Investigated associations between maternal psychological and fetal neurobehavioral functioning with data provided at 24, 30, and 36 weeks gestation. Found that fetuses of women who were more affectively intense, appraised their lives as more stressful, and reported more pregnancy-specific hassles were more active across gestation. Fetuses of women…

This longitudinal study tested whether a set of sociocultural, biological, interpersonal, and affective factors predicted increases in body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls. Findings indicated that elevated adiposity, perceived pressure to be thin, thin-ideal internalization, and social support deficits predicted body dissatisfaction increases,…

This longitudinal study examined the relation between the instability of maternal intimate relationships and school behavior of economically disadvantaged third-graders. After ecological correlates were controlled, chronic relationship instability was found to predict externalizing behavior for boys and girls and internalizing behavior for girls,…

Investigated developmental trends associated with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott false-memory effect, the role of distinctive information, and subjective experience of true/false memories. Found that 5-year-olds recalled more false memories than adults but no age differences in recognition of critical lures. Distinctive information reduced false…

Examined longitudinally maternal emotional distress, parental behavior, and provision of cognitively stimulating activities as mediators of the association between family income and prematurely born young children's development. Found that provision of stimulating experiences in the home mediated the relation between family income and children's…

This longitudinal study examined peer teasing and parent criticism as mediators of the relationship between girls' weight status and self-concept. Findings indicated that at both ages 5 and 7, overweight girls reported lower self-concept. Peer weight-related teasing and parent criticism mediated relationship between weight status and self-concept…

Language development was studied in 310 pairs of 4-year-old twins. Rotated factor analyses indicated presence of a general language factor (L) and a general nonverbal factor (NV). Moderate genetic influence was found for L and NV abilities. Bivariate genetic analysis estimated a genetic correlation of .63 between L and NV abilities. Results…

Assessed association between aspects of mother's employment and security of infant-mother attachment. Found that mothers' prenatal attitudes toward work and timing of work return made significant contributions to attachment outcomes apart from effects of maternal sensitivity, demographic, maternal, child, and child care factors. Mothers who…

Drew from 47 parents' reports over a 15-day period to compare characteristics of marital conflict when children (8-16 years) were present versus absent. Found that mothers described 669 incidents of conflict and fathers described 551 incidents. About two-thirds of marital conflicts occurred in children's absence. Child-present conflicts were more…

Examined visual perception of emotion in typically developing and physically abused children, focusing on the sequential, content-based properties of feature detection in emotion recognition processes. Found that physically abused children accurately identified facial displays of anger on the basis of less sensory input than did typically…

Examined associations between family disruption and adolescent adjustment among African American girls from impoverished urban neighborhoods. Found that more residential moves and parental separations significantly predicted greater adjustment problems. Adolescents' perceptions of current relationships and neighborhoods related to adjustment but…

Followed from infancy to age 7 internationally adopted children placed before 6 months. Found that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament related to higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Attachment security and maternal sensitivity…

A 2-year longitudinal study investigated influences of social support and self-esteem on adjustment in early adolescence. Findings obtained using latent growth curve modeling were consistent with self-esteem mediating effects of social support on emotional and behavioral adjustment. Lack of balance in social support and self-esteem in direction of…

Examined in two studies infants' reenactment of intended acts in failed-attempt paradigm. Found that when only first actions were counted, infants who observed the full-demonstration model produced more target acts. When all target acts produced within the response period were counted, infants in emulation-learning and spatial contiguity…

Examined changes in sense of family obligation (FO) among an ethnically diverse group of 745 Americans in transition from secondary school into young adulthood. Found that FO increased for all young adults, with slight variations according to ethnic and financial backgrounds. Implications of FO for employment and educational persistence depended…