Suchergebnisse

AbstractEmotional and behavioral maturity expectations increase as children transition to primary school; thus, maternal responses that support and encourage children's expression of negative emotion may not benefit school‐age children as much as preschoolers. The current study explored a change in the utility of these maternal responses among 187 families (62 5‐year‐olds, 75 6‐year‐olds, and 50 7‐year‐olds). Mothers reported on their responses to children's negative emotions and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors at two time points over 1 year. Multiple group analysis within cross‐lagged path models revealed a positive association between non‐supportive maternal responses and later child externalizing behaviors among 5‐year‐olds. However, non‐supportive responses were related to decreases in externalizing behaviors among the 7‐year‐olds. Discrepant findings between the 5‐ and 7‐year‐olds may represent a developmental shift in the function of mothers' emotion socialization practices.

AbstractMost research on weight‐related social difficulties in adolescence emphasizes categorical measures of weight status (e.g., overweight/obese vs. non‐overweight/non‐obese). However, teens who are not overweight can also experience weight‐related social adjustment problems, and girls may be at higher risk for maladjustment due to weight‐related stigmatization than their male counterparts. The current study modeled trajectories of BMI z‐score (zBMI), a continuous measure of BMI relative to U.S. reference standards for child age and sex, for boys and girls from ages 9 to 15. The sample of 938 adolescents, drawn from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, contained proportions of normal weight and overweight/obese teens that approximate the U.S. population. Latent growth curve modeling was used to establish quadratic models describing zBMI change in boys and girls separately using measurements collected at ages 9, 10.5, 11.5, 12.5, 13.5, and 15.5. zBMI growth parameters were used to predict a latent social adjustment variable indicated by mother and adolescent reports of adaptive social functioning at age 15. Controlling for pubertal timing, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, the proportion of measurements at which children were classified as overweight, and age 9 social adjustment, girls' more rapid BMI gains across the pubertal transition, and greater acceleration of these growth rates relative to national norms were associated with lower age 15 social adjustment. Findings suggest that a better understanding of weight‐related social adjustment may require broadening the scope of research and intervention efforts to normal‐weight teens, particularly normal‐weight girls.

AbstractThe current study examined associations between mothers' behavioral profiles during mother‐child conflict interactions and their children's social skills. This person‐centered approach classified 181 mothers according to their levels of emotional responsiveness, intrusiveness, negativity, and engagement facilitation behaviors during an eight‐minute conflict discussion task with their child. Three distinct classes of mothers were identified using latent profile analysis: sensitive/engaged, moderately sensitive/engaged, and insensitive/disengaged. An analysis of covariance indicated that children of mothers in the sensitive/engaged group had significantly higher social skills than children of mothers in the moderately sensitive/engaged and insensitive/disengaged groups. Results suggest that mother‐child conflict interactions may benefit children's social development when mothers facilitate their children's participation in a highly sensitive manner.