Examined contributions of dimensions of maternal responsiveness to timing of milestones in early expressive language development. Found that maternal responsiveness at 9 and 13 months predicted timing of language milestones over and above children's observed behaviors. Responsiveness at 13 months was a stronger predictor of timing than…

A sample of 147 mother-infant dyads was recruited from a peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town and seen at 2- and 18-months postpartum. At 18 months, 61.9% of the infants were rated as securely attached (B); 4.1% as avoidant (A); 8.2% as resistant (C); and 25.8% disorganized (D). Postpartum depression at 2 months, and indices of poor parenting…

Addresses the utility of a noninvasive measure of cardiac vagal tone in predicting developmental outcome among infants at risk for cognitive disabilities. Results suggest that measurement of cardiac vagal tone may provide an important means for assessing risk in birth-stressed populations. (Author/RH)

Determines the frequency distribution of Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential variables (BAEP) for premature babies at different stages of development--normal newborns, infants, young children, and adults. The author concludes that the assumption of normality underlying most "standard" statistical analyses can be met for many BAEP…

Examined links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations from age 14 to 18. Found that parent knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at age 14 and knowledge increases over time were negatively correlated with increases in…

This study investigated relations between social interaction during infancy and children's subsequent theory of mind (ToM). Findings indicated that children's performance on ToM tasks at 45 and 48 months positively correlated with mothers' appropriate comments on her infant's mental state, but not with attachment security. Mothers' appropriate…

Assessed relationships between early temperament and behavior problems in a longitudinal study of 850 children from age 3 to 15. Temperament dimensions at ages 3 and 5 were correlated in theoretically coherent ways with behavior problems that were independently evaluated by parents and teachers at ages 9 and 11 and by parents as ages 13 and 15.…

Considered (1) the relation between peer socioeconomic status and specific negative outcomes; (2) the possibility that sociometric status serves as a marker variable for negative outcomes; (3) the possibility that rejected children experience more types of problems during adolescence than other children; and (4) which of six predictor variables…

Compared adjustment of 30 young adults who had a stable, reciprocal best friend in fifth grade and 30 who did not. Found that lower peer rejection uniquely predicted overall life status adjustment. Friended preadolescents had higher general self-worth in adulthood, even after controlling for perceived preadolescence competence. Peer rejection and…

Explored the antecedents of the ambivalent attachment pattern in Israeli infants. Found that mothers of ambivalent infants showed lower education level, higher separation anxiety, and higher parenting stress than mothers of secure infants. Infants' perceived difficult temperament did not discriminate between the two groups. Longer maternal work…

Predicted children's loneliness and social satisfaction growth curves based on changes in peer victimization status from kindergarten through third grade. Found that trajectories for children moving from nonvictim to victim classification showed increasing loneliness and decreasing social satisfaction. However, moving from victim to nonvictim…

This study examined demographic and individual difference variables that predicted level of Brazilian adolescents' prosocial moral judgment and self-reported prosocial behavior; it also tested mediating or moderating relations among predictors. Findings generally were consistent with contention that tendency to take others' perspectives and to…

Three studies replicated and extended Dweck's findings regarding young children's responses to challenging achievement situations. Findings indicated that a composite of cognitive, behavioral, and affective helplessness indices at kindergarten age predicted helplessness 1 and 5 years later, above and beyond gender and kindergarten task ability.…

This study examined both continuity and familial, intrapsychic, and environmental predictors of change in adolescent attachment security across a 2-year period from middle to late adolescence. Assessments included the Adult Attachment Interview, observed mother-adolescent interactions, test-based data, and adolescent self-reports obtained from an…

This study assessed the hypothesis that popularity in adolescence takes on a twofold role, marking high levels of concurrent adaptation but predicting increases over time in both positive and negative behaviors sanctioned by peer norms. Multimethod, longitudinal data, on a diverse community sample of 185 adolescents (13 to 14 years), addressed…