Little is known about toddlers' acquisition of specific emotion regulation (ER) strategies, and how early ER is shaped by temperament. This study investigated if 24-month-old German toddlers, predominantly from families with high levels of parental education (N = 96, n = 49 male), learned the ER strategy distraction through observational learning,…

Parenting and children's temperament are important influences on language development. However, temperament may reflect prior parenting, and parenting effects may reflect genes common to parents and children. In 561 U.S. adoptees (57% male) and their birth and rearing parents (70% and 92% White, 13% and 4% African American, and 7% and 2% Latinx,…

This study investigated the development of mother-son relationship quality from ages 5 to 15 in a sample of 265 low-income families. Nonparametric random effects modeling was utilized to uncover distinct and homogeneous developmental trajectories of conflict and warmth; antecedents and outcomes of the trajectory groups also were examined. Four…

Observed 193 children at 4.5 years who had been classified at 4 months as high or low reactive to stimulation for signs of inhibited or uninhibited behavior. Children classified as high reactive were less spontaneous and less sociable than low-reactive children, but only a small proportion maintained a consistently inhibited or uninhibited…

Investigated whether, in a sample of 30 infants, anger could reliably be observed in facial expressions as early as seven months of age. Also considered was the influence of several variables on anger responses: infants' familiarity with the frustrator, repetition of trials, and sex of the child. (Author/RH)

Examined fetal heart rate and movement in 31 healthy fetuses from 20 weeks through birth and at age 6 months. Found that more active fetuses were more difficult, unpredictable, unadaptable, and active as infants that were less active fetuses, and that higher fetal heart rate was associated with lower emotional tone, activity level, and…

Relations among hormone levels, emotional dispositions, and aggressive attributes were examined in 56 boys and 52 girls, aged 9 to 14 years. (PCB)

Physiological measures were monitored as 80 undergraduate women watched videotapes of responsive and unresponsive children in anticipation of interaction with them and later during a postinterview. Results were interpreted as indicating the importance of social cognitions as moderators of caregiver response to child behavior. (RH)

Investigated genetic change and continuity within the domains of temperament, emotion, and cognition and language for 200 pairs of twins assessed at 14 and 20 months of age. Correlations of measures at the two ages indicated that individual differences in the second year of life showed greater change than continuity on most measures. (MDM)

Data were examined to determine (1) the stability of negative emotional characteristics from early life through adolescence; (2) the degree of relation between these emotional characteristics and adjustment in childhood and adolescence; and (3) the degree to which the characteristics differentially predict multiple adjustment dimensions in…

Examined 8- to 10-month-olds' responses to standard procedures eliciting joy, fear, anger, and discomfort. Found that response parameters to standard procedures cohered strongly within each episode. Responses cohered across same-emotion episodes, except for anger. Responses and father-reported temperament related to infant's emotional tone in…

Measures humor appreciation (including mirth, subjective ratings, and response sets), comprehension, and production in children between the ages of 10 and 14. Relates humor to several areas of competence manifested at school. (HOD)

Findings suggest that, if curiosity is to be developed meaningfully in the schools, affective development must be fostered at the same time that cognitive skills are taught. (Authors)

Examined continuity, stability, and change in behaviors reflecting infant reactivity and regulation. Subjects were 100 infants of 5 and 10 months old. Found that infant behaviors during frustrating situations showed both change and continuity, but the relationship between reactivity and regulation changed in that both factors became more…

Wary infants were more likely than bold infants to reference their mothers when the stimulus, a caged rabbit, was first presented; however, as the exploration period progressed, bold and wary infants referenced equally often. Referencing occurred less often than affective sharing. (RH)