Physical aggression and expressive vocabulary in 19-month-old twins

In the prevention of physical aggression, possible etiological links with language development are rarely taken into account. Indeed, little is known about when language and aggressive behavior become linked during development and which mechanisms are responsible for this association. This study investigated the association between physical aggression and language in late infancy with a genetic design that involved 562 19-month-old twins. A modest but significant correlation (r = -.20) was found between physical aggression and expressive vocabulary. Substantial heritability was found for physical aggression. Quantitative genetic modeling suggests that the correlation between expressive vocabulary and physical aggression cannot be explained by shared etiologies. However, phenotype-to-phenotype models indicate that the covariation can be entirely accounted for by a significant phenotypic path from expressive vocabulary to physical aggression. The implications of these results for early prevention of chronic physical aggression are discussed.     

The evolution of problem and social competence behaviors during toddlerhood: A prospective population‐based cohort survey

Research in developmental psychopathology has long been preoccupied with rather broad categories of behavior, but we know little about the specific behaviors that comprise these categories. The objective of this study was to: (a) estimate the prevalence of problem and social competence behaviors in the general population of children at 17 months of age, and (b) describe the continuity and discontinuity in the degree to which children exhibit these behaviors between 17 and 29 months of age. The results show that frequent problem behaviors are not typical of children under two years of age. Further, the results suggest that it is possible to distinguish between different types of problem behaviors before two years of age. In addition, the results show that gender differences in some problem behaviors are already present before two years of age, and increase in magnitude during toddlerhood. Finally, the results show that interindividual differences in problem behaviors observed before two years of age are stable. The predictive accuracy of frequent problem behaviors in children at 17 months of age was limited, however, with often a majority of toddlers not behaving this way a year later. Overall, our results suggest that toddlerhood represents a critical period when behavioral and emotional problems of potentially clinical significance emerge. Pediatricians should routinely ask parents to report the frequency of their young children's problem behaviors during child health supervision visits so that children whose frequent problem behaviors persist over time can be identified and possibly referred for treatment.     

Do Friends’ Characteristics Moderate the Prospective Links between Peer Victimization and Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

This study examined (a) the predictive link between peer victimization and children’s reactive and proactive aggression, and (b) the potential moderating effect of reciprocal friends’ reactive and proactive aggression in this context. The study also examined whether these potential moderating effects of friends’ characteristics were stronger with respect to more recent friends compared to previous friends. Based on a convenience sample of 658 twin children (326 boys and 332 girls) assessed in kindergarten and first grade, the results showed that peer victimization uniquely predicted an increase in children’s teacher-rated reactive aggression, but not teacher-rated proactive aggression. The relation of peer victimization to increased reactive aggression was, however, moderated by recent ˉ not previous ˉ reciprocal friends’ similarly aggressive characteristics. These findings, however, tended to be mostly true for boys, but not for girls. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications for victimized children’s risk of displaying reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors. This research was made possible by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds Concerté pour l’Aide à la Recherche, the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec.     

Gender differences in physical aggression: A prospective population-based survey of children before and after 2 years of age

There has been much controversy over the past decades on the origins of gender differences in children's aggressive behavior. A widely held view is that gender differences emerge sometime after 2 years of age and increase in magnitude thereafter because of gender-differentiated socialization practices. The objective of this study was to test for (a) gender differences in the prevalence of physical aggression in the general population of 17-month-old children and (b) change in the magnitude of these differences between 17 and 29 months of age. Contrary to the differential socialization hypothesis, the results showed substantial gender differences in the prevalence of physical aggression at 17 months of age, with 5% of boys but only 1% of girls manifesting physically aggressive behaviors on a frequent basis. The results suggest that there is no change in the magnitude of these differences between 17 and 29 months of age.     

Voice and persuasion in a banking telemarketing context

Voice has been neglected in research on advertising and persuasion. The present study examined the influence of voice and sex on the credibility of the voice source in a banking telemarketing context as well as with regards to the attitude toward the advertisement, and subjects' behavioral intention. An experiment using voices of a man and a woman was conducted. A recorded mock-telemarketing message consisted of an advertisement for an ATM card offered by a Canadian bank. Subjects were undergraduate students (N=399; 71.6% women, 28.4% men; M age=26.5 yr., SD = 7.4). They completed a questionnaire after hearing the message in telemarketing conditions. Analysis indicated a moderate intensity, an unmarked intonation, and a fast speech rate are associated with a more credible source than the other combinations. Sex was not a significant moderator in the relationship between voice characteristics and source credibility. Voice characteristics significantly affected attitudes toward the advertisement and behavioral intention.     

Academic Self-concept and Educational Attainment Level: A Ten-year Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to test children's academic self-concept, family socioeconomic status, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family) and academic achievement in elementary school as predictors of children's educational attainment level in young adulthood within a ten-year longitudinal design. Participants (254 girls, 211 boys) were three cohorts of students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 from ten elementary schools. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that academic self-concept predicted educational attainment level ten years later over and above prior achievement. Moreover, this pattern of results was invariant across cohorts. In addition, regression analyses based on a restricted sample (n?=?243) indicated that the academic self-concept/educational attainment level relation was still significant while controlling for family SES, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family), and academic achievement. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of the results.     

The Development of Prosocial Behaviors in Young Children: A Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study

Researchers know relatively little about the normative development of children's behaviors aimed at alleviating distress or discomfort in others. In this article, the authors aim to describe the continuity and discontinuity in the degree to which young children in the general population are reported to exhibit specific prosocial behaviors. Data came from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Consistent with Hay's model of prosocial development, the results show that there were about as many children who stopped exhibiting prosocial behaviors between 29 and 41 months of age as there were children who started doing so during this period. Further, gender differences (girls > boys) in prosocial behaviors are either emerging or at least increasing in magnitude, with girls being more likely to start and boys being more likely to stop exhibiting these behaviors between 29 and 41 months of age. Consistent with the early-onset hypothesis, children who exhibit prosocial behaviors at 17 months of age are less likely to stop exhibiting the same behaviors between 29 and 41 months of age. Otherwise, if they did not exhibit prosocial behaviors at 29 months of age, they are also more likely to start doing so in the following year.     

Exploring the Limits of Peripheral Vision for the Control of Movement

The role played by peripheral visual information in the control of aiming movements is not fully understood, as is indicated by the conflicting results reported in the literature. In the present study, the authors tested and confirmed the hypothesis that the source of the conflict lies in the portion of the visual peripheral field that has been under scrutiny in the different studies. Participants (N = 60) moved a computer mouse from a fixed starting position to 1 of 3 targets under varied vision conditions. The portion of the peripheral visual field that best ensured directional accuracy of a sweeping movement was found to be located between 20° and 10° of visual angle, whereas the area found to favor directional accuracy of an aiming movement comprised 30° through 10° of visual angle.     

Using Pictures to Evoke Spiritual feelings in Breast Cancer Patients: Development of a New Paradigm for Neuroimaging Studies

This study was designed to develop and validate a method for enhancing spiritual feelings, particularly in women who have received a diagnosis of breast cancer. The protocol specifically was developed to be used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Eighteen breast cancer survivors rated pictures for their ability to enhance feelings of spirituality, happiness, and sadness. Results indicate that presenting carefully selected pictures with spiritual content (e.g., nature scenes, people engaged in contemplative behaviors) can effectively enhance spiritual feelings among breast cancer survivors. Future fMRI studies will explore the use of the protocol developed in this study for investigating neural activity during spiritual feelings and states.