The goal of this work was to examine the complex interrelation of mothers' early gentle control and sensitivity in predicting children's effortful control (EC) and academic functioning. Maternal gentle control, maternal sensitivity, and children's EC were measured when children were 18, 30, and 42 months of age (T1, T2, and T3, respectively), and…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate bidirectional associations between peer acceptance and both emotion and effortful control during kindergarten (N = 301). In both the fall and spring semesters, we obtained peer nominations of acceptance, measures of positive and negative emotion based on naturalistic observations in school (i.e., classroom,…

The primary goal of this study was to examine whether effortful control (EC; effortful regulation), reactive undercontrol (IMP; e.g., impulsivity, speed of approach), and reactive overcontrol (NOV; inhibition to novelty) were 3 distinct constructs at 30 months (Time 1; n = 216), 42 months (Time 2; n = 192), and 54 months (Time 3; n = 168) of age.…

Five studies document the validity of a new 8-item scale designed to measure "positivity," defined as the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook. In the first study (N = 372), the psychometric properties of Positivity Scale (P Scale) were examined in accordance with classical test theory using a large number of…