母亲敏感性与婴儿气质、注意对学步儿执行功能影响的交互作用：一项两年的追踪研究

为同时探究外部因素与内部因素对学步儿执行功能的影响, 对163对母婴进行追踪测量。婴儿6个月时根据母婴自由互动录像编码母亲敏感性; 使用最长注视时长范式测量婴儿注意特征; 使用母亲报告的《婴儿行为问卷—修订短版》测量婴儿气质; 24个月时使用多位置寻找任务、形状Stroop任务、逆转分类任务、延迟满足任务测量学步儿执行功能。结果发现：(1)婴儿6个月最长注视时长能够显著正向预测24个月的多位置寻找与延迟满足任务得分。(2)母亲敏感性能够正向预测气质外向性低的婴儿24个月时的逆转分类任务表现, 对气质外向性高的婴儿24个月时的逆转分类任务表现的预测不显著。(3)母亲敏感性能够正向预测最长注视时长更长的婴儿24个月时的形状Stroop任务得分; 负向预测最长注视时长更短的婴儿24个月时的形状Stroop任务得分。研究发现了针对不同特征的婴儿, 母亲的养育敏感性对学步儿执行功能影响的差异, 这对早期教育应该如何“因材施教”有所启示。     

THE WORLDWIDE BURDEN OF INFANT MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISORDER: REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR INFANT MENTAL HEALTH

Children worldwide experience mental and emotional disorders. Mental disorders occurring among young children, especially infants (birth –3 years), often go unrecognized. Prevalence rates are difficult to determine because of lack of awareness and difficulty assessing and diagnosing young children. Existing data, however, suggest that rates of disorders in young children are comparable to those of older children and adolescents (von Klitzing, Dohnert, Kroll, & Grube, 2015 ). The lack of widespread recognition of disorders of infancy is particularly concerning due to the unique positioning of infancy as foundational in the developmental process. Both the brain and behavior are in vulnerable states of development across the first 3 years of life, with potential for enduring deviations to occur in response to early trauma and deprivation. Intervention approaches for young children require sensitivity to their developmental needs within their families. The primacy of infancy as a time of unique foundational risks for disorder, the impact of trauma and violence on young children's development, the impact of family disruption on children's attachment, and existing literature on prevalence rates of early disorders are discussed. Finally, global priorities for addressing these disorders of infancy are highlighted to support prevention and intervention actions that may alleviate suffering among our youngest world citizens.     

Executive function in early childhood: longitudinal measurement invariance and developmental change

This study tested the longitudinal measurement invariance and developmental changes of a newly developed battery of executive function (EF) tasks for use in early childhood. The battery was administered in the Family Life Project-a prospective longitudinal study (N = 1,292) of families who were oversampled from low-income and African American families at the birth of a new child-at assessments conducted when the child was 3, 4, and 5 years old. All 6 individual EF tasks exhibited strong measurement invariance over time. The EF battery, which was derived from the 6 individual tasks, exhibited partial strong invariance over time. Second-order latent growth curve models revealed individual differences in the levels but not rates of change in latent EF ability. The functional form of change was nonlinear; 60% of the total change in EF ability that was observed between the 3- and 5-year assessments occurred between the Year 3 and Year 4 assessments. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of establishing scalable measures of EF ability prior to investigating experiences that predict or are predicted by changes in EF during early childhood.     

Parenting stress and external stressors as predictors of maternal ratings of child adjustment

This study sought to disentangle the effects of different kinds of stress on maternal ratings of child externalizing and internalizing problems, social inhibition, and social competence, with a primary focus on parenting stress. The relations were explored in a sample consisting of mothers of 436 children (M_age = 7 years) in Sweden. Half the sample had had early clinical contacts during infancy due to child regulation problems, and the rest were mothers without known such early contacts. Demographic factors, family stressors, and parenting stress were examined in stress – adjustment models. Family stressors were clinical contact during infancy, current child and parent health problems, recent negative life events, and insufficient social support. Parenting stress as a mediator of the effect of other stressors on rated child adjustment was tested as was social support as a moderator of the effect of parenting stress on adjustment. The results showed that a higher parenting stress level was associated with maternal ratings of more externalizing and internalizing behaviors, more social inhibition, and lower social competence. Other family stressors and background variables were also found to be of importance, mainly for externalizing and internalizing problems and to some extent for social competence. Social inhibition had a unique relation to parenting stress only. Parenting stress mediated effects of other stressors in twelve models, whereas social support had no moderating effect on the link between parenting stress and child adjustment. Thus, parenting stress seems to be an important overarching construct. Clinical implications are proposed.     

Home improvements: Within-family associations between income and the quality of children's home environments

Within-family associations between changes in income and changes in the home environment during infancy and early childhood were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1364). Linear and nonlinear (i.e., semilog) specifications were estimated for family income. In addition, variations in income effects were estimated as a function of the level of developmentally stimulating resources in homes during early infancy. Increases in family income were positively associated with increases in the quality of children's home environments. The estimated effects of income were largest for families who had low incomes and low-quality early home environments. These results were evident for physical characteristics of the home that likely required monetary investments, as well as for psychosocial characteristics of the home.     

Economic Disadvantage in Complex Family Systems: Expansion of Family Stress Models

Economic disadvantage is associated with multiple risks to early socioemotional development. This article reviews research regarding family stress frameworks to model the pathways from economic disadvantage to negative child outcomes via family processes. Future research in this area should expand definitions of family and household to incorporate diversity and instability. This expansion would be particularly relevant for research among low-income ethnic minority families and families with young children. This line of research would highlight specific pathways to target to prevent the onset of early parental and child dysfunction.     

Nonmaternal care in infancy and emotional/behavioral difficulties at 4 years old: moderation by family risk characteristics

The authors examined the role of familial risk and child characteristics in the association between the type of child care in infancy (maternal care [MC]) versus nonmaternal care [NMC]) and emotional/behavioral difficulties at 4 years old. Canadian families (N=1,358) with children between 1 and 12 months old were followed over 4 years. Family risks were found to moderate the association between type of child care and physical aggression. MC in infancy was associated with lower levels of physical aggression among children from a low-risk family background but not among those from a high-risk family background. The effect size was small (d=-0.16; confidence interval [CI]=-0.3, -0.01). Family risk and the sex of the child moderated the association between child care and emotional problems. MC in infancy was associated with a lower level of emotional difficulties among girls from low-risk families but not among boys or among children from high-risk families. The effect size was moderate (d=-0.44; CI=-0.65, -0.23). The study indicates that the effect of child care type in infancy varies by family and child characteristics.     

FATHER PLAY: IS IT SPECIAL?

Both mothers and fathers play with their children, but research on parent–child play interactions is conducted with mothers three times more often than it is with fathers. The articles in this special issue address this gap by focusing on the nature and quality of father–child play, across cultural contexts, and considering whether father play offers something unique and special for early human development, in infancy or early childhood. The studies show that fathers can be just as developmentally supportive as are mothers in terms of being playful and engaged with their children in ways that are related to greater child socioemotional competence, emotion regulation, and vocabulary, and to less aggression, anxiety, and negativity. We encourage future research to examine the cultural influences, family system dynamics, and specificity of timing and types of father–child play in relation to children's developmental competence.     

Socioeconomic status and executive function: developmental trajectories and mediation

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) predicts executive function (EF), but fundamental aspects of this relation remain unknown: the developmental course of the SES disparity, its continued sensitivity to SES changes during that course, and the features of childhood experience responsible for the SES–EF relation. Regarding course, early disparities would be expected to grow during development if caused by accumulating stressors at a given constant level of SES. Alternatively, they would narrow if schooling partly compensates for the effects of earlier deprivation, allowing lower‐SES children to ‘catch up’. The potential for later childhood SES change to affect EF is also unknown. Regarding mediating factors, previous analyses produced mixed answers, possibly due to correlation amongst candidate mediators. We address these issues with measures of SES, working memory and planning, along with multiple candidate mediators, from the NICHD Study of Early Childcare (n = 1009). Early family income‐to‐needs and maternal education predicted planning by first grade, and income‐to‐needs predicted working memory performance at 54 months. Effects of early SES remained consistent through middle childhood, indicating that the relation between early indicators of SES and EF emerges in childhood and persists without narrowing or widening across early and middle childhood. Changes in family income‐to‐needs were associated with significant changes in planning and trend‐level changes in working memory. Mediation analyses supported the role of early childhood home characteristics in explaining the association between SES and EF, while early childhood maternal sensitivity was specifically implicated in the association between maternal education and planning. Early emerging and persistent SES‐related differences in EF, partially explained by characteristics of the home and family environment, are thus a potential source of socioeconomic disparities in achievement and health across development.     

Individual differences in ERP measures of executive function in early childhood: Relation to low-risk preterm birth and parent-reported behavior

Although behavioral studies have demonstrated that executive function (EF) develops rapidly during early childhood, few studies have investigated neural systems supporting EF during the preschool years. These systems are sensitive to variations in children’s early life experiences, including preterm birth. The current study collected behavioral and event related potential (ERP) data during an EF task (directional Stroop) in a sample of 150 full-term and low-risk preterm children aged 4-years. Children’s IQ and processing speed (WPPSI-III), and parent report of EF (BRIEF-P), were also measured. Forty-nine children born full-term and 43 low-risk preterm children provided useable ERP data. Similar to prior studies with adults and older children, preschool-aged children showed modulation of ERP components (N2, P3) by cognitive conflict. Effects of trial type were also present for early attentional components (N1 and P2). Exploratory analyses demonstrated that ERP measures of EF were correlated with individual differences in cognitive and behavioral functioning in both full-term and low-risk preterm populations. Future research investigating the neural correlates of early measures of EF in low-risk preterm children and other at-risk groups is warranted to better understand how trajectories of EF development are altered in the first years of life.     

Are there biological programming effects for psychological development? Findings from a study of Romanian adoptees

Associations between experiences and outcomes could be due to (a) continuation of adversity or (b) organismic changes, including experience-expectant and experience-adaptive developmental programming. The adoption into British families of children who had been reared in profoundly depriving institutions in Romania presented an opportunity to test mechanisms. Romanian children reared from infancy in very depriving institutions for periods up to 42 months were compared with 52 nondeprived UK-born children placed into adoptive families before the age of 6 months. The results at 6 years of age showed substantial normal cognitive and social functioning after the provision of family rearing but also major persistent deficits in a substantial minority. The pattern of findings suggests some form of early biological programming or neural damage stemming from institutional deprivation, but the heterogeneity in outcome indicates that the effects are not deterministic.     

Family demographic profiles and their relationship with the quality of executive functioning subcomponents in kindergarten

Executive functioning (EF), needed for goal‐oriented behaviour, thoughts, and emotions, is important for various life domains. This study examined the relationship between family demographics and EF subcomponents. A kindergarten sample was tested on subcomponents of working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. Parents provided information on demographic variables. For 78 children both EF and demographic data were available. First, demographic profiles were identified within the sample. Two profiles were found: A low‐risk profile of mainly two‐biological‐parent, high‐income families with a highly educated mother who did not smoke during pregnancy and a high‐risk profile of low‐income families with a young, low‐educated mother who more often smoked during pregnancy. Second, children with different demographic profiles were compared on EF subcomponents. Results indicate differential relations between family demographics and EF subcomponents: Whereas for most EF subcomponents no association with family demographics was found, high‐risk children performed better on response shifting and tended to perform worse on verbal memory than low‐risk children. Parenting stress decreased performance only for high‐risk children. Although this study found limited impact of family demographics for EF, further longitudinal research can provide nuanced insights about which factors influence specific EF subcomponents during which developmental periods and guide targeted prevention of EF difficulties.     

Lack of early child care effects on school-age children's social competence and academic achievement

Teacher ratings of social competence and academic achievement were obtained from a sample of 127 Bermudian children at ages 5, 6, 7 and 8 years. The children were studied first during their pre-school years, when they had been exposed to various amounts and qualities of day care. Quality of care was found to be important to the children's intellectual and social development while they were in the day care settings but not after 1–4 years of primary schooling. In hierarchical and simultaneous regressions, family background characteristics, not child care amounts or qualities, were found to be predictive of social competence and academic achievement in the primary grades. By school age, the effects of infant and preschool child care experiences were no longer influential in children's development, but family background continued to be important. These findings and their implications for child care are discussed.     

Understanding Triadic and Family Group Interactions During Infancy and Toddlerhood

This paper outlines recent conceptual and methodological developments in the assessment of triadic and family group process during infancy and toddlerhood. Foundations of the emerging family group process are identified, and conditions specific to the assessment of the family during the early phases of family formation are summarized. Both microanalytic and global approaches to evaluating mother–father–child interactions are discussed. We highlight both similarities and differences in the strategies and methods employed by several different investigators who have been studying the group dynamics of families with infant and toddler children, and underscore several important family patterns and emerging themes that appear to be cutting across these different methods and measurement strategies. Preliminary evidence for the validity and clinical significance of family-level assessments is summarized, and directions currently being pursued by researchers engaged in studies of the family triad are outlined. We close by identifying several conceptual and clinical issues that remain to be addressed by subsequent work.     

Social factors in the development of early executive functioning: a closer look at the caregiving environment

This study investigated prospective links between quality of the early caregiving environment and children's subsequent executive functioning (EF). Sixty-two families were met on five occasions, allowing for assessment of maternal interactive behavior, paternal interactive behavior, and child attachment security between 1 and 2 years of age, and child EF at 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that composite scores of parental behavior and child attachment were related to child performance on EF tasks entailing strong working memory and cognitive flexibility components (conflict-EF). In particular, child attachment security was related to conflict-EF performance at 3 years above and beyond what was explained by a combination of all other social antecedents of child EF identified thus far: child verbal ability and prior EF, family SES, and parenting behavior. Attachment security may thus play a meaningful role in young children's development of executive control.     

Reformulating infant and toddler social competence with peers

Efforts to identify children at risk for social and academic difficulties at an early age have begun to apply conceptualizations of social competence with peers from childhood to infancy and toddlerhood. These attempts have had limited success, in part because social behaviors studied in later childhood such as negative or aggressive acts may not capture relevant dimensions of social competence with peers during the infant and toddler years. The present study conducted an exploratory factor analysis to begin developing a conceptualization of social competence with peers that is appropriate for use with infants and toddlers, and that captures individual differences capable of predicting later social functioning. Results indicate three dimensions of infant and toddler social competence with peers: peer sociability, active peer refusal, and passive peer avoidance. Negative and aggressive behaviors loaded on each of the three factors rather than emerging as a unique dimension of social competence. Each factor demonstrated both convergent and predictive validity, indicating that early identification of social skills remains a reasonable goal for practitioners and researchers alike. Finally, antecedents within children, families, and out-of-home child care environments helped to explain individual variability in each of these three factors of social competence with peers.     

婚姻质量对父母协同养育的影响：基于共同命运模型的跨层中介分析

共同命运模型(common fate model, CFM)是在家庭或二元层面研究中值得信赖的模型, 其更好地解释了亲密关系内在的相互依赖性。本研究基于共同命运模型探讨了家庭整体婚姻质量对父母协同养育程度的影响, 以及教养能力感在两者间的跨层中介作用。采用问卷法分层整群抽取上海市幼儿园中孩子(平均年龄5.14岁, 年龄范围4~7岁)的父亲与母亲参与调研, 分两个时间段(T1, T2; 间隔1年)收集数据, 最终得到650个家庭的父亲、母亲的婚姻满意度问卷(T1), 教养能力感问卷(T2)和协同养育感知问卷(T2)数据进行分析。结果发现: (1)基于共同命运模型, 家庭层面的婚姻质量正向预测家庭层面的支持性协同养育, 并负向预测家庭层面的破坏性协同养育; (2)家庭层面的婚姻质量正向预测父母各自的教养能力感; (3)父母各自的教养能力感正向预测家庭层面的支持性协同养育, 并负向预测家庭层面的破坏性协同养育; (4)父母个人层面的教养能力感在家庭层面的婚姻质量与家庭层面的支持性协同养育和破坏性协同养育起中介作用。总之, 本研究基于追踪数据运用共同命运模型, 并结合家庭层面(婚姻质量和协同养育)和个人层面(教养能力感)探讨了教养能力感在婚姻质量与父母协同养育间的跨层中介效应, 为营造良好的家庭环境提供一定的理论支持与指导意见, 并进一步促进了共同命运模型发展。     

Stability and prediction of parenting stress

The study focused on stability and prediction of parenting stress experiences over a 6‐year period. Mothers (N=93) who had received a clinical intervention for feeding or sleeping problems during infancy (Time 1; T 1) were followed‐up when the children were 5–10 years old (Time 2; T 2). An age‐ and sex‐of‐child matched normal group was used for comparison of stress levels at T 2. Parenting stress was measured by the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire, which consists of a general parenting stress scale and sub‐scales tapping different aspects of parenting stress experiences. T 1 predictors were clinical assessments of child problem load, maternal unresponsiveness, and family psychosocial problems. T 2 predictors were mother‐reported concurrent child problem load and psychosocial problems. The individual stability in stress experiences was moderate. Effect sizes indicated that mothers with early clinical contacts had reduced their stress to levels close to those in the normal sample. Parenting stress at T 2 could be predicted from early and from concurrent child and family problems. The results point to the relevance of early clinical assessments and to the importance of a sub‐area approach in parenting stress research, as there were differences between stress sub‐areas regarding both prediction and stability. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment and the experience and expression of emotions in romantic relationships: a developmental perspective

In this longitudinal study, the authors tested a developmental hypothesis derived from attachment theory and recent empirical findings. Target participants were 78 individuals who have been studied intensively from infancy into their mid-20s. When targets were 20-23 years old, the authors tested the way in which interpersonal experiences at 3 pivotal points in each target's earlier social development--infancy/early childhood, early elementary school, and adolescence--predicted the pattern of positive versus negative emotions experienced with his or her romantic partner. A double-mediation model revealed that targets classified as securely attached at 12 months old were rated as more socially competent during early elementary school by their teachers. Targets' social competence, in turn, forecasted their having more secure relationships with close friends at age 16, which in turn predicted more positive daily emotional experiences in their adult romantic relationships (both self- and partner-reported) and less negative affect in conflict resolution and collaborative tasks with their romantic partners (rated by observers). These results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and how antecedent life experiences may indirectly shape events in current relationships.     

Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework

During the last 2 decades, major advances have been made in understanding the development of executive functions (EFs) in early childhood. This article reviews the EF literature during the preschool period using an integrative framework. The framework adopted considers EF to be a unitary construct with partially dissociable components (A. Miyake et al., 2000). The authors focus on 3 EF components: working memory, response inhibition, and shifting. For the present purposes, the central executive is conceived of as a central attention system that is involved in all EF component operations. Research to date suggests that elementary forms of the core EF components are present early during the preschool period. Changes in EF during the latter half of the preschool period appear to be due to the development of attention and integration of component EFs. Finally, the review outlines a number of areas that warrant further investigation if researchers are to move forward in understanding early EF development.