An application of the prototype willingness model to drivers' speeding behaviour

We tested the prototype willingness model (PWM). The participants (N = 198) completed online questionnaire measures of PWM constructs (Time 1) and subsequent speeding behaviour (Time 2). Path analyses showed that the PWM accounted for 89% of the variance in subsequent (self‐reported) speeding behaviour. This significantly exceeded the variance accounted for by the theory of planned behaviour. In line with the PWM, both behavioural intention and behavioural willingness had direct effects on behaviour. Behavioural willingness had a significantly larger effect. Attitude and subjective norm both had indirect effects on behaviour through both behavioural intention and behavioural willingness. Prototype (similarity) perceptions had indirect effects on behaviour through behavioural willingness only. The findings support the notion that driving is governed by reactive decision‐making (willingness), underpinned by prototype perceptions, attitudes and subjective norms, to a greater extent than it is deliberative decision‐making (intentions), underpinned by attitudes and subjective norms. The implications for safety interventions are discussed.     

Identifying child temperament types using cluster analysis in three samples

Although previous research has explored the existence of temperament clusters in children, these studies have used single samples, reducing generalizability, and broad temperament constructs to identify clusters, obscuring fine-grained dimensional differences. To address these limitations, the current study identified a common cluster structure across two diverse samples of preschool children using the same fine-grained temperament measure (ns = 96, 187), then verified the cluster structure on a large, nationally-representative sample (n = 757). A consistent six-cluster solution was identified across the three samples: Unregulated, Regulated, High Reactive, Bold, Average, and Well-Adjusted. Demonstration of a replicable typology advances the understanding of temperament in childhood, and provides a parsimonious way to communicate complex information about a child’s temperament to parents and caregivers.     

Predictors of Child Maltreatment Potential in a National Sample of Mothers of Young Children

Although previous studies have furthered our broad ability to predict child maltreatment potential, young children remain at the highest risk for experiencing maltreatment. Thus, several variables of relevance for this population were examined. A national community sample of 158 mothers with young children between ages 1.5 and 5 years rated their young children’s temperament as well as their own temperament, emotion regulation, stress, coping, and child maltreatment potential. Young children’s mood quality as well as mothers’ mood quality, flexibility/rigidity, emotion dysregulation, parenting stress, cumulated severity of stress, and emotion-focused coping added unique incremental variance to the prediction of child maltreatment potential, accounting for 67% of the variance overall. Further, mothers’ emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between mothers’ flexibility/rigidity and child maltreatment potential. Consequently, emotion regulation skills represent an important point of intervention for mothers of young children who are at increased risk for child maltreatment due to difficult temperament characteristics.     

Mothers' Reactions to Preschoolers' Proactive and Reactive Aggressive Behaviours

The present study was designed to examine mothers' emotional reactions, causal attributions, and socialization strategies in response to preschool children's engagement in proactive and reactive physical aggression with peers during free play at school. Participants were 84 mothers (M_age = 31.83, SD = 4.48) with preschool‐aged children (M_age = 4.92, SD = 0. 97), residing in Ankara, Turkey. Supporting our expectations, mothers reacted with negative emotions to both functions of aggressive behaviours, with less anxiety, disappointment, embarrassment, and guilt for reactive aggression. They also believed that reactive aggression is more contextually dependent and intentional and reported more indirect (e.g., asking the child, teacher, or other children to find out more about the situation and aggressive episode) and other‐oriented strategies (e.g., telling the other child to behave properly) to address these behaviours. Overall, our findings suggest that Turkish mothers' feelings, perceptions, and socialization approaches to childhood aggression vary depending on the functions of aggression, and mothers perceive preschool‐aged children's engagement in reactive aggression in the school setting as relatively more acceptable than proactive aggression. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Mediating Role of Resiliency in the Relationship Between Temperament and Posttraumatic Growth

The purpose of the research is to investigate the mediating role of resiliency in the relation between temperamental traits and posttraumatic growth. Data of 74 persons who have experienced the death of someone close were analyzed. The range of age of the participants was 21–74 years (M = 38.4; SD = 15.5). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Formal Characteristics of Behavior–Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI), and the Resiliency Assessment Scale were used in the study. Resiliency plays a mediating role among four traits of temperament (Briskness, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance, and Activity) and posttraumatic growth. Resiliency seems to modify the direct impact of temperamental traits on positive posttraumatic changes.     

5岁半幼儿掌控动机、气质及入学准备能力的关系探析

通过对51名5.5岁幼儿掌控动机的问卷评估、入学准备能力的情境测验以及气质的教师评定,考察了幼儿多领域掌控动机与入学准备各领域能力之间的关系及气质在两者关系中的调节作用。结果发现,对于专注倾向(高专注性-低活动性和情绪性)幼儿,物体掌控动机正向预测了精细动作技能和学习方式,大动作掌控动机正向预测了感觉运动技能;对于反应倾向(高反应性-低抑制性)幼儿,同伴社会掌控动机正向预测了精细动作技能;而对于抑制倾向(低反应性-高抑制性)幼儿,同伴社会掌控动机则负向预测了精细动作技能、感觉运动技能和学习方式。     

The reactive–proactive aggression questionnaire: differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescent boys

This study reports the development of the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), and the differential correlates of these two forms of aggression. Antisocial, psychosocial and personality measures were obtained at ages 7 and 16 years in schoolboys, while the RPQ was administered to 334 of the boys at age 16 years. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a significant fit for a two‐factor proactive–reactive model that replicated from one independent subsample to another. Proactive aggression was uniquely characterized at age 7 by initiation of fights, strong‐arm tactics, delinquency, poor school motivation, poor peer relationships, single‐parent status, psychosocial adversity, substance‐abusing parents, and hyperactivity, and at age 16 by a psychopathic personality, blunted affect, delinquency, and serious violent offending. Reactive aggression was uniquely characterized at age 16 by impulsivity, hostility, social anxiety, lack of close friends, unusual perceptual experiences, and ideas of reference. Findings confirm and extend the differential correlates of proactive–reactive aggression, and demonstrate that this brief but reliable and valid self‐report instrument can be used to assess proactive and reactive aggression in child and adolescent samples. Aggr. Behav. 32:159–171, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A developmental origins perspective on the emergence of violent behavior in males with prenatal substance exposure

Children with prenatal substance exposure are at increased risk for externalizing behavior problems and violence. However, the contribution of early life experiences for placing these individuals at risk is not well understood. Utilizing a sample of 1,388 children with prenatal substance exposure from the Maternal Lifestyle Study, we attempt to shed light on these contributing factors by examining the impact of infant temperament, maternal sensitivity, and early life stress on the expression of violent behavior at ages 12 through 14 years. Males may be more at risk for increases in violent behavior in early adolescence through a number of early life experiences, such as variability in responses to maternal flexibility and engagement related to individual differences in temperament, as well as exposure to early adversity. Comparing two prevailing developmental theoretical frameworks, deficit models and differential susceptibility, we aim to understand the developmental origins of violent behavior in males by identifying children who may be most susceptible to early caregiving experiences.     

The link between child temperament and low-income mothers’ and fathers’ parenting

Numerous studies have shown that children's temperamental characteristics impact the quality and quantity of parent–child interactions. However, these studies have largely focused on middle-class samples, have not compared multiple domains of parenting across mothers and fathers, and have not considered the possibility of nonlinear associations between temperament and parenting. The present study addresses these gaps by examining the potentially nonlinear role of two temperamental characteristics—negative emotionality and sociability—in predicting the quality and quantity of low-income mothers’ and fathers’ parenting. Data were drawn from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a study of low-income children and families. Results indicated that whereas parenting quality was somewhat impaired when children were temperamentally vulnerable (low sociability, high negativity), parents increased parenting quantity with the same vulnerable children. There was some evidence that parents were most reactive to children who scored either very high or very low on negative emotionality and sociability in both parenting domains. Patterns also suggest that mothers were more reactive to sociability, and fathers to negative emotionality.