Examines the psychosocial and academic problems resulting from overplacement or premature enrollment of primary school children. The educational system compounds the problem by ignoring the differences in maturation levels among children of the same age. The possibility of speeding up maturation rates and suggestions for preventing overplacement…

To examine patterns of maladjustment in preschool children, 173 children from a general kindergarten population were observed and rated by teachers using the Bristol Social Adjustment Guides. Principal-components factor analysis with varimax rotation extracted three dimensions of maladaptivity (i.e., general overreaction, socioemotional…

Describes a program whereby foster parents, social workers, and parents are trained to help foster children increase understanding of their lives and decrease confusion about their identities. Integral to the program is the child's collecting information into a Life Story Book. (Author/DB)

Compares a group of 32 toddlers with employed mothers with a matched group of 38 toddlers with nonemployed mothers in order to examine the effect of maternal employment on the development of the child. While no differences were found between the two groups in language development and emotional adjustment, children of employed mothers were more…

In this project, the purpose was to stimulate couples to become aware of their communications and support systems as necessary building blocks for healthy family emotional development. Pregnancy is seen as a transitional period leading to another life stage in the growth of an individual. Evaluation and summary are presented. (Author)

Reviews research on intellectual, emotional, and social development of children in day care. (RH)

One cannot alter the instinctive respect for courage by steering the young onto literature describing peaceful events rather than violent ones. The adolescent's desire to explore his virtues by entering imaginatively into tragic or violent events is too deep to be eradicated. (Author/SJL)

Observes that the norm for the onset of embarrassment and blushing is five years, although some children may show these signs of a social self one or two years earlier. (RL)

Eighty first and third graders were presented one of two brief videotaped social interactional episodes. Half viewed an unambiguous tape in which affective response was congruent with situational context; the other half viewed an ambiguous tape in which nonverbal affective response was incongruent with situational context. (MS)

The Omnibus Personality Inventory was administered to a group of students as freshmen, seniors, and alumni (five years after graduation). Respondents exhibited freshman-to-senior personality changes usually associated with college attendance. The orientation to intellectualism and the social-emotional maturation persisted in the years immediately…

Examined the development of toddler affectionate behavior toward new teachers. Observed 10 toddlers during free play on the first 40 days of day care attendance, recording children's responses to their teacher's smiling, affectionate words, and affectionate contact. Found that smiling received affectionate child responses earlier than other…

Presents strategies to help parents, teachers, and counselors support the social and emotional needs of gifted children. Strategies include fostering communication between the school and parents, understanding the child's personality and social goals, making counseling for gifted students available, and providing opportunities for gifted children…

A study examined the social cognition of 20 Dutch children (ages 8-18) with autism, 20 with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, 20 with psychiatric disorders, and 20 typical children. Theory of mind and emotion recognition functioning proved to be correlated and less integrated in children with autistic spectrum disorders.…

An object-retrieval study tested the hypothesis that locating a caregiver would interfere with false belief performance and be related to preschool children's emotional awareness. Results showed age-related improvement to above-chance levels during object identity and location tasks, but caregiver location task performance showed no age-related…

Clinicians and researchers are beginning to acknowledge the importance of integrating a developmental perspective into the understanding of clinical disorders. Major gaps still exist between basic research on attachment processes and clinical issues regarding mental disorders. Reflecting growth in this direction, National Institute of Mental…