Poverty,ethnicity, and risk of obesity among low birth weight infants

The independent and joint effects of family and neighborhood poverty and ethnicity upon weight trajectories from age two to six-and-a-half were examined using data from the Infant Health and Development Program (N = 985), an early intervention program for low birth weight children and families. At age two, family poverty was associated with higher body mass index (BMI), whereas neighborhood poverty and ethnicity were not. Over time, the BMI of toddlers from poor and near poor neighborhoods increased nonlinearly, while those from nonpoor neighborhoods remained stable. BMIs of Hispanic-American toddlers increased steadily over time, unlike African-American and Anglo-American toddlers. Although initially similar, over time African-American toddlers' BMIs increased more rapidly than Anglo-American toddlers. Family and neighborhood poverty and ethnicity were associated with BMI. More work is needed on how poverty and ethnicity contribute to differences in early weight gain in conjunction with sociocultural and environmental factors in the home and community.     

Gaze and arrow distractors influence saccade trajectories similarly

Perceiving someone's averted eye-gaze is thought to result in an automatic shift of attention and in the preparation of an oculomotor response in the direction of perceived gaze. Although gaze cues have been regarded as being special in this respect, recent studies have found evidence for automatic attention shifts with nonsocial stimuli, such as arrow cues. Here, we directly compared the effects of social and nonsocial cues on eye movement preparation by examining the modulation of saccade trajectories made in the presence of eye-gaze, arrows, or peripheral distractors. At a short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the distractor and the target, saccades deviated towards the direction of centrally presented arrow distractors, but away from the peripheral distractors. No significant trajectory deviations were found for gaze distractors. At the longer SOA, saccades deviated away from the direction of the distractor for all three distractor types, but deviations were smaller for the centrally presented gaze and arrow distractors. These effects were independent of whether line-drawings or photos of faces were used and could not be explained by differences in the spatial properties of the peripheral distractor. The results suggest that all three types of distractors (gaze, arrow, peripheral) can induce the automatic programming of an eye movement. Moreover, the findings suggest that gaze and arrow distractors affect oculomotor preparation similarly, whereas peripheral distractors, which are classically regarded as eliciting an automatic shift of attention and an oculomotor response, induce a stronger and faster acting influence on response preparation and the corresponding inhibition of that response.     

Numeric comparison in a visually-guided manual reaching task

Nearly all studies on perception and cognition have used discrete responses to infer internal cognitive processes. In the current study, we demonstrate that visually-guided manual reaching can provide new opportunities to access internal processes over time. In each trial, participants were required to compare a single digit Arabic number presented on the center square with the standard, 5. Participants were asked to reach and touch one of three squares on the screen with their index finger while their hand movement trajectories were recorded: the left square for 1-4, the center for 5, and the right for 6-9. Direct evidence for an analogue representation of numbers was found in early as well as in later portions of hand trajectories, showing systematic shifts in position for small differences in numerical magnitude.     

Trajectories of Social Withdrawal from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

Heterogeneity and individual differences in the developmental course of social withdrawal were examined longitudinally in a community sample (N = 392). General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM) was used to identify distinct pathways of social withdrawal, differentiate valid subgroup trajectories, and examine factors that predicted change in trajectories within subgroups. Assessments of individual (social withdrawal), interactive (prosocial behavior), relationship (friendship involvement, stability and quality, best friend’s withdrawal and exclusion/victimization) and group- (exclusion/victimization) level characteristics were used to define growth trajectories from the final year of elementary school, across the transition to middle school, and then to the final year of middle school (fifth-to-eighth grades). Three distinct trajectory classes were identified: low stable, increasing, and decreasing. Peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and mutual friendship involvement differentiated class membership. Friendlessness, friendship instability, and exclusion were significant predictors of social withdrawal for the increasing class, whereas lower levels of peer exclusion predicted a decrease in social withdrawal for the decreasing class.     

Goal orientation profiles and task performance growth trajectories

Goal orientation theories were used to generate predictions regarding the moderating effect of goal orientation profiles on task performance growth trajectories. Participants were given multiple trials of practice on an air traffic control task. Analyses were conducted using growth curve modeling. As expected, individuals with high performance-approach orientation improved their task performance scores faster than their counterparts. The interaction between mastery and performance-avoid orientations moderated the performance growth curve such that individuals with high mastery and low performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the fastest rate. The interaction between performance-approach and performance-avoid orientations also moderated the performance growth curve. Individuals with low performance-approach and high performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the slowest rate. These findings contribute to theory and practice by elucidating how various combinations of goal orientations influence the rate of skill acquisition.

Externalizing behavior trajectories: The role of parenting, sibling relationships and child personality

Based on longitudinal multilevel modeling and using a multi-informant strategy, this study examines trajectories of externalizing problem behavior (EPB) in childhood as predicted by parental behavior (absolute level of parenting [ALP] and parental differential treatment [PDT]), parental self-efficacy (PSE), child personality and sibling relationships. Besides main effects, several interactions were tested. The effects of changes in parenting on changes in EPB were also examined. A total of 119 families from the French-speaking area of Belgium rearing a child (3- to 5-year-olds at the onset of the study) referred for EPB were studied. The effects of both level-of and changes-in mothers' ALP were partially confirmed, but for fathers, only ALP was predictive. There were some significant interactions between ALP and PDT for both parents. Mothers' PSE explained some variance in EPB, additional to that explained by the parenting measures. Some parenting by personality and by sibling relationship interactions were found.     

Early childhood predictors of boys’ antisocial and violent behavior in early adulthood

Research on early childhood predictors of violent behaviors in early adulthood is limited. The current study investigated whether individual, family, and community risk factors from 18 to 42 months of age were predictive of violent criminal arrests during late adolescence and early adulthood using a sample of 310 low-income male participants living in an urban community. In addition, differences in trajectories of overt conduct problems (CP), hyperactivity/attention problems (HAP), and co-occurring patterns of CP and HAP from age 1½ to 10 years were investigated in regard to their relationship to violent and nonviolent behaviors, depression, and anxiety at age 20. Results of multivariate analyses indicated that early childhood family income, home environment, emotion regulation, oppositional behavior, and minority status were all significant in distinguishing violent offending boys from those with no criminal records. In addition, trajectories of early childhood CP, but not attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, were significantly related to self-reports of violent behavior, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Implications for the prevention of early childhood risk factors associated with adolescent and adult violent behavior for males are discussed.     

Initial goals,goal trajectories,and changes in perceived resolvability during serial arguments

This study examined how dyadic patterns of goal importance during a serial argument interaction predict changes in perceptions of argument resolvability over the course of a specific episode. Seventy romantic couples engaged in a 7‐min discussion of a current serial argument and used a video‐assisted recall method to report their goals at each minute. Although arguers' initial goals did not predict changes in perceptions of resolvability, increases in a partner's endorsement of partner‐identity goals predicted increases in individuals' own perceptions of resolvability. Conversely, increases in a partner's endorsement of self‐identity goals predicted declines in individuals' perceived resolvability. Results suggest that trajectories of identity‐focused goals during serial argument episodes may shape the progress of argument perceptions toward or away from resolvability.     

家人情感卷入对老年自我刻板印象的影响：基于潜变量增长模型的分析

本研究使用问卷法对257名老年人进行了历时1年的3次追踪测试, 采用潜变量增长模型与交叉滞后回归分析考察了家人情感卷入与老年自我刻板印象的变化趋势, 家人情感卷入发展与老年自我刻板印象发展的关系, 以及家人情感卷入对老年自我刻板印象的时序效应。结果发现：(1)老年人感知到的家人情感卷入在1年内呈线性递减, 而老年自我刻板印象呈线性增长; (2)家人情感卷入的初始水平负向预测老年自我刻板印象的初始水平与增长速率; (3)家人情感卷入的下降速率也显著预测了老年自我刻板印象的增长速率; (4)交叉滞后回归分析进一步支持了老年人家人情感卷入对老年自我刻板印象的总体负向预测作用。本研究为老年刻板印象内化的家庭过程提供了理论支持, 并对减少老年刻板印象内化、改善消极老年自我刻板印象的干预具有一定的实践价值。     

儿童社交淡漠与学业成绩的发展轨迹：基于潜变量增长模型

采用同伴提名和教师评价对535名小学3~4年级儿童社交淡漠与学业成绩的发展进行了三次追踪研究,通过平行潜变量增长模型考察社交淡漠与学业成绩的发展轨迹及其相互作用模式。结果发现：（1）儿童社交淡漠和学业成绩在三年中较为稳定,三年中社交淡漠与学业成绩均呈负相关;（2）儿童学业成绩的初始水平可以负向预测社交淡漠的发展速度。该结果揭示学业成绩可能是儿童社交淡漠发展过程的重要保护因素,为儿童社会行为的健康发展提供了新的实证依据。