Parenting behaviors of women who were sexually abused as children in their families of origin.

This research explored links between a childhood history of family sexual abuse and current parenting behaviors of mothers of school-age children, using observations of family interaction and interviews with the mothers. Videotaped family interaction tasks, analyzed with Benjamin's Structural Analysis of Social Behavior, showed that women who had been sexually abused in their childhood families were more self-focused, rather than child-focused, compared to nonabused women. In interviews, the women who had been abused gave strong evidence of greater reliance on their children for emotional support. These findings lend support to theoretical and clinical impressions of highly permeable intergenerational boundaries, including parent-child role reversal, in family systems marked by child sexual abuse, even when the abuse occurred in the previous generation.     

Mothers' thoughts about their children: Links between mind‐mindedness and emotional availability

Maternal mind‐mindedness (MM) and emotional availability (EA) were examined in 89 middle‐class mothers and their 4‐year‐old children. Each mother‐child dyad was videotaped in their home during a 20‐minute play interaction and aspects of EA (sensitivity, structuring, intrusiveness, and hostility) were assessed using the EA scales ( Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998 ). Meins, Fernyhough, Russell, and Clark‐Carter's (1998) maternal interview was used to measure MM and the proportion of mental comments was calculated. Mothers who used a higher proportion of mental comments tended to demonstrate less hostility during interaction with their child. The findings are discussed in relation to the need to consider other interactional variables, in addition to maternal sensitivity, when examining how parental representations are transmitted to children.     

Parents' cognitions and expectations about their pre‐school children: The contribution of parental anxiety and child anxiety

This study investigated the relative associations between parent and child anxiety and parents' cognitions about their children. One hundred and four parents of children aged 3–5 years completed questionnaires regarding their own anxiety level, their child's anxiety level and their cognitions about the child, specifically parents' expectations about child distress and avoidance, and parents' perceived control over child mood and behaviour. Both parent anxiety and parent report of child anxiety were significantly associated with parents' cognitions. Specifically, parent report of child anxiety correlated significantly with parent locus of control generally and, more specifically, with parental expectations and perceived control of child anxious mood and behaviour. Parent anxiety correlated significantly with locus of control and parents' expectations of child anxious mood and behaviour. Furthermore, when both child and parent anxiety were taken into account, only parental anxiety remained significantly associated with parental locus of control and perceived control of child anxious behaviour. For parents' perceived control of child anxious mood, only child anxiety remained significantly associated. The results suggest that parents' perceived control over their children's behaviour may primarily reflect parental anxiety, rather than child anxiety. Parental anxiety may, therefore, present an important target for interventions that aim to change parent's cognitions and behaviour.     

Hot and Cool Forms of Inhibitory Control and Externalizing Behavior in Children of Mothers who Smoked during Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study

This study examined whether children exposed to prenatal smoking show deficits in “hot” and/or “cool” executive functioning (EF). Hot EF is involved in regulation of affect and motivation, whereas cool EF is involved in handling abstract, decontextualized problems. Forty 7 to 9-year-old children (15 exposed to prenatal smoking, 25 non-exposed) performed two computerized tasks. The Sustained Attention Dots (SA-Dots) Task (as a measure of “cool” inhibitory control) requires 400 non-dominant hand and 200 dominant hand responses. Inhibitory control of the prepotent response is required for dominant hand responses. The Delay Frustration Task (DeFT) (as a measure of “hot” inhibitory control) consists of 55 simple maths exercises. On a number of trials delays are introduced before the next question appears on the screen. The extent of response-button pressing during delays indicates frustration-induced inhibitory control. Prenatally exposed children showed poorer inhibitory control in the DeFT than non-exposed children. A dose–response relationship was also observed. In addition, prenatally exposed children had significantly higher (dose-dependent) conduct problem- and hyperactivity-inattention scores. There were no significant group differences in inhibitory control scores from the SA-Dots. These results indicate that children exposed to prenatal smoking are at higher risk of hot but not cool executive function deficits.     

The impact of mothers' trait anxiety on their expectations of approach‐avoidance behaviour in anxious and non‐anxious children

This study investigated estimates of approach and avoidance behaviour in clinically anxious and non‐anxious children, and whether mothers' expectations of their children's avoidance differed as a function of high trait anxiety (HTA) versus low trait anxiety (LTA). Participants were 62 clinically anxious and 60 non‐anxious children aged 7–12 years and their mothers. Estimates of avoidance were obtained using an analogue task in which children and mothers were given threat and pleasant information about two novel animals and were asked to estimate children's avoidance of the threat animal's habitat when the threat animal was present (threat condition) and absent (safe condition) from the habitat and when its presence was uncertain (ambiguous condition). Contrary to expectation, anxious children did not differ from controls in estimates of avoidance in any condition. However, relative to HTA mothers of anxious children and LTA mothers of non‐anxious children, HTA mothers estimated greater approach behaviour by their non‐anxious children in the threat condition. Findings suggest that mothers' expectations of children's approach‐avoidance behaviour is influenced by both maternal and child factors.     

The role of expectation and memory‐retrieval techniques in the construction of beliefs about past events

This study assessed social factors affecting the elicitation of false reports for events occurring the day after birth. High, medium and low hypnotizable participants (N=170) were randomly assigned to hypnotic, guided imagery (non‐hypnotic), expectancy or control conditions. Participants were led to believe that they had experienced a specific event on the day after birth. Hypnotic and guided imagery participants were age regressed, while participants in the expectancy condition were provided with cues suggesting access to this memory was feasible. Relative to controls, these participants recalled higher levels of day‐after‐birth reports, although age‐regressed participants reported significantly more event specific details than expectancy participants. Furthermore, high and medium hypnotizables were more likely than low hypnotizables to recall events occurring the day after birth. Implications of this study within the therapeutic setting are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of social problem‐solving strategies and changes in aggressive behavior: A 7‐year follow‐up from childhood to late adolescence

The aim of this study was to predict a stability of aggressive behavior on the basis of social problem‐solving strategies. Subjects were a total of 120 children, but complete follow‐up data were available only in 47 cases. Their aggressive behaviors were peer rated, and problem‐solving strategies were assessed in childhood subjects being 10 years on average, and 7 years later. Association between a development of social strategies and changes in aggressive behavior was studied with personality‐oriented pattern analyses. The main finding was that a development of strategies predicted a stability or changes of aggressive behavior very well. Aggressive strategies, both in childhood and in adolescence, as well as a lack of constructive alternatives characterized permanently aggressive subjects. Turning from nonaggressive to aggressive behavior was also explained by aggressive problem‐solving strategies, while a positive development, i.e., turning from childhood aggressive to adolescent nonaggressive behavior, was possible only if a person had never used aggressive strategies. Agreement between behavior and strategies was higher among girls. The findings supported a claim that intervention of aggressive behavior may be possible by modifying social strategies. Aggr. Behav. 25:269–279, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence

Ekornås, B., Lundervold, A. J., Tjus, T. & Heimann, M. (2010). Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 271–277. This study investigates motor skill performance and self‐perceived competence in children with anxiety disorders compared with children without psychiatric disorders. Motor skills and self‐perception were assessed in 329 children aged 8 to 11 years, from the Bergen Child Study. The Kiddie‐SADS PL diagnostic interview was employed to define a group of children with an anxiety disorder without comorbid diagnosis, and a control group (no diagnosis) matched according to gender, age, and full‐scale IQ. Children in the anxiety disorder group displayed impaired motor skills and poor self‐perceived peer acceptance and physical competence compared with the control group. Two‐thirds of the anxious boys scored on the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) as having motor problems. The present study demonstrated impaired motor skills in boys with “pure” anxiety disorders. Anxious children also perceived themselves as being less accepted by peers and less competent in physical activities compared with children in the control group.     

Self‐knowledge in childhood: Relations with children's imaginary companions and understanding of mind

Relations between interior self‐knowledge and (a) imaginary companion (IC) status and (b) theory of mind (ToM) abilities were investigated in a sample (N= 80) of 4‐ to 7‐year‐olds. Interior self‐knowledge was assessed in terms of the extent to which children acknowledged that they (rather than an adult) were the authority on unobservable aspects of themselves (e.g., dreaming, thinking, hunger). Compared with children without an IC, those who possessed a parentally corroborated IC ascribed less interior self‐knowledge to an adult, with a trend for them to assign more interior self‐knowledge to themselves. Children's interior self‐knowledge judgments were not associated with their ToM performance. IC status was also unrelated to ToM performance. We consider how having an IC may provide children with opportunities to distinguish between knowledge that is inaccessible to an external observer and that which an external observer may glean without being told.     

Maternal sensitivity,infant attachment,and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: the case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents

In a longitudinal study, internationally adopted children (N = 146) placed before 6 months of age were followed from infancy to age 7. Results showed that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament was associated with higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Higher quality of child-mother relationships, in terms of attachment security and maternal sensitivity, uniquely predicted better social and cognitive development. The combination of attachment disorganization and difficult temperament predicted less optimal ego-control and lower levels of cognitive development. It is concluded that even in adopted children, who are not biologically related to their adoptive parents, early mother-infant interactions and attachment relationships predict later socioemotional and cognitive development, beyond infant temperament and gender.     

Attachment theory and emotions in close relationships: Exploring the attachment‐related dynamics of emotional reactions to relational events

Attachment theory is a powerful framework for understanding affect regulation. In this article, we examine the role played by attachment orientation in shaping emotional reactions to interpersonal transactions within close relationships. Using our recent integrative model of attachment‐system activation and dynamics as a guide ( M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver, 2003 ), we review relevant evidence, present new findings, and propose hypotheses concerning how people with different attachment styles are likely to react emotionally to relational events. Specifically, we focus on attachment‐related variations in the emotional states elicited by a relationship partner's positive and negative behaviors and by signals of a partner's (relationship relevant or relationship irrelevant) distress or pleasure. In so doing, we organize existing knowledge and point the way to future research on attachment‐related emotions in close relationships.     

Prosocial children,bullies and victims: An investigation of their sociometric status,empathy and social problem‐solving strategies

This study investigates links between children's social behaviour and their sociometric status, empathy and social problem‐solving strategies. Sociometric ratings were obtained from a sample of 131 9–10‐year‐old children drawn from two matched schools. Each child also completed a newly developed and empirically derived Social Behaviour Questionnaire. This questionnaire led to the identification of 21 prosocial children, 23 bullies and 14 victims of bullying. Children in these subgroups were then assessed on measures of empathy and social problem‐solving. Prosocial children were significantly more popular than the other role groups, and bully‐victims were most frequently rejected by their peers. Prosocial children also showed greater empathic awareness than either bullies or victims, but gender was the significant source of variance. Prosocial children and victims responded more constructively than did bullies to socially awkward situations, and bullies were less aware than prosocial children of the possible negative consequences of their solution strategies.     

Academic emotions from a social‐cognitive perspective: Antecedents and domain specificity of students' affect in the context of Latin instruction

This study concentrates on two assumptions of a social‐cognitive model outlining the development of academic emotions (emotions directly linked to learning, classroom instruction, and achievement), namely on their antecedents and domain‐specific organization. Our sample consisted of 200 students from Grades 7 to 10. Proposed relationships concerning the antecedents of academic emotions were tested in the context of Latin language instruction. Correlational analyses substantiated our assumptions concerning the relationships between academic emotions, students' cognitions, and aspects of the social environment. The mediating mechanisms proposed in the model were also confirmed using linear structural equation modelling. Subjective control‐ and value‐related cognitions were found to mediate the relationship between aspects of the social environment and students' emotional experience. Our results further suggest that academic emotions are largely organized along domain‐specific lines, with the degree of domain specificity varying according to the emotion in question. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The roles of trauma exposure,rejection sensitivity,and callous‐unemotional traits in the aggressive behavior of justice‐involved youth: A moderated mediation model

Research has demonstrated an association between childhood trauma exposure and adolescent aggression. This association may be explained by rejection sensitivity, defined as anger, or anxiety in the anticipation of rejection, which can be a consequence of trauma exposure. Callous‐unemotional (CU) traits also are associated with trauma exposure and aggressive behavior; however, research has not yet investigated the interactive roles that rejection sensitivity and CU traits play in the relation between trauma exposure and aggression. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the role of rejection sensitivity in the association between trauma exposure and aggression, and whether this indirect effect was moderated by CU traits. Participants included 380 detained youth (98 girls, 282 boys) who completed self‐report measures of trauma exposure, angry, and anxious rejection sensitivity, CU traits, and aggression. Results of moderated mediation demonstrated that the relation between trauma exposure and aggression exhibited an indirect effect through angry rejection sensitivity, but only at moderate or high levels of CU traits. This pattern was not found for anxious rejection sensitivity. Results suggest that interventions aimed to decrease aggressive behavior in traumatized adolescents may benefit from considering how youth respond to rejection, as well as whether youth endorse CU traits, as this may help to limit further involvement in the juvenile justice system after release.

     

Confidence in work‐related goals and feelings of exhaustion during a therapeutic intervention for burnout: A time‐series approach

This study investigated recursive relations between confidence in achieving work‐related goals and work exhaustion among employees who participated in an intervention to reduce their burnout. Thirty‐six employees of age 33–59 years suffering from severe burnout (28 females and 8 males) filled in burnout and well‐being measures before and after a 10‐month therapeutic intervention. They also filled in weekly measures of confidence in work‐related goals (progress and capability) and work exhaustion throughout the intervention, as well as 4 weeks before and 4 weeks afterwards. Intra‐individual variation was modelled using dynamic factor analyses. The results showed that, for most participants, confidence in work‐related goals and work exhaustion during a given week could be predicted from those of the preceding week. Moreover, high self‐esteem predicted low weekly stability in goal confidence, whereas high burnout contributed to high weekly stability in work exhaustion. The intra‐individual stabilities in goal confidence and exhaustion also predicted which of the participants benefited from the intervention in terms of increasing well‐being and decreasing work‐related stress.     

Obsessive‐compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: Cognitive processing of threat in children,adolescents and adults

Background . While the cognitive theory of obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most widely accepted accounts of the maintenance of the disorder in adults, no study to date has systematically evaluated the theory across children, adolescence and adults with OCD. Method . This paper investigated developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat in a sample of children, adolescents and adults with OCD. Using an idiographic assessment approach, as well as self‐report questionnaires, this study evaluated cognitive appraisals of responsibility, probability, severity, thought‐action fusion (TAF), thought‐suppression, self‐doubt and cognitive control. It was hypothesised that there would be age related differences in reported responsibility for harm, probability of harm, severity of harm, thought suppression, TAF, self‐doubt and cognitive control. Results . Results of this study demonstrated that children with OCD reported experiencing fewer intrusive thoughts, which were less distressing and less uncontrollable than those experienced by adolescents and adults with OCD. Furthermore, responsibility attitudes, probability biases and thought suppression strategies were higher in adolescents and adults with OCD. Cognitive processes of TAF, perceived severity of harm, self‐doubt and cognitive control were found to be comparable across age groups. Conclusions . These results suggest that the current cognitive theory of OCD needs to address developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat. Furthermore, for a developmentally sensitive theory of OCD, further investigation is warranted into other possible age related maintenance factors. Implications of this investigation and directions for future research are discussed.     

Achievement motives and emotional processes in children during problem-solving: Two experimental studies of their relation to performance in different achievement goal conditions

In two studies, the influence of key emotional and motivational factors on performance in different achievement goal-type situations is examined. In study 1, based on 314 sixth-graders, two types of goal situations were induced; performance and mastery. The goals were examined with respect to important antecedents (e.g., motive dispositions) and several consequences (e.g., performance, satisfaction, pleasant affect, worry, and emotionality). The results showed that the motive to achieve success (M _s) produced positive affects, satisfaction, and increased performance, whereas the motive to avoid failure (M _f) produced worries and performance reduction. In study 2, based on 331 sixth-graders, three types of goal situations were induced; performance–approach, performance–avoidance, and mastery goals. The findings revealed that the most important single factors positively related to performance were M _s and mastery–goal situation. In addition, high M _s pupils performed better under mastery condition than under performance condition. Finally, avoidance-goal situation accentuate the negative effects of high M _f on performance.