Infants in group care: their interactions with professional caregivers and parents across the second year of life

Seventy children were observed during structured play with their primary professional caregivers and three peers in the child care center and with their primary caregiving parents at home at 15 and 23 months of age. The same structured play tasks were used in the two settings and the quality of the children's interactions with caregivers and parents was rated using the same 7-point scales. As expected, the quality of caregiver–child interactions significantly increased between 15 and 23 months. At 15 months, the quality of caregiver–child interactions was significantly lower than the quality of parent–child interactions, particularly with regard to caregiver supportive presence and respect for the child's autonomy. At 23 months, however, the quality of caregiver–child interactions was no longer lower and in some respects even higher than the quality of parent–child interactions. At both ages, the children expressed more negativity towards their parents than towards their professional caregivers.     

Parent-infant interaction: a growth model approach

The aim of this study is to compare the interaction of fathers and mothers with their 10–12 months old infants (n = 97; parental sensitivity and mood, and infant mood) during five structured contiguous play segments, and to examine the utility of individual growth modeling. Conventional comparison of means across play-segments showed that parents were equally responsive, but mothers were happier than fathers, and infants were equally happy during interaction with both parents. Sensitivity and mood were more strongly related for mothers than for fathers. Uni- and multivariate growth models revealed fine-grained patterns not seen in conventional analysis: (a) parental and infant mood decreased across play more for mothers than for fathers, (b) parental sensitivity in one play-segment predicted parental mood and infant mood in the next segment, (c) change in infants’ mood was related to change in sensitivity in mothers, and to change in mood in fathers, and (d) mothers’ sensitive interaction with the infant was predicted by family socio-demographic background.     

The impact of parents, child care providers, teachers, and peers on early externalizing trajectories

This study utilized growth mixture modeling to examine the impact of parents, child care providers, teachers, and peers on the prediction of distinct developmental patterns of classroom externalizing behavior in elementary school. Among 241 children, three groups were identified. 84.6% of children exhibited consistently low externalizing behavior. The externalizing behavior of the Chronic High group (5.8%) remained elevated throughout elementary school; it increased over time in the Low Increasing group (9.5%). Negative relationships with teachers and peers in the kindergarten classroom increased the odds of having chronically high externalizing behavior. Teacher–child conflict increased the likelihood of a developmental pattern of escalating externalizing behavior. Boys were overrepresented in the behaviorally risky groups, and no sex differences in trajectory types were found.     

Learning from explaining: does it matter if mom is listening?

The goal of the current study was to examine whether explaining to another person improves learning and transfer. In the study, 4- and 5-year-olds (N=54) solved multiple classification problems, received accuracy feedback, and were prompted to explain the correct solutions to their moms, to explain the correct solutions to themselves, or to repeat the solutions. Generating explanations (to selves or moms) improved problem-solving accuracy at posttest, and explaining to mom led to the greatest problem-solving transfer. The study indicates that explanation prompts can facilitate transfer in children as young as 5 years and reveals that it matters if mom is listening.     

Parents’ differential susceptibility to the effects of marital quality on sensitivity across the first year

The current investigation examined the differential susceptibility of parents to the effects of marital quality on changes in parenting. We predicted that parents who were high on the personality constructs Negative Affect and Constraint would be more susceptible to the effects of marital quality on their level of sensitivity. Sensitivity was assessed at 3.5 and 13 months for both mothers and fathers during a triadic interaction. Consistent with the differential susceptibility theory, results suggested that when mothers were high on Negative Affect and when fathers were high on Constraint, their marital quality was associated with changes in sensitivity. This investigation suggests that personality factors may create “vulnerabilities” in parents that make them differentially susceptible to the effects of the family environment on parenting.     

Parent–child interactions and relational aggression in peer relationships

The major aim of this review is to propose new ways of thinking about the role of parents in the development and course of children’s relationally aggressive behavior. An important theoretical framework from which to start thinking about linkages between parenting and relational aggression is provided by attachment theory. Attachment theory proposes that early family experiences are an important basis for the development of later peer relationships. Recent studies are only beginning to suggest possible linkages between children’s parental attachment and relational aggression. One possible reason for the scant research is that theoreticians studying these constructs have not yet developed a conceptual framework combining the two, but rather have focused on different characteristics of different interpersonal contexts. Based on the premise that both relational aggression and attachment are relational constructs and given the already established correlations between insecure attachment and physical aggression, this paper will attempt to devise a heuristic model that may serve as an aid to discover links between parent–child interactions, attachment, and relational aggression. Finally, implications for future studies of relational aggression are discussed.     

Patterns in parent–child conversations about animals at a marine science center

Parent-child conversations are a potential source of children's developing understanding of the biological domain. We investigated patterns in parent-child conversations that may inform children about biological domain boundaries. At a marine science center exhibit, we compared parent-child talk about typical sea animals with faces (fish) with talk about atypical sea animals without faces (e.g., sea stars), in particular with respect to anthropomorphic talk and use of animate pronouns. Parents talked about psychological states and used animate pronouns more often for typical than atypical animals; children showed a similar pattern for pronouns but did not differ in their property talk between typical and atypical animals. It was clearly parents who initiated the use of psychological properties and animate pronouns for typical animals. These patterns suggest that parent-child conversations draw boundaries between typical and atypical animals and could support children's inclination to anthropomorphize.     

Parent–offspring conflict over mating: The case of short-term mating strategies

Individuals solve problems of reproduction by engaging in long-term and short-term mating. Short-term mating strategies have both costs and benefits, but their costs are higher for parents than they are for offspring. On this basis, three hypotheses are formulated: first, individuals consider short-term mating strategies more acceptable for themselves than for their offspring. Second, parents consider short-term mating strategies less acceptable for their daughters than for their sons. Finally, men consider short-term mating strategies more acceptable than women. To test these hypotheses a within-participants design is employed, whereby sexually mature individuals with children are asked to rate the acceptability of a set of short-term mating strategies for themselves and for their offspring. Evidence from a sample of 295 British parents provides support for all three hypotheses.     

Parent–child interaction: Does parental language matter?

Although parental language and behaviour have been widely investigated, few studies have examined their unique and interactive contribution to the parent–child relationship. The current study explores how parental behaviour (sensitivity and non‐intrusiveness) and the use of parental language (exploring and control languages) correlate with parent–child dyadic mutuality. Specifically, we investigated the following questions: (1) ‘Is parental language associated with parent–child dyadic mutuality above and beyond parental behaviour?’ (2) ‘Does parental language moderate the links between parental behaviour and the parent–child dyadic mutuality?’ (3) ‘Do these differences vary between mothers and fathers?’ The sample included 65 children (M_age = 1.97 years, SD = 0.86) and their parents. We observed parental behaviour, parent–child dyadic mutuality, and the type of parental language used during videotaped in‐home observations. The results indicated that parental language and behaviours are distinct components of the parent–child interaction. Parents who used higher levels of exploring language showed higher levels of parent–child dyadic mutuality, even when accounting for parental behaviour. Use of controlling language, however, was not found to be related to the parent–child dyadic mutuality. Different moderation models were found for mothers and fathers. These results highlight the need to distinguish parental language and behaviour when assessing their contribution to the parent–child relationship.