儿童社会能力有促进作用, 而消极情绪表达对儿童社会能力无显著预测关系; 母亲情绪教导通过其积极情绪表达对儿童社会能力具有间接促进作用。     

父母元情绪理念与儿童社会适应：父母情绪反应的中介作用

采用追踪设计对459名儿童的父母进行问卷调查，旨在考察父母元情绪、情绪反应与儿童社会适应的复杂作用关系。研究结果表明：（1）在控制了前测儿童敏感合作后，父亲的问题关注反应在父亲的情绪教导和儿童的敏感合作之间起中介作用；（2）在控制了前测儿童社会适应后，母亲的鼓励表达在母亲的情绪教导和儿童的违纪攻击、害羞焦虑之间起中介作用，母亲的问题关注反应在母亲的情绪教导和儿童的敏感合作之间起中介作用，母亲的苦恼反应在母亲的情绪教导、情绪摒除和儿童的敏感合作、害羞焦虑之间起中介作用。     

学前儿童迷走神经活动与情绪反应、情绪调节及冲动性的关系

Porges的多迷走神经理论提出迷走神经活动(vagal activity)与儿童的情绪及社会行为密切联系,已有研究探讨了儿童迷走神经活动与儿童的情绪反应及调节的关系,但研究结论不够清晰,需要进一步研究澄清。本研究选取93名4-6岁学前儿童被试,运用生理测量手段与呼吸性窦性心律不齐(respiratory sinus arrhythmia,RSA)分析的方法,采用父母报告的学前儿童情绪反应强度、情绪调节能力、冲动性为结果变量,进一步探讨儿童迷走神经活动(以基线RSA、RSA撤出、RSA恢复为指标)与情绪反应、情绪调节及冲动性的关系。研究发现:(1)基线RSA与儿童情绪反应强度显著负相关,与儿童情绪调节能力显著正相关,基线RSA是儿童情绪反应强度显著负向预测因子,是儿童情绪调节能力的显著正向预测因子;(2)RSA撤出、RSA恢复性与儿童冲动性显著负相关,是儿童冲动性显著负向预测因子。研究结果支持了Porges的多迷走神经理论,表明迷走神经活动与儿童情绪反应、情绪调节及冲动性密切联系。     

儿童早期亲子间情绪谈话的影响因素

作为父母情绪社会化的一种重要途径,亲子间有关情绪的谈话对儿童个性和社会性的发展意义重大。研究发现,包括文化、种族、社会经济地位在内的外部社会环境,儿童的年龄、性别和依恋等特点,以及父母的依恋、养育观念和心理健康状况等因素,都会对父母与儿童之间有关情绪的谈话产生影响。未来亲子间有关情绪的谈话研究应更多考虑儿童长远发展的社会文化适应性视角,加强对非言语信息、亲子间交互回应行为的分析,拓展儿童中期和青春期的探讨,并进一步细化各项研究指标的差异水平、考虑中介因素的作用。     

母亲元情绪理念与儿童情绪调节能力发展的关系：母亲情绪调节的中介作用

以540名小学一、三、五年级儿童的母亲为对象,采用回归分析和路径分析技术,考察了母亲元情绪理念及其情绪调节对儿童情绪调节能力发展的预测作用及其机制。结果表明：（1）母亲情绪教导和情绪紊乱理念对儿童情绪稳定性的发展具有直接预测作用,且以其高冲动性为中介对儿童情绪稳定性的发展具有间接预测作用;（2）母亲情绪教导理念对儿童情绪调节性的发展具有直接预测作用,且以其情绪调节策略缺乏为中介对儿童情绪调节性的发展具有间接预测作用。因此,母亲情绪教导理念有助于其不良情绪的控制和更加灵活多样的情绪调节策略,而对自身不良情绪的有效控制和更灵活的情绪应对策略,将有助于促进其孩子情绪调节能力的发展。     

父母情绪调节困难对流动儿童对立违抗症状的影响:亲子冲突解决方式和儿童情绪调节的作用

本研究以来自北京10所小学的369名有对立违抗(Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ODD)症状的流动儿童及父母、349名无ODD症状的对照组流动儿童及父母为被试进行了问卷施测,探究了父母情绪调节困难对流动儿童对立违抗症状的影响,并进一步探讨了亲子冲突解决方式和儿童情绪调节(情绪调节与情绪消极和不稳)在其中所起的作用。经过分析发现:(1)ODD症状流动儿童的父母情绪调节、亲子冲突解决方式、儿童情绪调节显著差于对照组儿童;(2)总体上,父母情绪调节困难、亲子冲突解决方式和儿童ODD症状之间两两相关显著,而儿童情绪调节与这几个变量相关不显著;(3)父母情绪调节困难能显著正向预测流动儿童ODD症状,并进一步通过亲子冲突解决方式对流动儿童ODD症状产生影响;(4)儿童情绪调节(儿童情绪调节与儿童情绪消极和不稳)仅在父母情绪调节困难对儿童ODD症状的直接影响中起着显著的调节作用,对亲子冲突解决方式所起的中介作用并无调节作用。在对有ODD症状的流动儿童进行干预时,不仅要培养儿童自身的情绪调节能力,也应提升父母的情绪调节能力并改善亲子冲突解决方式。     

儿童情绪表达规则认知能力研究述评

情绪表达规则认知能力是儿童社会化过程中的一项重要发展任务,直接影响儿童社会交往能力和情绪情感的健康发展.研究首先对情绪表达规则的概念进行了界定,然后从研究内容和影响因素两个方面分析了该领域的研究现状.最后,从研究对象,内容和方法三个维度探讨了情绪表达规则研究本土化问题.     

父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为:迷走神经的调节作用

探讨父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为的关系以及青少年自身迷走神经功能对两者关系的影响。采用“心算任务范式”及问卷法, 对224名青少年及其父母进行测量与调查。结果发现:(1) 母亲情绪教导理念负向预测青少年内外化问题行为, 母亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年内外化问题行为, 母亲情绪不干涉理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为; 父亲情绪教导理念负向预测青少年内化问题行为, 父亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为。(2) 当青少年迷走张力较低时, 母亲情绪不干涉理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为; 当青少年迷走抑制较低时, 母亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年内化、外化问题行为, 父亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为。综上, 父母元情绪理念能够预测青少年问题行为, 且父母元情绪理念对青少年问题行为影响存在差异。同时, 迷走神经功能对父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为的关系具有一定调节作用。     

Reducing Parent Distress and Increasing Parent Coping-Promoting Behavior During Children's Medical Procedure

The study investigated whether involving parents in their child's cognitive-behavioral intervention would effectively reduce parent distress during their child's medical procedure. Parents participating with their 3- to 7-year-old children prior to a voiding cystourethrogram were randomly assigned to an intervention (N = 20) or a standard care (N = 20) condition. The intervention included provision of information, coping skills training, and parent coaching. Parents participating in the intervention had a significant reduction in anxiety following the intervention relative to parents in standard care. Trained parents displayed fewer distress-promoting and more coping-promoting behaviors during the procedure, even though parents in both conditions reported similar levels of anxiety during the procedure. Involving parents in children's interventions is crucial to reduce parent distress and prepare parents to assist their child during the medical procedure.     

Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy in Families with Conduct-Problem Children: Links with Peer Relations

We addressed the question of whether mothers of conduct-problem (CP) children differ from mothers of non-CP children in their awareness and coaching of emotion, and also examined whether mother's awareness and coaching of emotion is associated with better peer relations in CP children. Meta-emotion philosophy, assessed through audio taped interviews, and preschool children's peer relations, observed in same-sex dyadic interaction with a close friend, were investigated in families with CP and non-CP children. Results indicated that mothers of CP children were less aware of their own emotions and less coaching of their children's emotions than mothers of non-CP children. Moderation analyses revealed that children's level of aggression moderated the relationship between mother's meta-emotion and children's peer play. For both aggressive and nonaggressive children, higher levels of mother awareness and coaching of emotion was associated with more positive and less negative peer play, although effects were stronger for families with nonaggressive children. These data suggest that both aggressive and nonaggressive children can benefit when parents are more aware and coaching of emotion. Implications for the development of an intervention program aimed at improving parental awareness and coaching of emotion is discussed.     

母亲元情绪理念与学前儿童社会适应的相互作用关系

采用追踪设计对438名学前儿童母亲进行问卷调查研究,主要探讨了母亲元情绪理念与学前儿童社会适应的相互作用关系。交叉滞后分析结果表明：（1）相邻两次测量的母亲各元情绪理念之间,社会适应各指标之间均具有中等程度的稳定性;（2）同一时间点的母亲各元情绪理念与儿童社会适应各指标之间均显著相关;（3）母亲元情绪理念与儿童社会适应之间部分存在着相互作用关系：控制了变量自身的连续性后,前测的母亲情绪教导显著正向预测后测的儿童敏感合作;前测的母亲情绪不干涉显著正向预测后测的儿童愤怒攻击、焦虑退缩行为;反过来,前测的儿童敏感合作能正向预测后测的母亲情绪教导,显著负向预测情绪不干涉、情绪摒除和情绪紊乱;前测的焦虑退缩能显著正向预测后测的母亲情绪摒除和情绪紊乱。     

Parents' attitudes and expectations regarding science education: comparisons among American, Chinese-American, and Chinese families

This study examined the differences in attitudes toward science education among American, Chinese-American, and Chinese parents and students. Parents' expectations for their high school children's science performance were also compared among the three cultural groups. It was found that both Chinese parents and students had more positive attitudes toward science education than did their American counterparts. Chinese parents placed greater emphasis on self-improvement, set higher standards, and more often helped their children to learn science than did American parents. The attitudes of the Chinese-Americans appeared to show the influences of both their Chinese heritage and American culture. Overall, a high positive correlation was found between parents' and students' attitudes toward science education.     

European American and Chinese parents' responses to children's success and failure: implications for children's responses

The authors examined cultural differences in parents' responses to their children's performance. In Study 1 (N = 421), Chinese 5th graders reported that their parents de-emphasized their academic success and emphasized their academic failure, whereas their American counterparts reported that their parents did the opposite. This partially accounted for Chinese (vs. American) children responding less positively to success and more negatively to failure. In Study 2 (N = 128), Chinese and American mothers' responses to their 4th and 5th graders' performance were observed in the laboratory. The cultural differences in children's reports of parents' responses documented in Study 1 were replicated; mothers' responses were also associated with children's subsequent performance. In addition, Chinese mothers were more involved than were American mothers, but their affect was similar. Taken together, the results suggest that parents' responses to children's performance may be a channel for cultural transmission and perpetuation of responses to performance.     

Children's capacity to agree to psychological research: knowledge of risks and benefits and voluntariness

A series of studies investigated the capacity of children between the ages of 7 and 12 to give free and informed consent to participation in psychological research. Children were reasonably accurate in describing the purpose of studies, but many did not understand the possible benefits or especially the possible risks of participating. In several studies children's consent was not affected by the knowledge that their parents had given their permission or by the parents saying that they would not be upset if the children refused. In contrast, other studies found that children were much more likely to stop their participation if the experimenter said explicitly that she would not be upset if they stopped. We suggest that experimenters should pay more attention to describing the possible risks and benefits of participation in research, and that they should also make it clearer to children that they are free to stop once they have begun.     

Research on psychotherapy with children and adolescents: An overview of evolving trends and current issues

We present a broad overview of research on psychotherapy with children and adolescents, with a focus on dimensions along which progress has been made over the past 35 years. Research in this area has been increasingly characterized by the utilization of a greater variety of and more focused and better specified interventions, with increasingly homogenous samples of clients or patients, using methodologically more stringent approaches. The general consensus in the field is that psychotherapy is effective with younger age groups, as compared to no treatment. However, such a conclusion has to be qualified because of the dearth of studies on clinically referred youths, traditional therapies, and modes of treatment other than individual therapy. Several other issues also require further attention in research, including the need for more comprehensive or novel conceptualizations of juvenile-onset psychopathology to inform treatment efforts. Consideration also should be given to having parents more consistently involved in their children's therapy, integrating the developmental literature and the design of new interventions, and developing and testing therapies for youths with special needs.A previous version of this article was delivered at the workshop Psychosocial Treatment Research of Child and Adolescent Disorders, NIMH, Rockville, Maryland, October 19–20, 1992.Preparation of this article was supported in part by grant MH33990 from the National Institute of Mental Health, HHS.     

Social Validity of a Training and Coaching Program for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder on a Waiting List for Early Behavioral Intervention

Due to limited public resources, many children with autism spectrum disorder and their families must wait several months, if not years, to access early behavioral intervention (EBI) services. Service providers must thus develop alternative support models to assist families placed on waiting lists. The present study assessed the social validity of one such initiative, a training and coaching program for parents whose children had been put on a waiting list for EBI services. This program consisted of group training sessions on strategies to cope with their child’s disorder based on applied behavioral analysis and on one-hour, weekly follow-up meetings to support parents’ interventions with their child over the course of 12 months. Social validity was assessed through parental satisfaction with this program and their perception of its effects on themselves, the family, the child, and parental stress. The 94 participants were generally satisfied with the program overall, although they wished for more frequent and intensive interventions. They reported that the program had positive effects on their psychological well-being, their family’s quality of life, and their child’s behavior. However, parenting stress levels were found to have increased over the 12-month period. These results demonstrate that training and individually supporting parents can be beneficial for families of children with ASD who cannot have access to early behavioral intervention immediately upon receiving a diagnosis. Importantly, however, these lower-cost, parent-focused programs cannot be considered a substitute for more intensive and children-driven services.     

Do Children Behave Better When Parents’ Emotion Coaching Practices are Stimulated? A Micro-Trial Study

The links between parents’ emotion regulation practices and children’s behavioral outcomes are well established. The aim of the current study designed as a randomized micro-trial was to test experimentally if and to what extent stimulating parents’ emotion coaching practices improves preschoolers’ behavioral outcomes, i.e. positive affect, irritability, non-compliance, persistence and enthusiasm. In line with this objective, the emotion coaching practices of parents of 4-to-5-year-old children were stimulated in a brief 15-min lab session. Immediately afterwards, parents and children were observed during a free-play session and frustration laboratory tasks designed to elicit negative emotions in children. The results indicated that, compared to the control group, parents whose emotion coaching practices had been stimulated displayed higher positive affect and were more emotionally sensitive during free play. Positive behaviors persisted in frustration tasks; parents were more behaviorally and emotionally responsive towards their children. In turn, children of these parents displayed higher persistence and enthusiasm but only when they had to deal with negative emotional arousal during frustration tasks. Mediation analyses also confirmed that the influence of the stimulation of parents’ emotion coaching practices on children’s outcomes, i.e. persistence and enthusiasm, was mediated by the parents’ behavior.