A festschrift for Carolyn Ingrid Saarni

ABSTRACT

To introduce this special issue honoring Carolyn Saarni, this article provides a brief biography of her career. It highlights Carolyn’s foresight in integrating developmental science and counseling psychology to enlighten our understanding of the development of children’s emotional lives. It also describes some of her most creative research, studies that inspired many scholars to this day. It casts Carolyn’s contributions in the historical changes that have taken place in developmental psychology. Lastly, this article also previews the articles presented by contributing authors who count themselves among Carolyn’s colleagues. Those articles focus on research directions in the study of emotional competence, emotion regulation, emotion knowledge, and emotion socialization that have evolved from and been inspired by Carolyn’s rich contributions to developmental psychology.     

Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children

Mathematical giftedness refers to mastery in a specific mathematical domain at an earlier than expected age. The present study examined which cognitive processes accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning between gifted children (MRG) and their typically achieving peers (TA). Naming speed, phonological awareness, short-term memory, executive functioning, and working memory were examined in 51 children aged approximately 7 years. A series of stepwise regression models, using a contrast variable to capture differences in mathematical reasoning between MRG and TA children, were created to examine which cognitive domains accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning. Short-term memory (r²?=?.08) and visual-spatial working memory (r²?=?.39) emerged as the only cognitive predictors within a model that included gender, age, and fluid intelligence. This model captured all of the variance distinguishing mathematics reasoning between MRG and TA children, explaining an overall contribution of 70% of the variance in mathematical reasoning.     

Investigating social functioning after early mild TBI: the quality of parent–child interactions

The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury due to inherent physiological and developmental factors, and even mild forms of traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can sometimes result in cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Despite the high prevalence of paediatric mTBI, little is known of its impact on children's social functioning. Parent–child relationships represent the centre of young children's social environments and are therefore ideal contexts for studying the potential effects of mTBI on children's social functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of parent–child interactions after mTBI using observational assessment methods and parental report. The sample included 130 children (18–60 months at recruitment) divided into three groups: children with uncomplicated mTBI (n = 47), children with orthopaedic injury (OI, n = 27), and non‐injured children (NI, n = 56). The quality of parent–child interactions was assessed 6 months post‐injury using the Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) scale, an observational measure which focuses on the dyadic nature of parent–child exchanges, and the Parental Stress Index questionnaire (Parent‐Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI) domain). Significant differences with medium effect sizes were found between the mTBI group and the NI group on the MRO, but not between the OI group and the other two groups. PCDI scores did not differ across groups, suggesting that observational measures may be more sensitive to changes in parent–child interactions after TBI. The current findings have implications for children's post‐injury social development and highlight the importance of monitoring social outcomes even after minor head injuries.     

Young children's television viewing and the quality of their interactions with parents: A prospective community study

Television is one of the most commonly viewed forms of media by children throughout the world. Excessive television viewing can influence the quality of children's relationships and interactions with their parents. We examined the emotional availability (EA ) of children toward their parents by assessing child responsiveness and child involvement , using a cross‐sectional and longitudinal design. We employed a large and representative community sample of Norwegian 4‐year‐olds (n = 995) who were followed up at 6 years old (n = 795). The results illustrate that, when viewing excessive amounts of television, children are less likely to be involved with their parents in ordinary toy‐play. We argue in favor of the displacement hypothesis, stating that time‐demanding technologies are negatively related to the quality of parent–child relationships because spending more time watching television will leave less time for developing nurturing social relationships.     

Father Absence and Familial Antisocial Characteristics

This study examined family antisocial characteristics according to whether biological fathers live at home and agree to be study participants. Antisocial symptoms were tabulated for 161 clinic-referred children and their parents. Families with fathers at home had fewer paternal, maternal, and child antisocial symptoms, and scored higher on multiple SES indicators, than did families with departed fathers. Antisocial characteristics were highest, and SES was lowest, when fathers could not be located or recruited. Results suggest that requiring father participation (as in family-trio genetic designs) screens out the more antisocial families. Of clinical interest, antisocial behavior in any family member is more likely if the father is absent and nonparticipating. The heightened antisocial behavior in children associated with absent biological fathers was not mitigated by presence of stepfathers and was not accounted for by lower SES. The ethical use of mother report on absent fathers is discussed.     

Can Home Visitation Enhance Maternal Social Support?

This study investigates the impacts of Healthy Start, a statewide, home visitation program, on the social support systems of 212 disadvantaged mothers in Oahu, Hawaii. Maternal support was assessed at the time these mothers gave birth and 12 months later with the Maternal Social Support Index. Comparisons of mothers randomly assigned to visited (n = 108) or nonvisited (n = 104) conditions uncover few differences on structural or affiliational aspects of support after 12 months. Visited mothers, however, are significantly less likely to report a decline in satisfaction with a close adult than nonvisited mothers do. The discussion examines the challenges of fostering social support and the ability of home visitation efforts to achieve this outcome.     

‘Someone to talk to who'll listen’: addressing the psychosocial needs of children and families

The paper presents the Lewisham Community Child and Family Service (LCCFS), a community‐based intervention providing psychosocial help for children, young people, parents and families. The service is focused on early intervention, prevention and promotion in the improvement of local health. It works under a service framework based on inter‐agency collaboration, and a counselling model based on community and interpersonal partnerships, grounded in personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). The policy demands and local need for accessible and acceptable mental health are discussed, and quantitative and qualitative findings of the needs assessment preceding the establishment of the LCCFS are presented, supporting the need for community mental health provision. The feasibility for the LCCFS to reconcile and meet the policy demands and the needs of parents with respect to child psychosocial help and services are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Psychological Burden Inflicted By Multiple Cancers in Li-Fraumeni Families: Five Case Studies

To gain insight into the psychological, emotional, relational, and family problems of families afflicted by Li-Fraumeni syndrome, we interviewed members of five such families in the Pediatric Oncology Department, Gustave Roussy Institute, where at least one member of the family had been treated. These interviews showed that families were psychologically fragile, that their interactions and thinking patterns were related to a family background plagued by the repeated occurrence of cancer, and was often marked by physical or psychological violence. They had complex imaginary etiologic explanations, and showed an ambivalent willingness to learn about cancer and the risks involved. They expressed their fear of transmitting doom and death, posed questions about whether their parents would have had them had they known the test result, and about what their own attitude would be toward childbearing. Thus genetic testing awoke disconcerting and unsolved questions for them. These first results can contribute to the design of supportive interventions and future clinical research.     

Children's Personal Narratives and Their Mothers' Responsiveness as Covariates of the Children's Compliance

Twenty-six mother–child dyads volunteered to be observed interacting at home, and the children agreed to participate in interviews designed to elicit their personal narratives. Observers coded the children's compliance with mother instructions and the mothers' responsiveness to their children's prosocial behaviors. Other raters coded the children's narratives for coherence of story structure. Correlational analyses of the data sets confirmed hypotheses that mother responsiveness and child coherence scores would account for separate variance in the children's willingness to comply with their mothers' instructions. These results were interpreted within the literature on child–mother synchrony and functional aspects of children's personal narratives.     

Families of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Review and Recommendations for Future Research

This review integrates and critically evaluates what is known about family characteristics associated with childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Evidence suggests that the presence of ADHD in children is associated to varying degrees with disturbances in family and marital functioning, disrupted parent–child relationships, specific patterns of parental cognitions about child behavior and reduced parenting self-efficacy, and increased levels of parenting stress and parental psychopathology, particularly when ADHD is comorbid with conduct problems. However, the review reveals that little is known about the developmental mechanisms that underlie these associations, or the pathways through which child and family characteristics transact to exert their influences over time. In addition, the influence of factors such as gender, culture, and ADHD subtype on the association between ADHD and family factors remains largely unknown. We conclude with recommendations regarding the necessity for research that will inform a developmental psychopathology perspective of ADHD.