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…

Examined the relationship between temperament and craniofacial variation in 372 infants observed at ages 4, 14, and 21 months. Found that high-reactive 4-month olds, who are predisposed to becoming timid, inhibited toddlers, had smaller bizygomatic ratios (narrower faces) at both 14 and 21 months compared to their low-reactive peers. (MDM)

The locomotor skills of walking and running were compared in newly running infants at 5.5, 7.5, and 9.5 months of independent walking, and then again at 3 years of age. Collective variables showed transitional forms over the first few months of running, indicating a relatively continuous change across the two gait forms. (MDM)

Baseline and heelstick measures of behavioral state, heart period, vagal tone, and salivary cortisol were obtained from 50 full-term newborns. Mothers completed Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire when the infants reached six months of age. Greater reactivity to the heelstick was associated with lower scores on the "Distress-to-Limitations"…

Examined the sex differences in physiological and behavioral stress reactivity among 36 healthy, full-term neonates after a mildly stressful behavioral assessment procedure. Salivary cortisol, heart rate change, Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (NBAS) cluster scores, and behavioral states after the NBAS provided 100% discrimination between male…

While 18 5-month-old infants viewed photographic slides of faces posed in happy, neutral, or angry expressions, a brief acoustic noise burst was presented to elicit the blink component of human startle. It was found that blink size was augmented during the viewing of angry expressions and reduced during viewing of happy expressions. (MDM)

Investigated the development of inattentiveness and hyperactivity in middle childhood through a prospective study that followed 191 children from birth through age 11. In early childhood, quality of caregiving better predicted distractibility, an early precursor of hyperactivity, than did early biological or temperament factors. Caregiving and…

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.…

Associations among adolescent attachment organization, maternal sensitivity, and infant attachment organization were examined prospectively in 72 teenaged mother-infant dyads. Pregnant teenagers' attachment organizations predicted both sensitivity and infant-mother attachments. Associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment were…

Examined the effects of parental stress on adolescent adjustment in independent rural and urban samples of intact families with at least one early adolescent male child. Findings showed that parental stress was related to adjustment through stress-related parental depression that, in turn, correlated with disrupted discipline practices. (MDM)

Examined the relationship between individual interactional style, individual problem-solving behavior, and family problem-solving effectiveness in 431 intact rural families with 2 children, 1 of whom was in seventh grade. Results indicated that a hostile interactional style directly predicted destructive problem-solving behavior, whereas a warm…

Examined patterns of mothers' and fathers' differential treatment of first-born and second-born school-age siblings in 110 families and the links between parents' differential treatment and children's well-being and dyadic family relationships. Found that parental patterns were linked to differences between the siblings' well-being and that…

Examined the social structural conditions under which helpful behavior are elicited, the interrelations of helpfulness and competence across two years of middle adolescence, and whether social circumstances moderate the effects of helpfulness on competence. Found that both boys' and girls' helpfulness in the home was responsive to family need,…

Examined the close friendships of 186 early adolescent boys in relation to antisocial behavior. Similarity was observed between the demographic characteristics and antisocial behavior of the boys and their close friends. Direct observations of interactions with close friends revealed a reliable correlation between antisocial behavior, directives,…

Examined the conceptions of freedom of speech and religion held by 48 adolescents and young adults, using a structured interview containing assessments of civil liberties in general, in straightforward applications, and in conflict with other social and moral concerns. Findings indicate that sophisticated conceptions of civil liberties emerge by…