Infants' and mothers' play was observed at 9, 12, and 18 months for deaf child--deaf mother (DD), deaf child--hearing mother (DH), and hearing child--hearing mother (HH) dyads. At 12 months, HH infants displayed more representational play than DD and DH infants. At 18 months, HH and DD infants displayed more preplanned play than DH infants. (BC)

Analyzed the acoustic properties of spontaneous speech to 14-month olds by English- and Japanese-speaking mothers in the United States. Found that utterance- and phrase-level acoustic regularities were large enough to be detected without correcting for other influences. These findings suggest that a naive listener could estimate a prosodic…

While infants investigated a novel toy, their mothers made either facial or vocal expressions that were neutral, happy, or fearful. Results indicated that infants in the fearful-vocal condition looked at their mothers longer, showed less toy proximity, and showed more negative affect than infants in the neutral-vocal condition. Happy-vocal signals…

Parents, and adults inexperienced in child care rated intensities of infants' cries. The groups did not differ in their ratings. The cries of 6-month olds were rated more intense than 1-month olds. Amplitude and noisiness of cry predicted adult judgments of 1-year olds' cries. A measure of amplitude ratio predicted ratings of 6-month olds' cries.…

Assessed children's adjustment at clinic intake and six months later, and sampled children's saliva before and after a conflict-oriented parent-child interaction. Increases in salivary cortisol predicted children's internalizing problem behaviors and anxiety disorders at follow-up. High adrenocortical reactivity at intake and follow-up was…

Ten- to 14-year olds and their mothers and teachers completed measures of parental discipline and children's prosocial behavior, empathy, and guilt. Parents' use of inductive rather than assertive discipline was related to children's prosocial behavior; children of inductive parents were more empathic than other children; and children's empathy…

Low-income parents completed a social map and measures of self-esteem and child-rearing practices. Results indicated that American Indians had an interconnected web of kin; Hispanics, close-knit social networks; and Anglos, diffuse but supportive networks. Affective dimensions of social networks were related to parenting. Parental self-efficacy…

Argues for focusing on parental psychological control of children in socialization studies. Describes three studies that tested the measurement of psychological control and its associations with adolescent behavior problems; results showed that parental psychological control is consistently predictive of youth internalized problems (depression)…

Survey findings indicated that the likelihood of families enrolling a child in center-based care was greatest when the mother was highly educated and had less social support; African American families were more likely to use center-based care than Latino or white families; and parental practices related to children's early literacy were related to…

Compared neighborhood variables, based on census data, to child outcomes for 5- and 6-year olds. Found that neighborhood structural aspects were associated with child development; neighborhood factors played a role in cognitive and socioemotional outcomes; and higher neighborhood SES and racial homogeneity were related to children's higher…

Interviewed boys in grades two through eight about their occupational aspirations. Found that aspirations of inner-city boys mirrored race and class differences in adult job holdings; the gap between aspirations and expectations was greater for inner-city boys than other boys; and lower occupational aspirations of inner-city boys were related to…

Interviewed family members about family relationships and observed family members' interactions. Found that, compared to other girls, early maturing girls experienced higher levels of psychological distress; experienced greater psychological distress in grade 10 when they had a mixed-sex friendship network in grades 7 through 9; and were more…

Examined effects of peer victimization and whether it was a precursor of school maladjustment. Subjects were 200 5- and 6-year-olds. Findings indicated that victimization was a precursor of children's loneliness and school avoidance. Children's feelings of loneliness were more pronounced while victimization was occurring, and delayed effects were…

Developed measures of preoccupied and avoidant coping to determine whether the measures concurrently relate to adjustment problems. Subjects were 229 children from third through seventh grades. Results indicated that preoccupied and avoidant coping with the mother can contribute to maladjustment in other arenas. Children's adjustment with peers…

Examined whether children who vary in their behavioral responses to ambiguous provocation but have similar attributional processes differ in their social goals and self- efficacy perceptions. Subjects were 781 4th and 5th graders. Found that aggressive, withdrawn, and problem-solving responders differed in the social goals and self-efficacy…