The goal of this study was to examine physiological and environmental predictors of children's sympathy (an emotional response consisting of feelings of concern or sorrow for others who are distressed or in need) and whether temperamental effortful control mediated these relations. Specifically, in a study of 192 children (23% Hispanic; 54%…

The links among mothers' compassionate love for their child, autonomic nervous system activity, and parenting behavior during less and more challenging mother-child interactions were examined. Mothers expressed and reported less negative affect when they exhibited autonomic patterns of increased parasympathetic dominance (high parasympathetic…

The purpose of the study was to examine associations between mothers' socialization practices in childhood and adolescence and offsprings' (N = 32, 16 female) sympathy/concern in early adulthood. Mothers reported on their socialization practices and beliefs a total of 6 times using a Q-sort during their offsprings' childhood…

Despite the increasing prevalence of 3-generation family households (grandparent, parent, child), relatively little research has studied these households during early childhood. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort ("N" = ~6,550), this study investigated the associations between…

Little is known about 2nd language development among young, low-income, language-minority children. This article examined the longitudinal English development of low-income, dual language learners (DLLs) in Miami ("n" = 18,532) from kindergarten through 5th grade. Growth curve modeling indicated that social skills, good behavior, Spanish…

Depressive syndrome and disorders increase substantially during adolescence. Little is known, however, about how "individual" symptoms of depression change over the course of this developmental period. The present study examined within-person changes in symptom severity of each individual symptom of depression, utilizing longitudinal…

We propose a model linking the early parent-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO), children's temperament trait of effortful control, and their internalization of conduct rules. In a developmental chain, effortful control was posited as a mediator of the links between MRO and children's internalization. MRO was further posited as a…

This study examined the associations between sibling intimacy and conflict and youths' reports of risky behavior in a sample of adolescents ages 11-20. Participants were mothers, fathers, and sibling dyads in 393 families who were interviewed annually for 3, 4, or 5 years. Multivariate multilevel models tested longitudinal links between…

This study examined mother-child conversations about children's and adolescents' past harmful and helpful actions. The sample included 100 mothers and their 7-, 11-, or 16-year-old children; each dyad discussed events when the child (a) helped a friend and (b) hurt a friend. Analyses suggested that conversations about help may serve to…

Emotion development processes have long been linked to social competence in early childhood but rarely have these associations been examined in middle childhood or with relational outcomes. Guided by theories of interpersonal relationships and emotion socialization, the current study was designed to fill these gaps by examining a longitudinal…

We examined the relation between low self-esteem and depression using longitudinal data from a sample of 674 Mexican-origin early adolescents who were assessed at age 10 and 12 years. Results supported the vulnerability model, which states that low self-esteem is a prospective risk factor for depression. Moreover, results suggested that the…

Longitudinal data are used to examine whether effects of early child care are amplified and/or attenuated by later parenting. Analyses tested these interactions using parenting as both a categorical and continuous variable to balance power and flexibility in testing moderation. The most consistent finding was that maternal sensitivity during…

This study investigated friend influence over adolescent schoolwork engagement in 160 same-sex friend dyads (94 female dyads and 66 male dyads). Participants were approximately 16 years of age at the outset. Each friend described his or her own schoolwork engagement, school burnout, and perceptions of maternal affection. The results revealed that…

In the current article, we contrast 2 analytical approaches to estimate the relation of parenting to executive function development in a sample of 1,292 children assessed longitudinally between the ages of 36 and 60 months of age. Children were administered a newly developed and validated battery of 6 executive function tasks tapping inhibitory…

A transactional model examining the longitudinal association between vagal regulation (as indexed by vagal withdrawal) and maternal sensitivity from age 2.5 to age 5.5 was assessed. The sample included 356 children (171 male, 185 female) and their mothers who participated in a laboratory visit at age 2.5, 4.5, and 5.5. Cardiac vagal tone was…