It is developmentally normative for preschoolers (aged four to five years) to have self-perceptions that are typically positive and even over-inflated. However, because not all children have positive self-perceptions in early childhood it is important to understand factors that influence the development of self-perceptions, especially low…

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine both social behaviors (i.e., aggression, shyness-withdrawal, and prosocial tendencies) and social understanding (i.e., attitudes and responses to such behaviors in hypothetical peers) of empathic and low empathic children. Participants were 136 children in kindergarten and grade one. Parents…

Explored relations between child temperament, parenting daily hassles, and children's social adjustment in preschool. Found that parenting daily hassles predicted child externalizing problems beyond the contribution of child temperament characteristics. Child temperament interacted with parenting hassles in predicting adjustment outcomes. Child…

Explored interface between preschoolers' socio-emotional characteristics and interactions with teachers during free play. Found that children who most frequently initiated teacher interaction behaved more aggressively than peers and were so rated by teachers. Children who most frequently received teacher initiations were more shy and anxious.…

The role of temperament was explored as a predictor of preschoolers' literacy and numeracy skills. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that temperament contributed uniquely to the explanation of literacy and numeracy skills over and above well-established indicators of a child's academic achievement such as parent education, gender, and…