Relations among mothers' expressivity, children's effortful control, and their problem behaviors: a four-year longitudinal study

Longitudinal relations between mothers' expressivity, children's effortful control, and their problem behaviors were examined when children (N = 181) were 6.5-10 years old (T2) and again 2 (T3) and 4 (T4) years later. Mothers reported on their expression of positive and negative dominant emotion. Mothers and teachers reported on children's effortful control and externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. In structural equation models, variables exhibited consistency over time. Further, the relation between mothers' expressivity (positive minus negative dominant emotion) at T2 and children's externalizing problems at T4 was mediated by T3 effortful control. The same process of mediation was significant for teacher- but not mother-reported internalizing problems. The results provide one explanation for how emotion-related socializing behaviors influence children's problem behaviors.     

The relations of problem behavior status to children's negative emotionality, effortful control, and impulsivity: concurrent relations and prediction of change

The relations of children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors to their concurrent regulation, impulsivity (reactive undercontrol), anger, sadness, and fearfulness and these aspects of functioning 2 years prior were examined. Parents and teachers completed measures of children's (N = 185; ages 6 through 9 years) adjustment, negative emotionality, regulation, and behavior control; behavioral measures of regulation also were obtained. In general, both internalizing and externalizing problems were associated with negative emotionality. Externalizers were low in effortful regulation and high in impulsivity, whereas internalizers, compared with nondisordered children, were low in impulsivity but not effortful control. Moreover, indices of negative emotionality, regulation, and impulsivity with the level of the same variables 2 years before controlled predicted stability versus change in problem behavior status.     

父母婚姻质量与儿童行为问题的追踪研究：儿童努力控制的调节作用

本研究采用母亲报告法,对474名学前儿童进行了为期一年的追踪研究,考察完整家庭中父母婚姻质量对儿童行为问题的影响,以及儿童努力控制的调节作用。结果表明:(1) 父母婚姻质量对学前儿童的外显和内隐行为问题均有即时的负向预测作用;(2) 儿童的努力控制对其当前、后期的外显和内隐行为问题均有负向预测作用;(3) 第一年儿童的努力控制对父母婚姻质量与儿童行为问题之间关系的调节作用成立。     

睡眠时间参数对学前儿童问题行为的影响:消极情绪性的调节作用

本研究以338名学前儿童为被试,采用母亲报告法探究了学前儿童睡眠时间与问题行为之间的关系,以及儿童消极情绪性的调节作用。结果发现：（1）睡眠总时长对儿童内化和外化问题行为的主效应显著,而睡眠总时长与消极情绪性对儿童内化和外化问题行为的交互作用不显著;（2）夜间睡眠比对儿童内化问题行为的主效应显著,对儿童外化问题行为的主效应不显著;夜间睡眠比与消极情绪性对儿童内化问题行为的交互作用显著,即对高消极情绪性的儿童,夜间睡眠比能够显著负向预测其内化问题行为,而对低消极情绪性的儿童,夜间睡眠比对其内化问题行为的预测并不显著;夜间睡眠比与消极情绪性对儿童外化问题行为的交互作用不显著。     

Prediction of children's empathy-related responding from their effortful control and parents' expressivity

In this study, the linear and interactive relations of children's effortful control and parents' emotional expressivity to children's empathy-related responses were examined. Participants were 214 children, 4.5 to 8 years old. Children's effortful control was negatively related to their personal distress and was positively related to their sympathy. Parents' positive expressivity was marginally negatively related to children's personal distress and was marginally positively related to children's dispositional sympathy. Parents' negative expressivity was positively related to children's personal distress, but primarily at high levels of children's effortful control. Moreover, parents' negative expressivity was negatively related to children's situational sympathy at low levels of effortful control but was positively related to children's dispositional sympathy at high levels of effortful control. There were also quadratic relations between the measures of parents' expressivity and children's empathy-related responses.     

Etiology of preschool behavior problems: Contributions of temperament attributes in early childhood

The present study was conducted to examine the contributions of early appearing temperament attributes to toddler and preschool‐age behavior problems. High levels of negative emotionality and low levels of effortful control were linked to both externalizing and internalizing difficulties. All fine‐grained dimensions of negative affect were concurrently associated with internalizing problems whereas relations between components of negative affect and externalizing were observed only for frustration, sadness, and low falling reactivity. Higher surgency was associated with increased risk for externalizing behaviors whereas low surgency increased the likelihood of internalizing problems. Trait‐by‐trait moderation occurred, such that negative emotionality was most closely related to behavior problems when orienting/regulatory capacity or effortful control was low or when infant surgency was high. Results of this study have implications for theory linking temperament and psychopathology, and clinical applications utilizing temperament assessment to prevent behavior problems.     

Reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems in children: the mediating role of effortful control across sex and age

This study examines the mediating role of effortful control between reactive temperament traits (negative affectivity and extraversion) and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems. The sample was composed of 424 non-clinical children from 3 to 6 years of age (60% male). Use of a structural equation model revealed effortful control-mediated relations between reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems. Nevertheless, uniquely and directly, negative affect predicted externalizing problems and extraversion predicted internalizing problems. Assessment of invariance by children’s sex showed that the mediating role of effortful control tends to be stronger for externalizing problems in boys than in girls. Results showed no significant age differences. According to these results, effortful control as a method of self-regulation seems to be an essential process through which reactive temperament traits affect a child’s psychological adjustment.     

The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's resiliency and social functioning

The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's (mean age = 137 months) resiliency, social status, and social competence were examined concurrently (Time 3) and over time. Adults reported on the constructs, and a behavioral measure of persistence was obtained. At Time 3, resiliency mediated the unique relations of both effortful and reactive control to social status, and effortful control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior. Negative emotionality moderated the relations of ego and effortful control to socially appropriate behavior. When levels of the variables 2 years prior were accounted for, all relations held at Time 3 except that effortful control did not predict resiliency (even though it was the stronger predictor at Time 3) and ego control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior.     

Parenting style as a mediator between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior in early childhood

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, & P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.     

Preschoolers' effortful control and negative emotionality, immediate reactions to disappointment, and quality of social functioning

Relations among effortful control/low negative emotionality, immediate reactions in a situation that usually calls for the masking of disappointment (i.e., the use of display rules), and social competence/adjustment were investigated for 78 preschool children (mean age=4.87 years). Parents, teachers, and peers rated children on negative emotionality and/or effortful control as well as on social competence/adjustment. Children who were rated by parents and teachers as high on effortful control/low on negative emotionality expressed fewer immediate verbal/gestural indicators of disappointment in the presence of an unfamiliar adult and were perceived by their parents, teachers, and peers as socially competent and well adjusted. The pattern of findings was consistent with the view that children's immediate verbal/gestural reactions to disappointment partially mediated the relations between effortful control (as reported by parents) and social competence/adjustment.     

Chinese children's effortful control and dispositional anger/frustration: relations to parenting styles and children's social functioning

Relations among authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles, children's effortful control and dispositional anger/frustration, and children's social functioning were examined for 425 first and second graders (7-10 years old) in Beijing, China. Parents reported on parenting styles; parents and teachers rated children's effortful control, anger/frustration, externalizing problems, and socially appropriate behaviors: and peers rated aggression and leadership/sociability. High effortful control and low dispositional anger/frustration uniquely predicted Chinese children's high social functioning, and the relation of anger/frustration to social functioning was moderated by effortful control. Authoritarian parenting was associated with children's low effortful control and high dispositional anger/frustration, which (especially effortful control) mediated the negative relation between authoritarian parenting and children's social functioning. Effortful control weakly mediated the positive relation of authoritative parenting to social functioning.     

母亲抑郁和惩罚对儿童早期问题行为的影响及父亲的保护作用

儿童早期是母亲消极情绪和行为的易感期,母亲抑郁和消极的教养行为可能导致儿童早期多方面的发展问题,而父亲的积极教养则可能对孩子的健康发展起到保护作用。本研究以184名学前儿童的父亲和母亲为被试,考察母亲抑郁情绪和惩罚行为对儿童问题行为的影响及作用机制,以及父亲积极鼓励在其中的调节作用。结果发现:(1)母亲抑郁显著预测儿童的内向问题行为,母亲惩罚显著预测内向和外向问题行为;(2)母亲抑郁完全通过其惩罚行为影响儿童的外向问题行为,部分通过惩罚影响儿童的内向问题行为;(3)父亲积极鼓励显著调节母亲抑郁对外向问题行为的影响,边缘显著调节母亲抑郁对内向问题行为的影响;父亲积极鼓励对母亲惩罚与内、外向问题行为之间的关系的调节不显著,表明积极的父亲鼓励可以缓冲母亲抑郁对儿童问题行为的影响。     

Differential Susceptibility to Parenting in Middle Childhood: Do Impulsivity,Effortful Control and Negative Emotionality Indicate Susceptibility or Vulnerability?

In this longitudinal study, we examined whether children differ in their susceptibility to harsh and responsive parenting as reflected in their externalizing and prosocial behaviour two years later. We focused on three potential susceptibility markers assessed during middle childhood: Negative emotionality, impulsivity, and effortful control. Participants were 120 Dutch children (6–11 years old; 54% girls). Parenting was assessed using both observations and self‐report questionnaires. Parental responsiveness predicted decreased externalizing behaviour two years later among children high on impulsivity (in case of observed responsiveness) or low on effortful control (in case of observed and self‐reported responsiveness) but not among children low on impulsivity or high on effortful control. Observed harsh parenting predicted decreased prosocial behaviour, especially among children with average or high negative emotionality. The findings support a diathesis–stress model more than they do a differential susceptibility model. High impulsivity seemed to be a vulnerability factor, predicting increased externalizing behaviour when parents lacked responsiveness. Also, high negative emotionality served as a vulnerability factor, predicting decreased prosocial behaviour when parents were harsh, while low negative emotionality served as a protective factor, buffering against decreased prosocial behaviour. Finally, low effortful control might operate as a vantage‐sensitivity factor, predicting decreased externalizing behaviour when parents were responsive. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal Behavior and Children's Early Emotion Regulation Skills Differentially Predict Development of Children's Reactive Control and Later Effortful Control

The role of maternal behavior and children's early emotion regulation skills in the development of children's reactive control, specifically behavioral impulsivity, and later effortful control was examined in a sample of 435 children. HLM analyses indicated significant growth in reactive control across the toddlerhood to early childhood period. Emotion regulation at age-2 positively predicted initial levels of children's reactive control abilities while maternal overcontrol/intrusiveness predicted lower levels of reactive control growth. Maternal behaviors at age-2 predicted children's effortful control abilities at age-5.5. Emotion regulation did not predict effortful control abilities. Maternal behavior and children's early emotion regulation skills may differentially facilitate the development of reactive and effortful control abilities.     

Mothers' emotional expressivity and children's behavior problems and social competence: mediation through children's regulation.

The relations between mothers' expressed positive and negative emotion and 55-79-month-olds' (76% European American) regulation, social competence, and adjustment were examined. Structural equation modeling was used to test the plausibility of the hypothesis that the effects of maternal expression of emotion on children's adjustment and social competence are mediated through children's dispositional regulation. Mothers' expressed emotions were assessed during interactions with their children and with maternal reports of emotions expressed in the family. Children's regulation, externalizing and internalizing problems. and social competence were rated by parents and teachers, and children's persistence was surreptitiously observed. There were unique effects of positive and negative maternal expressed emotion on children's regulation. and the relations of maternal expressed emotion to children's externalizing problem behaviors and social competence were mediated through children's regulation. Alternative models of causation were tested; a child-directed model in which maternal expressivity mediated the effects of child regulation on child outcomes did not fit the data as well.     

Longitudinal relations among exuberance,externalizing behaviors,and attentional bias to reward: the mediating role of effortful control

The present study examined the associations between temperamental exuberance during toddlerhood (20 months), attention bias towards reward at the end of kindergarten (76 months), and externalizing behaviors across the kindergarten year. Moreover, we examined the role of effortful control at 48 months on the relation between early exuberance and attention bias. Attention bias towards reward was positively predicted by exuberance, negatively predicted by effortful control, and positively related to externalizing problems. Finally, the longitudinal path between exuberance and attention bias to reward was mediated by effortful control – such that higher toddler exuberance led to increased attention bias towards reward by way of lower effortful control. These results extend the attention bias and socioemotional functioning literature and have implications for the identification of children at risk for behavioral problems.     

The relations of parental emotional expressivity with quality of Indonesian children's social functioning

In Western societies, parental expression of positive emotion has been positively related to the quality of children's social functioning, whereas their expression of negative emotion has been negatively or inconsistently related. The relations of parental expressivity to 3rd-grade Indonesian children's dispositional regulation, socially appropriate behavior, popularity, and sympathy were examined. Parents, teachers, and peers reported on children's social functioning and regulation, and parents (mostly mothers) reported on their own expression of emotion in the family. Generally, parental expression of negative emotion was negatively related to the quality of children's social functioning, and regression analyses indicated that the relations of parental negative expressivity to children's popularity and externalizing behaviors might be indirect through their effects on children's regulation. Unexpectedly, parental expression of positive emotion was unrelated to children's social functioning.     

流动儿童的歧视知觉与学校适应:一项追踪研究

采用追踪研究考察了流动儿童的歧视知觉与学校适应之间的双向关系及其是否存在性别差异。分别在初一和初二上学期,邀请流动儿童（男孩157人,女孩124人;M_年龄=13.09岁,SD=1.13）填写歧视知觉问卷,邀请父母及老师评价流动儿童在学校的适应情况。结果表明,男孩知觉到的歧视和学校适应问题显著高于女孩。流动儿童第一年知觉到的歧视正向预测其第二年的学校适应问题,但儿童第一年的学校适应问题不能预测其第二年的歧视知觉,二者之间的关系不存在性别差异。本研究表明,歧视体验和知觉对流动儿童的学校适应具有单向的、消极的影响。     

The relation of children's everyday nonsocial peer play behavior to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning

The relations of children's nonsocial behavior to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning were examined in a short-term longitudinal study. Parents (primarily mothers) and teachers rated children's effortful regulation, emotionality, asocial behaviors, problem behaviors, and social acceptance, and children's nonsocial play behaviors were observed for two semesters. Peers also rated likability. Children's observed reticent activities were related to adults' ratings of high regulation, low externalizing problems, and high asocial behavior, as well as to low anger and low positive emotion. On the other hand, solitary play was associated with low positive emotion and low regulation over time and with high asocial behavior and high peer exclusion. Peer rejection mediated the relation of internalizing emotions (anxiety, low positive emotion) and regulation to solitary play later in the school year, and asocial play mediated the relation of internalizing emotions to both solitary and reticent play behavior.     

Vocabularies

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, &; P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.