Examined whether links between marital relations and six- to nine-year olds' adjustment were mediated by children's emotional security. Latent variable path analysis results supported theoretical pathway whereby marital dysfunction was linked with adjustment problems as mediated by emotional insecurity regarding parental conflicts. Emotional…

Examined role of parent-child discourse within a supportive relationship in children's early conscience development. Found that children's attachment security predicted maternal and child references to feelings and moral evaluatives in narratives about previous behavior incidents. Attachment security, shared positive affect between mother and…

In a middle-class sample of mothers of 2-year-olds, adult attachment classifications measured in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) were related to maternal self-reported emotional well-being and observed parenting behavior, and the potential mediating and moderating roles of maternal emotion were tested. Mothers classified as dismissing on the…

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)

Describes two experiments that examined children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion. Discusses the findings in relation to research concerning children's concept of mind, their grasp of the appearance-reality distinction; their ability to produce complex, embedded justifications; and their ideas about emotion.…

Spontaneous expressive control of negative emotion was examined in two studies of children three- to nine-years-old using an experimental "disappointing" situation. Study 1 examined facial expressions, verbalizations, and spontaneous references to emotional expression control. Study 2 examined the expressive behavior of 20 preschool…

Normal and abnormal language development depends to a great degree on the nature of the infant-mother relationship. (Author)

Examined the relationship between 41 preschool children's peer competency and the exchange of reciprocal negative affect displays during physical play with parents. Found that fathers who typically responded to their children's negative affect displays with negative affect of their own had children who shared less, were more aggressive, and…

Analyzed correlates of social problem solving in 63 2-parent families with a preadolescent. Structured interviews were held when child was about 9.5 years old, and again 2 years later. Found a substantial decline in the quality of family problem solving during preadolescence associated with changes in the participation and affective behavior of…

In a year-long participant observation study of remediative action following child injury, 61 children ages 8 and 9 and their mothers wrote records and, in biweekly interviews, reported on more than 1,000 minor injuries. Found that remediative action was related to type of child activity and to mother's affect and beliefs. (MDM)

Examined mother-child interaction in play and teaching tasks. Mother-child interaction aggregates represented task orientation, positive emotion, and allowance of autonomy. Maternal interaction aggregates predicted teachers' ratings of children's positive social behavior, assertiveness, and sadness in the preschool setting. (BC)

Examines the coherence of attachment organization during late adolescence in a sample of 53 college freshmen. Three kinds of working models were assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview: Dismissing of Attachment, Secure, and Preoccupied with Attachment. Findings are interpreted in terms of different styles of affect regulation and…

Proposes and tests an attributional model of parent social cognition and examines parents'inferences about why everyday child behaviors occur and what consequences these inferences may have for socialization. (HOD)

Reports studies of children's interactions at home with younger siblings and/or best friends. Finds gender and group composition differences in the play activities selected, amount of positive and negative interaction, and assumption of the roles of teacher/learner, manager/manager and playmate. (CB)