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This study examined relations between father-child attachment security and both paternal sensitivity and fathers' pleasure in parenting. At 12 months of age sensitivity was coded from father-infant interactions and pleasure in parenting was coded from fathers' interviews assessing attitudes toward the parenting role. Father-child dyads participated in the Strange Situation Procedure assessing attachment relationship quality. Sensitivity was related to more pleasure in parenting, but neither variable alone predicted attachment security. However, pleasure in parenting moderated the association between sensitivity and attachment. Moreover, the concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting differed markedly across attachment classifications. In secure relationships fathers showed strong concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting. Fathers in avoidant relationships demonstrated high sensitivity coupled with low pleasure in parenting, whereas fathers in disorganized relationships showed low sensitivity coupled with high pleasure in parenting. Results speak to the importance of integrating cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of parenting in father-child attachment research.
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Relações Pai-Filho , Pai/psicologia , Apego ao Objeto , Poder Familiar/psicologia , Adulto , Desenvolvimento Infantil , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Fatores SocioeconômicosRESUMO
This study examines observed maternal sensitivity, harsh-intrusion, and mental-state talk in infancy as predictors of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in middle childhood, as well as the extent to which infants' resting cortisol and cortisol reactivity moderate these associations. Using data from the Family Life Project (n = 1,292), results indicate that maternal sensitivity at 6 months predicts fewer CP at first grade, but only for infants who demonstrate high levels of cortisol reactivity. Maternal harsh intrusion predicts fewer empathic-prosocial behaviors, a component of CU behaviors, but only for infants who demonstrate high resting cortisol. Findings are discussed in the context of diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility models.
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Transtorno da Conduta , Hidrocortisona/metabolismo , Comportamento Materno , Poder Familiar , Adulto , Criança , Transtorno da Conduta/etiologia , Transtorno da Conduta/metabolismo , Transtorno da Conduta/fisiopatologia , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Comportamento Materno/psicologia , Poder Familiar/psicologiaRESUMO
This study examined the independent and mediated associations between maternal depression symptoms (MDS), mother-child interaction, and child executive function (EF) in a prospective longitudinal sample of 1,037 children (50% boys) from predominantly low-income and rural communities. When children were 6, 15 and 24 months of age, mothers reported their level of depressive symptomatology. At 24 and 36 months of age, mother-child interactions during play were rated for warmth-sensitivity and harsh-intrusiveness, and dyadic joint attention and maternal language complexity were assessed from a book sharing activity. Children's EF (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and set shifting) were assessed at ages 36 and 48 months using a battery of six tasks. Results indicated that MDS at ages 15 and 24 months were negatively associated with children's EF at age 48 months. Additionally, harsh-intrusive mother-child interactions partially mediated this link. Although warmth-sensitivity, dyadic joint attention and maternal language complexity were all longitudinally related to EF, they did not serve as mediating mechanisms between MDS and EF. These results were obtained while controlling for multiple demographic factors, children's earlier cognitive abilities, maternal general distress and childcare experiences. Findings from this study identify 1 mechanism through which early exposure to MDS could be related to children's EF. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Filho de Pais com Deficiência/psicologia , Depressão , Função Executiva , Relações Mãe-Filho/psicologia , Mães/psicologia , Atenção , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Relações Interpessoais , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Comportamento Materno/psicologia , Jogos e Brinquedos , Pobreza , Estudos Prospectivos , Psicolinguística , Psicologia da Criança , População Rural , Populações Vulneráveis/psicologiaRESUMO
Despite long-standing hypotheses that intimate partner violence (IPV) may undermine children's ability to form secure attachment representations, few studies have empirically investigated this association. Particularly lacking is research that examines IPV and attachment during middle childhood, a time when the way that children understand, represent, and process the behavior of others becomes particularly important. Using data from a sample of African American children living in rural, low-income communities (n = 98), the current study sought to address this gap by examining the association between physical IPV occurring early in children's lives and their attachment security during the first grade. Results indicate that, even after controlling for child- and family-level covariates, physical IPV was associated with a greater likelihood of being rated insecurely attached. This effect was above and beyond the influence of maternal parenting behaviors, demonstrating a unique effect of physical IPV on children's attachment representations during middle childhood.
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Little research has examined the legacy of early maternal care for later attachment representations among low-income and ethnic minority school-aged children. Using data from a sample of 276 rural, low-income, African-American families, this study examined associations between maternal care in infancy and children's representations of attachment figures in middle childhood. Maternal care was coded from 10-min home-based observations at 6, 15, and 24 months of age. Representations of attachment figures were assessed using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task at 6 years of age. Sensitive maternal care in infancy was not significantly related to attachment security or episodic disorganized behaviors in children's representations. However, children exposed to more harsh-intrusive parenting during infancy displayed less secure representations of attachment figures in middle childhood and more episodic disorganized behaviors, even after controlling for numerous child and family contextual covariates. Findings inform conceptualizations of attachment formation among rural, low-income, African-American parent-child dyads.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano/psicologia , Apego ao Objeto , Poder Familiar/etnologia , Pobreza , População Rural , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Relações Mãe-Filho/etnologia , Fatores Sexuais , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Consistent with the gustatory-vagal hypothesis, vagal stimulation during breastfeeding may contribute to infants' physiological regulatory development independent of caregiving effects. This study examined whether breastfeeding predicted 6-month-old infants' (N = 151) and their mothers' vagal regulation during the face-to-face still-face (FFSF). Although breastfed and nonbreastfed infants showed expected vagal withdrawal during the Still-Face episode, only breastfed infants showed continued withdrawal during the reunion episode, suggesting greater physiological mobilization to repair the interaction. Breastfeeding mothers showed higher vagal tone than nonbreastfeeding mothers at baseline, suggesting greater capacity for regulation, and throughout the FFSF, suggesting calmer states. Breastfeeding effects were independent of maternal sensitivity. Findings suggest that infants' and mothers' physiological regulation may be shaped by breastfeeding independently of associated social factors.
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Aleitamento Materno , Reconhecimento Facial/fisiologia , Mães , Autocontrole , Nervo Vago/fisiologia , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Comportamento Materno/fisiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
This study investigated the interaction between children's parasympathetic functioning and maternal sensitive parenting behaviors during infancy and toddlerhood in the prediction of children's executive functions (EF) at the age of 5 years. Participants included 137 children and their mothers who were followed from the age of 3 months to 5 years. Children's cardiac activity was recorded at rest at multiple times from ages 3 to 36 months, and estimates of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of parasympathetic functioning) were calculated. Sensitive parenting was assessed during a mother-child play task at ages 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, and 5 years. Children completed age appropriate EF tasks at the age of 5 years. The link between sensitive parenting during toddlerhood (ages 24 and 36 months) and children's later EF was moderated by children's RSA such that this positive link was evident only among children who had low levels of baseline RSA, and not among those who had high levels of baseline RSA. These findings were obtained while controlling for concurrent sensitive parenting and maternal and child verbal abilities. Results from this study provide evidence for the significant role of biopsychosocial processes in early childhood in the development of EF.
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This research examined the child, parent, and family conditions under which attachment disorganization was related to both level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool among a community sample. Using the ordinary least squares regression, we found that attachment disorganization at 12 months significantly predicted children's externalizing behavior at 36 months and this prediction was not contingent on any other factors tested. For predicting changes in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months, we found a significant main effect of family cumulative risk and an interaction effect between attachment disorganization at 12 months and maternal sensitivity at 24 months. Specifically, high disorganization was related to a significant decrease in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months when maternal sensitivity at 24 months was high. Our main-effect findings replicated the significant effect of attachment disorganization and cumulative risk on externalizing behavior with preschool-aged children. Our interaction finding provided support for understanding the parenting conditions under which infant attachment disorganization may be related to change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages. Implications of the findings were discussed.
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Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Comportamento Materno/psicologia , Relações Mãe-Filho/psicologia , Apego ao Objeto , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/epidemiologia , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Fatores de Risco , Fatores Sexuais , Fatores SocioeconômicosRESUMO
Deficits in social orienting (i.e., gazing toward caregivers) during dyadic interactions and reactivity to stressful stimuli have been identified as behavioral correlates of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in older children. The goal of the current study was to investigate infants' mother-directed gaze and reactivity during the face-to-face and still-face episodes of the face-to-face stillface paradigm performed at 6 months in the prediction of ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. Using data from the Durham Child Health and Development study (n = 206), hierarchical regression analyses revealed that infants' negative reactivity during the still-face episode and mother-directed gaze during the face-to-face episode predicted fewer ODD behaviors in early childhood. Examination of interaction effects suggested that mother-directed gaze attenuated the negative relation between reactivity and ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. The current study is one of the first to extend downward the investigation of ODD and CU behaviors into infancy.
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Transtornos de Deficit da Atenção e do Comportamento Disruptivo/psicologia , Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Comportamento do Lactente/psicologia , Relações Mãe-Filho/psicologia , Pré-Escolar , Emoções , Feminino , Fixação Ocular , Humanos , Lactente , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Estudos ProspectivosRESUMO
Despite evidence that individuals living in low-income and rural communities may be at heightened risk for intimate partner violence (IPV), little is known about the prevalence and nature of IPV occurring in these communities. The goal of the current study, therefore, was to characterize IPV occurring in a population-based sample of families living in communities characterized by rural poverty. Specifically, we examined the prevalence, severity, and chronicity of IPV occurring in this high-risk sample, as well as the demographic correlates thereof. Using data from multiple assessments across the first five years of their child's life, we also examined changes in the prevalence of IPV across this time. Results indicate that IPV was most prevalent around the birth of the target child and that the population-level prevalence of IPV decreased significantly over the subsequent five years. Although previous research suggests that children under the age of five are at heightened risk for IPV relative to older children, this is the first study to our knowledge to demonstrate that there are changes in the prevalence of IPV within this high-risk age period.
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The present study extends the spillover and crossover hypotheses to more carefully model the potential interdependence between parent-parent interaction quality and parent-child interaction quality in family systems. Using propensity score matching, the present study attempted to isolate family processes that are unique across African American and European American couples that are independent of other socio-demographic factors to further clarify how interparental relationships may be related to parenting in a rural, low-income sample. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), a statistical analysis technique that accounts for the interdependence of relationship data, was used with a sample of married and non-married cohabiting African American and European American couples (n = 82 dyads) to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' observed parenting behaviours are related to their behaviours and their partner's behaviours observed in a couple problem-solving interaction. Findings revealed that interparental withdrawal behaviour, but not conflict behaviour, was associated with less optimal parenting for fathers but not mothers, and specifically so for African American fathers. Our findings support the notion of interdependence across subsystems within the family and suggest that African American fathers may be specifically responsive to variations in interparental relationship quality.
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OBJECTIVE: Despite knowledge that intimate partner violence (IPV) can negatively affect children's socioemotional and behavioral development, less is known about the impact of IPV on children's cognitive development, including whether it influences their executive functioning (EF). The goal of the current study was to address this gap in the literature, by examining the association between IPV that occurs early in life and EF at school entry. This study also allowed for the investigation of maternal sensitive parenting behaviors as a possible mediator of this relation. METHOD: Using longitudinal data from a socioeconomically and racially diverse sample of families (n = 154), we investigated the association between IPV measured when children were 24, 30, and 36 months old and their EF when they were 60 months old. We also tested whether maternal sensitive parenting behaviors (measured when children were 24, 36, and 60 months old) mediated this association. RESULTS: Results indicate that, even after controlling for a number of family- and child-level covariates, IPV occurring early in children's lives was negatively associated with their EF at school entry. This relation was mediated by maternal sensitive parenting behaviors, such that higher levels of IPV were associated with lower levels of sensitive parenting behaviors, which in turn were positively associated with children's EF. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to a limited body of literature that links IPV and children's cognitive functioning, and suggest that intervention efforts aimed at improving children's EF may want to simultaneously consider IPV and maternal sensitive parenting behaviors.
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This study examines associations between maternal and paternal sensitive parenting and child cognitive development across the first 3 years of life using longitudinal data from 630 families with co-residing biological mothers and fathers. Sensitive parenting was measured by observational coding of parent-child interactions and child cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. There were multiple direct and indirect associations between parenting and cognitive development across mothers and fathers, suggesting primary effects, carry-forward effects, spillover effects across parents, and transactional effects across parents and children. Associations between parenting and cognitive development were statistically consistent across mothers and fathers, and the cumulative effects of early parenting on later cognitive development were comparable to the effects of later parenting on later cognitive development. As interpreted through a family systems framework, findings suggest additive and interdependent effects across parents and children.
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Data from a large prospective longitudinal study (n = 1,239) was used to investigate the association between observed sensitive parenting in early childhood and children's representations of family relationships as measured by the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP) in first grade as well as the extent to which these representations partially mediate the influences of early caregiving experiences on later conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. A structural equation modeling approach revealed that less sensitive parenting at 24, 36, and 58 months predicts higher levels of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in first grade controlling for earlier measures of CP and CU behaviors. Results also indicated that greater dysfunctional family representations, as assessed with the FDP, are significantly associated with higher CU behaviors in the first grade, but not CP. Finally, a test of the indirect pathway suggests that children's dysfunctional family representations may, in part, account for the association between sensitive parenting and CU behaviors.
Assuntos
Transtorno da Conduta/psicologia , Conflito Familiar/psicologia , Poder Familiar/psicologia , Pré-Escolar , Emoções , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Relações Mãe-Filho , Teoria PsicológicaRESUMO
This study examined the development of baseline autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) physiological activity from 12 to 36 months as well as antecedents (poverty) and consequents (behavior problems) of individual differences in physiological development. Children (N=179; 50% poor; 56% African American; 52% male) provided saliva samples at 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age. Latent growth curve models indicated that nonlinear change was evident for both sAA and cortisol, with sAA increasing and cortisol decreasing with age. Children residing in poor households exhibited lower initial levels of sAA, but not cortisol. African-American children showed slightly smaller decreases in cortisol over time. Initial levels of sAA predicted higher levels of internalizing behaviors at 36 months and both initial levels of and total change in sAA predicted higher levels of externalizing behaviors at 36 months. There was no evidence that sAA or cortisol mediated the relationship between poverty and later behavior problems.
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Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/metabolismo , Desenvolvimento Infantil/fisiologia , Hidrocortisona/metabolismo , Pobreza , Saliva/química , alfa-Amilases Salivares/metabolismo , Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/epidemiologia , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , North Carolina/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Using data from a diverse sample of 581 families living in predominantly low-income, rural communities, the current study sought to investigate the longitudinal associations among father-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) and child-directed physical aggression perpetrated by the mother. The unique contributions of each of these types of family violence on children's behavioral problems at school entry were also examined. Results confirm bidirectional associations between father-perpetrated IPV and maternal physical aggression directed toward the child, and indicate that both types of physical aggression contribute to child behavior problems at school entry.
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Using data from a diverse sample of 620 families residing in rural, predominately low-income communities, this study examined longitudinal links between fathers' sensitive parenting in infancy and toddlerhood and children's early executive functioning, as well as the contribution of maternal sensitive parenting. After accounting for the quality of concurrent and prior parental care, children's early cognitive ability, and other child and family factors, fathers' and mothers' sensitive and supportive parenting during play at 24 months predicted children's executive functioning at 3 years of age. In contrast, paternal parenting quality during play at 7 months did not make an independent contribution above that of maternal care, but the links between maternal sensitive and supportive parenting and executive functioning seemed to operate in similar ways during infancy and toddlerhood. These findings add to prior work on early experience and children's executive functioning, suggesting that both fathers and mothers play a distinct and complementary role in the development of these self-regulatory skills.