Parent coaching at 6 and 10 months improves language outcomes at 14 months: A randomized controlled trial

Previous studies reveal an association between particular features of parental language input and advances in children's language learning. However, it is not known whether parent coaching aimed to enhance specific input components would (a) successfully increase these components in parents' language input and (b) result in concurrent increases in children's language development. The present randomized controlled trial assigned families of typically developing 6‐month‐old infants to Intervention (parent coaching) and Control (no coaching) groups. Families were equivalent on socioeconomic status, infants' gender, and infants' age. Parent coaching took place when infants were 6 and 10 months of age, and included quantitative and qualitative linguistic feedback on the amount of child‐directed speech, back‐and‐forth interactions, and parentese speech style. These variables were derived from each family's first‐person LENA recordings at home. Input variables and infant language were measured at 6, 10, and 14 months. Parent coaching significantly enhanced language input as measured by two social interaction variables: percentage of speech directed to the child and percentage of parentese speech. These two variables were correlated, and were both related to growth in infant babbling between 6 and 14 months. Intervention infants showed greater growth in babbling than Control infants. Furthermore, at 14 months, Intervention infants produced significantly more words than Control infants, as indicated by LENA recordings and parent report via the MacArthur‐Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory. Together, these results indicate that parent coaching can enrich specific aspects of parental language input, and can immediately and positively impact child language outcomes. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/7wqR28gPiwo     

Improved Perceptions of Emotion Regulation and Reflective Functioning in Parents: Two Additional Positive Outcomes of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

The purpose of this study was to test whether Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a widely used effective therapy for children’s externalizing behaviors and parenting problems, was associated with improvements in parents’ emotion regulation and reflective functioning. We also investigated whether these improvements had unique associations with children’s improvements in externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 139 Australian children aged 29 to 83 months and their caregivers; all were referred for child externalizing behavior problems coupled with parenting skill deficits or high parent stress. All data were gathered via a questionnaire completed prior to and after completion of PCIT. Significant improvements were found in parents’ self-reported emotion dysregulation and capacity to use cognitive reappraisal for emotion regulation. There was also improvement in parents’ self-report of children’s symptoms, parenting practices, and reflective functioning in the form of prementalizing, which measured a low capacity to understand the emotional world of the child. Multiple regression showed that improvements in cognitive reappraisal, prementalizing, and negative parenting practices were associated with improvement in children’s symptoms. The findings extend the existing evidence for PCIT as an effective parenting intervention, adding parents’ perceived emotion regulation and reflective functioning to the list of positive outcomes from PCIT. Improved emotion regulation and reflective functioning, unique from changes in parenting practices, could be mechanisms that help explain why PCIT has been associated with improvements in children’s externalizing behaviors.     

The Facilitative Effects of Ambiguous Figures on Creative Solution

Empirical studies of creativity emphasize the importance of ambiguity advantage in idea generation and creative problem‐solving. This study examined whether ambiguous figures could directly induce a mind‐set that would transfer to the creative problem‐solving. In Experiment 1, we examined whether presentation of ambiguous figures would influence participants' performance in alternative uses tasks, and the results showed that prior exposure to ambiguous figures significantly enhanced participants' performance in the dimension of fluency, flexibility, and originality than those exposed to non‐ambiguous figures; in general uses tasks, there were no significant difference in the reaction time and originality between the ambiguous figure condition and non‐ambiguous figure condition. In Experiment 2, the facilitative effect of ambiguous figures on creative thinking was further examined with creative story generation tasks that demand more mental effort and increased cognitive load. Results showed that creativity of stories generated in ambiguous figure condition was scored significantly higher than those in non‐ambiguous figure condition. The current research extends our understanding of the facilitative effect of ambiguous figures on creative problem‐solving.     

Increasing access to low‐intensity interventions for childhood anxiety: A pilot study of a guided self‐help program for Scandinavian parents

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for child anxiety. However, access to treatment is limited. It has been suggested that low‐intensity formats of parent‐delivered CBT may improve access to treatment. Our aim was to develop and pilot‐test the acceptability and effect of a low‐intensity therapist‐guided parent‐delivered group program for anxious children (age 7–12 years) adjusted to the Scandinavian culture. The program required 1.5 hours of therapist‐time per family. Mothers, fathers and children reported on revised child anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) at referral, pre‐ and post‐treatment. Mothers and fathers also gave a qualitative account of their experiences. Thirty‐one families were enrolled and only one family dropped out. Mean age of the children was 9 years. Intent‐to‐treat analyses revealed significant reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms from pre‐ to post‐treatment for all informants. Large effect sizes were found for child anxiety symptoms as reported by mothers and fathers, and for child depressive symptoms as reported by mothers. Medium to large effect sizes was found for the self‐reported anxiety symptoms by the children, and for depressive symptoms reported by both children and fathers. More than 93% of the parents would recommend the program. Results suggest that our program may provide a new approach to improve access to treatment for anxious children in Scandinavia; however, further research must be conducted before firm conclusions can be drawn.     

Considering the role of early discrimination experiences and the parent–child relationship in the development of disruptive behaviors in adolescence

Discrimination has been shown to be related to diminished psychological adjustment and greater risk for substance use when personally experienced by adolescents and when their caregivers experience discrimination. Our research considers the impact of primary caregiver experiences of racial- and socioeconomic-based discrimination in early (age 3–5 years) and late childhood (age 9½) on adolescent disruptive behaviors (age 14) with a large sample of diverse caregiver–child dyads (N = 634). In addition, we examine the potential protective effects of parent–child relationship quality in early and late childhood in buffering the effects of caregiver discrimination on adolescent disruptive behaviors. We also explore possible gender differences in children's vulnerability to engage in disruptive behaviors in the context of caregiver experiences of discrimination. The findings from this study indicate that at trend level, early childhood experiences of primary caregiver discrimination (ages 3–5) predicted adolescent disruptive behaviors, accounting for the effects of more recent (age 9½) caregiver discrimination. In addition, parent–child relationship quality at age 9½ years was found to buffer the effects of late childhood (age 9½) primary caregiver discrimination on adolescent disruptive behaviors for both male and female youth. The findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention techniques that foster healthy and positive primary caregiver–child relationships.     

单亲家长性别角色类型与子女社会适应的关系——性别角色教养态度的中介作用

在苏州市妇联及社区、街道工作人员的帮助下,采用判断取样,在苏州地区选取458户单亲家庭的父母子女,考察了单亲家长性别角色类型、性别角色教养态度与子女社会适应间的关系,并检验单亲家长性别角色教养态度在其性别角色类型与子女社会适应间的中介效应。结果表明:(1)单亲家长的性别角色类型多为双性化,性别角色教养态度处中上水平,单亲子女的社会适应处中上水平;不同背景变量的单亲子女其社会适应存在差异,单亲家长的户口与性别角色类型在子女社会适应上存在交互作用;(2)未分化及女性化类型与社会适应之间存在显著负相关,且未分化类型与性别角色教养态度存在显著负相关,单亲家长性别角色教养态度在其性别角色类型与子女社会适应两者关系中存在部分中介效应。     

一次有关数字脑图的调查记实

本研究是在哲学教学过程中,用心理学方法对学生进行思维训练的意外收获,通过对604名大学一年级学生的问卷调查,发现在三分之二以上人的大脑中,对数字的记忆是有脑图的,没有脑图的人是相同,有脑图的人,其图形多种多样,精彩纷呈。数字在人脑中究竟是怎样存在的？这是从毕达哥拉斯时代就为哲学家关注的课题。本文在调查的基础上得出了几点推论,并就脑图的形成及其对记忆和思维的影响等提出疑问。     

The impulse to infidelity and oedipal splitting

Freud suggested that the child perceives parental intercourse as an act of infi delity by the desired but unfaithful parent. Parental sexual infi delity is felt to be a major narcissistic injury that gives rise to fantasies of revenge. A defensive organization arises to manage this trauma and its attendant revenge fantasies. That organization involves splitting of the desired parent into faithful and unfaithful parts, displacement of hostility on to the rival parent, and identifi cation with the desired but unfaithful parent resulting in the impulse to infi delity. Romantic fantasies of escape and rescue from evil rivals provide guilt free ways of satisfying fantasies of oedipal revenge. In those fantasies the evil rival is turned into an injured third party who gets his or her just deserts as the romantic couple gets to live happily ever after. This defensive organization may embroil patients in complicated love triangles as adults for which they may seek treatment. Analyzing the repudiated narcissistic wound of parental infi delity and the disguised revenge fantasies that defend against that wound may provoke narcissistic rage towards the analyst as a moralistic, possessive, controlling, envious, and spoiling oedipal parent.     

"沙盘游戏"的理论分析及其在幼儿教育中的应用研究

受荣格积极想象技术及其理论的启发 ,吸收了威尔斯 (H .G .Wells)、玛格丽特·洛温菲尔德 (MargaretLowenfeld)等人有关儿童游戏理论与操作之精要 ,多拉·卡尔夫 (DoraKallf)在 2 0世纪 6 0年代初创设了“沙盘游戏”理论。沙盘游戏作为一种有效而独特的挖掘人类潜意识的技术 ,在国外的发展非常成熟 ,应用十分广泛 ;而国内缺乏对该理论的引介与探讨 ,我们结合正在广州育才幼儿园所做的个案研究 ,概要介绍沙盘游戏的理论与操作 ,进而探索“沙盘游戏”在幼儿园教育实践中的具体应用。