The role of empathic accuracy in adolescents' peer relations and adjustment.

This study investigated whether children's empathic accuracy is associated with their peer relationships and adjustment. It also examined whether, and how, empathic accuracy moderated the known influence of peer relations on adjustment. Participants were 116 (58 boys) fifth-through eighth-graders. At school, child participants completed measures assessing their peer relationships. In the lab, child participants completed a performance-based measure of empathic accuracy and measures of adjustment. Teachers and parents also provided assessments. Results revealed that children who were less adept at inferring other people's thoughts and feelings were more likely to experience adjustment problems. Empathic accuracy acted as a buffer against adjustment problems when peer relationships were poor: Previously found links between poor peer relationships and poor adjustment were found for adolescents with low empathic accuracy but not for those with high empathic accuracy.

A safe, low-cost, easy-to-use 3D camera platform to assess risk of obstructed labor due to cephalopelvic disproportion.

Cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD)-related obstructed labor is accountable for 3-8% of the maternal deaths worldwide. The consequence of CPD-related obstructive labor in the absence of a Caesarian section (C/S) is often maternal or perinatal mortality or morbidity to the mother and/or the infant. Accurate and timely referral of at-risk mothers to health facilities where C/S is a delivery option could reduce maternal mortality in the developing world. The goal of this work was to develop and test the feasibility of a safe, low-cost, easy-to-use, portable tool, using a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera, to identify women at risk for obstructed labor due to CPD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, 3D camera imaging, anthropometry and clinical pelvimetry were collected and analyzed from women 18-40 years of age, at gestational age ≥36+0 weeks with previous C/S due to CPD (n = 43), previous uncomplicated vaginal deliveries (n = 96), and no previous obstetric history (n = 148) from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Novel and published CPD risk scores based on anthropometry, clinical pelvimetry, MRI, and Kinect measurements were compared. Significant differences were observed in most anthropometry, clinical pelvimetry, MRI and Kinect measurements between women delivering via CPD-related C/S versus those delivering vaginally. The area under the receiver-operator curve from novel CPD risk scores base on MRI-, Kinect-, and anthropometric-features outperformed novel CPD risk scores based on clinical pelvimetry and previously published indices for CPD risk calculated from these data; e.g., pelvic inlet area, height, and fetal-pelvic index. This work demonstrates the feasibility of a 3D camera-based platform for assessing CPD risk as a novel, safe, scalable approach to better predict risk of CPD in Ethiopia and warrants the need for further blinded, prospective studies to refine and validate the proposed CPD risk scores, which are required before this method can be applied clinically.

The Short-Term Effect of Grade Retention on Peer Relations and Academic Performance of At-Risk First Graders.

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that grade retention has a positive effect on children's teacher- and peer-rated academic competencies and on sociometric measures of peer acceptance. We also expected that the positive effect of grade retention on peer acceptance would be mediated by children's ability to meet academic challenges in their classrooms. Participants were 350 (52.6% male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk first graders attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. An individually administered test of academic achievement, teacher-report and peer-report measures of academic competence, and peer-report measures of peer acceptance were collected on children in first grade and 1 year later, at which time 63 children were repeating first grade and 287 were in second grade. The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data. Children's academic competencies, as perceived by peers and teachers, fully mediated the effect of retention on subsequent peer acceptance.

Relationship influences on teachers' perceptions of academic competence in academically at-risk minority and majority first grade students.

This study examined the associations among child demographic variables, teacher perceptions of parent-teacher and student-teacher relationship quality, and teacher perceptions of children's academic abilities in an ethnically diverse sample of 607 academically at-risk first grade children. Relative to relationships with African American children and parents, teachers rated their relationships with White and Hispanic children and parents more positively. Measures of relationship quality added unique variance to teachers' perceptions of children's abilities, controlling for parent educational level and measured ability. Relationship variables fully mediated the association between African American status and teachers' perceptions of children's abilities. Implications of the findings for teacher in-service and professional development and for parent involvement programs are discussed.

Interpersonal conflict, agreeableness, and personality development.

This multimethod research linked the Big-Five personality dimensions to interpersonal conflict in childhood. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension has been associated with maintaining positive interpersonal relations in adolescents and adults. In two studies, elementary school children were assessed on the Big-Five domains of personality. Study 1 (n=276) showed that agreeableness was uniquely associated with endorsements of conflict resolution tactics in children as well as parent and teacher reports of coping and adjustment. Study 2 (n=234) revealed that children's perceptions of themselves and others during conflict was influenced by their agreeableness regardless of their partner's agreeableness. Observers also reported that pairs higher in agreeableness had more harmonious, constructive conflicts. Overall findings suggest that of the Big-Five dimensions, agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to interpersonal conflict and adjustment in children.