Investigated effects of pubertal, social, and biological factors on negative affect of 103 White girls aged 10 t0 14 years. Results indicate that social factors, and the interaction of negative life events and pubertal factors, accounted for more variance than did hormonal pubertal factors alone. (RJC)

Examined the relations of emotionality and regulation to preschoolers' naturally occurring anger reactions through observations of behavior. Children's use of verbal objections to anger situations were positively related to constructive coping and attentional control, particularly for boys, and negatively related to girls' anger intensity,…

Effects of enacted maternal withdrawal and depression were observed in a sample of 18- to 36-month-old children during counterbalanced episodes of simulated depression and normal affect. Found that when mothers enacted withdrawal and depressed affect, toddlers physically withdrew from them, made more negative physical bids for attention, and…

In comparison to infants of mothers who had no symptoms of depression, infants of mothers with symptoms exhibited reduced left frontal lobe activity during play and failed to exhibit increased right frontal lobe activity during distress. Infants of symptomatic mothers showed less distress during maternal separation than infants of nonsymptomatic…

Examined mothers' and infants' affect in play and infant sex as predictors of infants' response to the still-face situation. (PCB)

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…

This study examined reciprocal-influence models of the association between relational self-views and peer stress during early adolescence. The first model posited that adolescents with negative self-views disengage from peers, creating stress in their relationships. The second model posited that exposure to peer stress fosters social…

Results showed that infants can differentiate dynamic, multimodal expressions as early as five months of age; can distinguish dynamically distinct expressions before similarly animated expressions; and seem to rely more on the voice than the face in making these discriminations. (RH)

Investigates relations among young preschoolers' social cognitive abilities, expression of emotions, and prosocial responses to others' emotions. Results suggested that subjects' social cognitive acuity and differential responding to emotion have heretofore been underrated. (Author/DR)

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)

Investigated relationships among socioeconomic status, family constellation, parental practices, and preschool-age children's awareness of and rationales for rules and conventions. Children's knowledge of rules and conventions was related to social class variables. Parental behaviors were found to be better predictors of the level of children's…

Investigated effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior during still-face situation. Subjects were 48 mothers and their 3-month-old infants. Findings suggested that by providing touch stimulation for their infants, depressed mothers can increase infants' positive affect and compensate for negative effects often resulting…

This study examined relations of reactive versus proactive aggression to second-graders' anger after losing in a board game to a cheating confederate. Found that reactive aggression, but not proactive aggression, was positively related to skin conductance reactivity and observed angry nonverbal behaviors, both at an aggregated level and in terms…

Examined children's emotional and behavioral regulation and emotional and prosocial responses to a crying infant. Found that children who could regulate their arousal were unlikely to become distressed and more likely than other children to talk to and comfort the crying infant. Girls were more responsive and engaged in more active responses than…