International Journal of Behavioral Development current issue

The New Friends Vignettes: Measuring parental psychological control that confers risk for anxious adjustment in preschoolers

McShane, K. E., Hastings, P. D. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:17 PDT

This investigation examined the links between preschoolers’ internalizing problems and anxiety-related social difficulties and two aspects of maternal and paternal psychological control: overprotection and critical control. Some 115 mothers and 92 fathers completed the New Friends Vignettes (NFV), a new measure of psychological control and supportive parenting designed to assess parenting relevant to young children’s internalizing problems and anxiety. Children’s anxious behaviors with peers at daycare or preschool were observed, mothers reported on preschoolers’ internalizing problems, and teachers reported on children’s internalizing problems and isolated behaviors. The NFV scales demonstrated good internal consistency and one-year test—retest reliability for mothers and fathers, and moderate convergent validity with observed parenting for mothers. Maternal overprotection and paternal critical control predicted more internalizing problems and anxious adjustment in preschoolers, with some associations being stronger for sons than daughters. Conversely, paternal supportiveness predicted fewer internalizing difficulties at preschool in daughters only. Children’s anxious behaviors predicted increasing paternal overprotection, and their internalizing problems at home and preschool tended to predict increasing maternal overprotection and critical control. Results support the reliability and validity of the New Friends Vignettes, and are indicative of parent differences in socialization processes, gender differences in risk for internalizing problems, and possible bidirectional pathways of influence in the socialization of internalizing trajectories.

Strong families, tidy houses, and children's values in adult life: Are "chaotic", "crowded" and "unstable" homes really so bad?

Flouri, E. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:17 PDT

Chaotic home systems have been linked with children’s adverse psychological and academic outcomes. But, as they represent a departure from the suburban ideal of space, order, and family cohesiveness and stability, they should also be linked with low support for survival values. Using longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) this study tested this by examining long-term links between chaotic home systems (assessed when cohort members were aged 0—10 years), and support for survival values (racism and authoritarianism) at age 30. A chaotic home system was operationalized in this study as family disruption, low family cohesiveness, overcrowding, untidiness, and residential mobility. The study showed that, after adjustment for controls (mother’s liberalism, authoritarian parenting and educational attainment, family’s social class and material disadvantage, and child’s ethnicity, gender, general ability and adult educational attainment), residential mobility and untidiness were negatively related to authoritarianism and to support for racism, and family cohesiveness was positively and overcrowding negatively related to authoritarianism.

Consistent patterns of interaction in young children's conflicts with their siblings

Perlman, M., Ross, H. S., Garfinkel, D. A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

This study investigates whether preschool-aged children show consistent patterns of behaviour in conflicts with their siblings. Consistency was assessed at the nomothetic (i.e., group), idiographic (i.e., individual), and idiosyncratic (i.e., consistent patterns that differed from the norm) levels. We examined conflicts between 19 2-year-old and 19 4-year-old children and their siblings. Both age groups showed consistent idiographic and nomothetic patterns of interactions. Two-year-old children used idiosyncratic patterns of responses to the conflict overtures of others (i.e., they deviated from the norm in consistent ways) while 4-year-old children did not. The variance in the responses of the younger children was greater than that found for the older children. Together these results suggest that as children mature though the preschool years their conflict patterns become more homogeneous. The importance of studying patterns in conflict at all three levels is discussed.

Chinese children's explanations for illness

Zhu, L., Liu, G., Tardif, T. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

The study explored how Chinese children spontaneously explained the causes of illness. Two groups of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children from different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds were recruited, with 30 children in each age group. A group of 30 college students were also recruited and their responses compared to those produced by the children. Participants’ responses were coded as belonging to one of five mutually exclusive categories: psychogenic, biological, behavioral, symptomatic, or other. Results indicated that children’s causal explanations were mostly behavioral and symptomatic, with more biological explanations for older children than for younger. In contrast, adults’ explanations were mostly biological and psychogenic. Although adults were influenced by concepts in Chinese traditional medicine that tie negative emotions to illness, Chinese children did not mention emotional causes for illness. Nonetheless, Chinese children also offered some explanations based on concepts of "wind" and "cold," which may be a result of cultural experience with some aspects of traditional Chinese medicine.

Punitive discipline and child behavior problems in Chinese-American immigrant families: The moderating effects of indigenous child-rearing ideologies

Fung, J. J., Lau, A. S. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

In a sample of 107 Chinese immigrant families we examined whether cultural child-rearing beliefs moderated the association between parents’ use of punitive discipline and children’s behavioral adjustment. Immigrant parents and their children aged 7 to 17 years completed measures of parental discipline and child behavior problems. Parents also reported on indigenous Chinese child-rearing ideologies regarding shaming and training as strategies for raising competent and moral children. Results of hierarchical regression models conducted with parent-reported data indicated that the negative effects of punitive discipline on child behavior problems were not apparent when parents adhered to training and shaming ideologies. However, the buffering effects of training ideologies were more robust and consistent than shaming. The findings provide some evidence that the discipline—behavior problem link may be moderated by cultural context of caregiver psychology which shapes the meaning and implications of parental behavior.

Older adults' interactive behaviors during collaboration on everyday problems: Linking process and outcome

Kimbler, K. J., Margrett, J. A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

Adult collaborative cognition research suggests that working with a partner is generally beneficial to performance; however, little research has investigated the relation between the interactive behaviors and collaborative outcome. The present study examined four interactive behaviors exhibited by familiar (i.e., married spouses) and unfamiliar (i.e., other-sex strangers) older adult dyads during collaborative performance on an everyday problem-solving measure. Results indicated that (a) interactive behaviors were related to partner familiarity and whether dyads first attempted the problems individually or collaboratively, (b) the nature of the interactive behaviors differed over the course of task completion, and (c) interactive behaviors were linked to performance outcome.

From implicit to explicit representation in children's response to pictorial humor

Puche-Navarro, R. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

Two experiments examined pictorial humor as an unusual but legitimate way to approach the study of children’s representational activity and the transition from implicit to explicit knowledge. In both experiments, the participants were 3- and 4-year-old children. Experiment 1 studied the understanding of two pictorial jokes using two conditions, choice and verbal production. Experiment 2 compared the results of Experiment 1 with the comprehension that children had of two versions of three pictorial jokes presented in two different sessions. The results showed three levels of comprehension. Changes in level were analyzed. The data suggest a tendency to stay at the same level, although a few children either descended or ascended. These changes occur within a short period of time, and provide support for a particular conceptualization of cognitive development. Implications for illustrated mechanisms of change and representational redescriptions in young children are discussed.

The associations between information and communication technology (ICT) and peer and parent relations in early adolescence

Punamaki, R.-L., Wallenius, M., Holtto, H., Nygard, C.-H., Rimpela, A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

The study aims were, first, to examine the associations between the type and intensity of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and peer and parent relationships. Second, the study explored gender- and age-specific ICT usage and their associations with peer and parent relationships. The participants were 478 Finnish 10- and 13-year-old girls and boys. They reported the frequencies of digital game playing, using a computer for information seeking, communication, and Internet surfing, and evaluated the qualities of peer relationships (popularity, loneliness, and friendship) and communication with mother and father (open and conflicting). As hypothesized, intensive usage of ICT for entertainment (digital playing and Internet surfing) was associated with poor relations with both peers and parents, while intensive usage of ICT for communication (email and chat rooms) was associated with good peer relations, and poor parent relations. The associations were, however, gender-specific. Among girls intensive digital game playing was associated with poor mother—daughter and among boys with poor father—son communication. ICT is discussed as provider of new tools for playing, exploring, and communicating in childhood and adolescence.

Methods and Measures: Growth mixture modeling: A method for identifying differences in longitudinal change among unobserved groups

Ram, N., Grimm, K. J. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:38:18 PDT

Growth mixture modeling (GMM) is a method for identifying multiple unobserved sub-populations, describing longitudinal change within each unobserved sub-population, and examining differences in change among unobserved sub-populations. We provide a practical primer that may be useful for researchers beginning to incorporate GMM analysis into their research. We briefly review basic elements of the standard latent basis growth curve model, introduce GMM as an extension of multiple-group growth modeling, and describe a four-step approach to conducting a GMM analysis. Example data from a cortisol stress-response paradigm are used to illustrate the suggested procedures.