Development in reading and math in children from different SES backgrounds: the moderating role of child temperament

Socioeconomic risks (SES risks) are robust risk factors influencing children's academic development. However, it is unclear whether the effects of SES on academic development operate universally in all children equally or whether they vary differentially in children with particular characteristics. The current study aimed to explore children's temperament as protective or risk factors that potentially moderate the associations between SES risks and academic development. Specifically, latent growth modeling (LGM) was used in two longitudinal datasets with a total of 2236 children to examine how family SES risks and children's temperament interactively predicted the development of reading and math from middle childhood to early adolescence. Results showed that low negative affect, high effortful control, and low surgency mitigated the negative associations between SES risks and both reading and math development in this developmental period. These findings underline the heterogeneous nature of the negative associations between SES risks and academic development and highlight the importance of the interplay between biological and social factors on individual differences in development.     

Inhibitory control and set shifting describe different pathways from behavioral inhibition to socially anxious behavior

Individuals with a behaviorally inhibited (BI) temperament are more likely to develop social anxiety. However, the mechanisms by which socially anxious behavior emerges from BI are unclear. Variation in different forms of top‐down control, specifically executive functions (EF), may play distinct roles and characterize differential pathways to social anxiety. Here 291 children were assessed for BI in toddlerhood (ages 2 and 3), parent‐reported inhibitory control and set shifting during middle childhood (age 7), and multidimensional assessment of socially anxious behavior completed during late childhood and early adolescence (ages 9 and 12). Structural equation modeling revealed that early variation in BI predicted the development of socially anxious behavior through either higher levels of parent‐reported inhibitory control or lower levels of parent‐reported set shifting. These data reinforce the notion that top‐down control does not uniformly influence relations between temperament and socially anxious behavior. These data suggest novel approaches to thinking about the role of EFs and social anxiety outcomes as children approach adolescence.     

Social competence in children of alcoholic parents over time

In the current study, the authors tested the hypothesis that children of alcoholic parents (COAs) show deficits in social competence that begin in early childhood and escalate through middle adolescence. Teachers, parents, and children reported on the social competence of COAs and matched controls in a community sample assessed from ages 6 to 15. Hierarchical linear growth models revealed different patterns of change in social competence across development as a function of the reporter of various indicators of competence. Moreover, female COAs showed deficits in social competence in early childhood that receded in adolescence and that varied across subtypes of parent alcoholism. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of social competence in children, and at-risk children in particular, are discussed.     

稳定性与可变性：西方儿童青少年“大五”人格发展研究概述

弄清儿童青少年人格发展特点,可为人格发展与教育工作提供参考。文章梳理了近30年西方儿童青少年“大五”人格发展的研究进展,区分了人格发展的两种主要表现形式,并分别从这两方面总结出儿童青少年“大五”人格结构的稳定性、人格特质平均水平的可变性。最后基于现有研究存在的问题,结合当前时代特点,提出未来研究方向。     

Attention Biases to Threat Link Behavioral Inhibition to Social Withdrawal over Time in Very Young Children

Behaviorally inhibited children display a temperamental profile characterized by social withdrawal and anxious behaviors. Previous research, focused largely on adolescents, suggests that attention biases to threat may sustain high levels of behavioral inhibition (BI) over time, helping link early temperament to social outcomes. However, no prior studies examine the association between attention bias and BI before adolescence. The current study examined the interrelations among BI, attention biases to threat, and social withdrawal already manifest in early childhood. Children (N = 187, 83 Male, M _age  = 61.96 months) were characterized for BI in toddlerhood (24 & 36 months). At 5 years, they completed an attention bias task and concurrent social withdrawal was measured. As expected, BI in toddlerhood predicted high levels of social withdrawal in early childhood. However, this relation was moderated by attention bias. The BI-withdrawal association was only evident for children who displayed an attention bias toward threat. The data provide further support for models associating attention with socioemotional development and the later emergence of clinical anxiety.     

Childhood behavioral inhibition and the experience of social anxiety in American Indian adolescents

American Indian youth may be at increased risk for anxiety-related problems. Social anxiety is the most common form of anxiety experienced by adolescents, yet little research specific to American Indians has been conducted. Childhood temperament, especially behavioral inhibition (BI), has been identified as an important risk factor for social anxiety in other racial and ethnic groups. This study examined BI in relation to social anxiety in a cross-sectional community-based sample of 86 rural southeastern American Indian adolescents. Patterns of childhood BI suggested cultural variations in the way temperament relates to adolescent social anxiety. Specifically, nonsocially based fears in childhood were associated with social anxiety symptoms in adolescence, which is in contrast to previous findings in non American Indian samples that have suggested continuity between social inhibition in childhood and social anxiety in adolescence. It is recommended that major psychological risk factors, including temperament, be evaluated within the specific social and cultural context of the adolescent population of interest.     

How do Young Adults Remember their Childhood Social Status? A Retrospective Analysis of Peer-Rejection in Childhood and Adolescence,and Protective Factors Predictive of its Remission

In this retrospective study we investigated possible protective factors involved in the remission of childhood peer-rejection by investigation of how adults remember their childhood social status. This study aimed: (a) to investigate whether most children do, indeed, achieve improved social status in late adolescence or early adulthood, (b) whether this is true also for children experiencing peer-rejection in childhood, (c) to investigate potential protective factors which may predict improved status, and (d) to investigate the subjective recall of social status. We developed an index of social rejection, based on recalled severity of rejection and its duration. Respondents (n = 940) were also asked about the presence or absence of a series of potential protective factors during three periods in their lives: elementary school, secondary school, and post-secondary (compulsory military or national service). Most respondents, who reported poor social status during childhood, also reported a marked improvement in that status in late adolescence. Factors most common for respondents who underwent an improvement in social status are examined for respondents who self-reported both peer-acceptance and peer-rejection during childhood or adolescence. Respondents who reported severe peer-rejection were able to rely on fewer protective factors than their more accepted peers. The data, similar to previous research, stresses the need to focus on the salutary potential in the rejected childs family. Implications for practice in working with peer-rejected children are presented.     

Stability in Bullying and Victimization and its Association with Social Adjustment in Childhood and Adolescence

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations between stability in bullying and victimization, and social adjustment in childhood and adolescence. Participants were 189 girls and 328 boys who were studied in primary school and in secondary school. The mean age of the participants was 11.1 years in primary school and 14.1 years in secondary school. The measures consisted of peer reported social and personal characteristics. Children who bullied in childhood and adolescence were less liked and more disliked in childhood, and more aggressive and disruptive both in childhood and adolescence, than children who bullied only in childhood or adolescence. Children who bullied or who were victimized only in childhood did not differ largely in adolescence from the children that were never bullies or victims. Children who were victimized in adolescence closely resembled those who were victimized in childhood and adolescence in terms of being liked or disliked, being nominated as a friend, and shyness. The study stresses the need to distinguish between stable and transient bullies and victims.     

Residential mobility and the family context: A developmental approach

The goal of this study was to examine the links between residential mobility and the family context, whether these links varied across developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, or adolescence), and how they were associated with children's achievement and behavioral outcomes. Longitudinal data from a diverse sample of over 1000 U.S. children were used to explore family structure (marital and employment change), process (quality of the home and maternal sensitivity and depression), and residential mobility. Results of structural equation models indicated that associations between residential mobility and family structure and process varied across developmental periods, with significant links found for family process in early childhood and structure in middle childhood and adolescence. We found evidence of indirect associations between residential mobility and children's outcomes through family process in early childhood and of a direct association with internalizing behaviors in adolescence. We provide implications for programs and policies for residentially mobile children.     

Similarities and differences between western cultures: Toddler temperament and parent-child interactions in the United States (US) and Germany

Parents play a critical role in shaping social-emotional development, particularly in early childhood; however, children’s influence on their own development is equally important. Parent-child interactions, fundamental to secure attachment and social schemes, represent a critical area of social-emotional development subject to child effects associated with temperament. The present study explores these effects through a cross-cultural lens via comparisons of dyads from the United States (US) and Germany. Specifically, cross-cultural differences in toddler temperament were evaluated via the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ; Putnam et al., 2006), with cross-cultural variability in parent-child interactions examined as well, along with differences in child temperament effects on the quality of these interactions. Ratings of temperament were generally similar between the two cultures; however, US toddlers were rated higher in attention shifting, whereas German children were rated higher on soothability and perceptual sensitivity. Additionally, dyadic interactions in the US were rated as more stimulating and demonstrating greater partner engagement than those in Germany. Differential contributions of temperament to interaction quality and complexity were also observed. Higher ratings of toddler discomfort and perceptual sensitivity predicted more stimulating interactions overall in the US but not Germany. In contrast, higher ratings of toddler low-intensity pleasure predicted more stimulating interactions in Germany but not the US. Overall, the present study identifies many similarities between US and German toddlers and supports theories describing children as active agents in shaping their own development, in what appears to be a different manner across cultures.     

气质与童年早期的师生关系:家庭情感环境的作用

通过对118名幼儿的父母和教师间隔两年的追踪研究,考察了气质对童年早期师生关系的直接预测作用,以及气质与家庭情感环境在预测师生关系中的交互作用。结果发现:(1)控制先前的师生关系、性别、月龄、母子关系及家庭情感环境后,气质活动水平、节律性、趋避性对两年后的师生关系有显著的直接预测作用;(2)三种气质与家庭情感环境的交互作用对两次测量的师生关系也有显著的预测作用。这些发现同时支持了气质影响儿童发展的直接作用模型和交互作用模型。     

NATURE, NURTURE, AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT FROM 1 TO 16 YEARS:

Abstract— Children increasingly resemble their parents in cognitive abilities from infancy through adolescence Results obtained from a 20-year longitudinal adoption study of 245 adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents, as well as 245 matched nonadoptive (control) parents and offspring, show that this increasing resemblance is due to genetic factors Adopted children resemble their adaptive parents slightly in early childhood but not at all in middle childhood or adolescence. In contrast, during childhood and adolescence, adopted children become more like their biological parents, and to the same degree as children and parents in control families Although these results were strongest for general cognitive ability and verbal ability similar results were found for other specific cognitive abilities—spatial ability, speed of processing, and recognition memory. These findings indicate that within this population, genes that stably adolescence and that environmental factors that contribute to cognitive development are not correlated with parents' cognitive ability.     

Development of neural systems for processing social exclusion from childhood to adolescence

Adolescence is a period of development in which peer relationships become especially important. A computer-based game (Cyberball) has been used to explore the effects of social exclusion in adolescents and adults. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study used Cyberball to extend prior work to the cross-sectional study of younger children and adolescents (7 to 17 years), identifying age-related changes in the neural correlates of social exclusion across the important transition from middle childhood into adolescence. Additionally, a control task illustrated the specificity of these age-related changes for social exclusion as distinct from expectancy violation more generally. During exclusion, activation in and functional connectivity between ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and ventral anterior cingulate cortex increased with age. These effects were specific to social exclusion and did not exist for expectancy violation. Our results illustrate developmental changes from middle childhood through adolescence in both affective and regulatory brain regions during social exclusion.     

The Stability of Temperament from Early Childhood to Early Adolescence:A Multi‐method,Multi‐informant Examination

Temperament is a core aspect of children's psychological functioning and is assumed to be at least somewhat stable across childhood. However, little research has assessed the stability of temperament from early childhood to early adolescence. Moreover, few studies have examined the influence of measurement and analytic methods on the stability of early temperament over periods of more than a few years. We obtained laboratory observations and mother and father reports of temperamental negative and positive emotionality and effortful control from 559 three‐year‐olds. Approximately nine years later, children and both parents completed questionnaire measures of similar temperament constructs. Zero‐order correlations revealed greater within‐informant than cross‐informant stability. In addition, compared with parent reports, early childhood laboratory measures showed greater convergent and divergent validity with child, mother, and father reports at age 12. Finally, latent temperament variables at age 3 composed of laboratory and parent‐report measures and latent variables at age 12 composed of parent and child reports showed moderate stability. There was also a weak but significant association of early effortful control with later negative and positive emotionality. Results have implications for assessing temperament and knowledge of the stability of temperament across childhood. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

童年早期社会能力的发展：一个潜变量增长模型

对119名幼儿进行历时两年的三次追踪测试, 采用潜变量增长建模, 检验童年早期的社会能力是否呈线性增长, 并考察气质、性别、母亲受教育程度及其交互作用对社会能力发展水平与速度的预测作用。结果发现：(1)社会能力在两年中呈线性增长, 起始水平及发展速度均存在显著的个体差异; (2)女孩起始的社会能力水平高于男孩; 母亲受教育程度越高, 儿童起始的社会能力水平就越高; (3)气质节律性对社会能力增长速度的预测因儿童性别而异：节律性能够负向预测女孩社会能力的增长速度、正向预测男孩社会能力的增长速度。     

Mapping the Landscape of Personality in Childhood and Adolescence

From infancy, children vary in their typical emotions and behaviors, and by the middle of childhood, children have richly differentiated personalities. In this paper, I review the personality differences that youths exhibit from early childhood through adolescence, using a three-part taxonomy developed by (McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. American Psychologist, 2006; 61, 204–217). First, children exhibit a dispositional signature, including first temperament traits and later the Big Five personality traits, which show some consistency across situations and over time. Second, youths display characteristic adaptations that are more specific to particular life contexts; these include mental representations, strategies, and goals. Third, adolescents form personal narratives, stories about their lives that reflect and shape their identities. I describe the differences youths exhibit in these three domains and situate these differences in the context of overall development in childhood and adolescence. New work on youths’ personalities can serve as the foundation for future lifespan perspectives on personality development.     

Reciprocal Associations between Boys’ Externalizing Problems and Mothers’ Depressive Symptoms

Although much has been written about the utility of applying transactional models to the study of parenting practices, relatively few researchers have used such an approach to examine how children influence maternal well-being throughout their development. Using a sample of males from predominantly low-income families, the current study explored reciprocal relations between boys' overt disruptive behavior (boys' ages 5 to 10 years) and maternal depressive symptoms. We then examined this model with youth-reported antisocial behaviors (ASB) and maternal depressive symptoms when the boys were older, ages 10 to 15. In middle childhood, evidence was found for both maternal and child effects from boys' ages 5 to 6 using both maternal and alternative caregiver report of child aggressive behavior. In the early adolescence model, consistent maternal effects were found, and child effects were evident during the transition to adolescence (boys' ages 11 to 12). The findings are discussed in reference to reciprocal models of child development and prevention efforts to reduce both maternal depression and the prevalence of child antisocial behavior.     

Rebellious teens? Genetic and environmental influences on the social attitudes of adolescents

Genetic and environmental influences in social attitudes were investigated in adopted and nonadopted children (N = 654) and their biological and adoptive relatives in the Colorado Adoption Project. Conservatism and religious attitudes were measured in the children annually from ages 12 to 15 and in the parents during the 12-year-old visit. Multivariate genetic model fitting indicated that both conservatism and religious attitudes are strongly influenced by shared-family environmental factors throughout adolescence. In contrast to previous findings from twin studies, which suggest that genetic influence on social attitudes does not emerge until adulthood, the present study detected significant genetic influence in conservatism as early as age 12. There was no evidence of genetic influence, however, on religious attitudes during adolescence.     

Behavioral Inhibition and Anxiety: The Moderating Roles of Inhibitory Control and Attention Shifting

Behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament identified in early childhood, is associated with social reticence in childhood and an increased risk for anxiety problems in adolescence and adulthood. However, not all behaviorally inhibited children remain reticent or develop an anxiety disorder. One possible mechanism accounting for the variability in the developmental trajectories of BI is a child’s ability to successfully recruit cognitive processes involved in the regulation of negative reactivity. However, separate cognitive processes may differentially moderate the association between BI and later anxiety problems. The goal of the current study was to examine how two cognitive processes—attention shifting and inhibitory control—laboratory assessed at 48 months of age moderated the association between 24-month BI and anxiety symptoms in the preschool years. Results revealed that high levels of attention shifting decreased the risk for anxiety problems in children with high levels of BI, whereas high levels of inhibitory control increased this risk for anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that different cognitive processes may influence relative levels of risk or adaptation depending upon a child’s temperamental reactivity.     

From Parent to Child to Parent…: Paths In and Out of Problem Behavior

This study used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to examine relations between parenting, self-control and externalizing behavior from early childhood to mid-adolescence (N?=?956; 49.9 % male). Results indicated that maternal sensitivity, parental harshness and productive activity are related to externalizing problems but that patterns of relations change from early childhood to middle childhood to adolescence, with evidence suggesting that externalizing behavior influences parenting more than the reverse from middle childhood onward. Self-control measured during early adolescence partially mediated relations between maternal sensitivity and adolescent-reported externalizing behavior. Parental monitoring during adolescence was also related to externalizing behavior at age 15. Monitoring partially mediated the relation between externalizing behavior in early adolescence and externalizing at age 15.