Creative and methodologically sophisticated longitudinal research on bidirectionality in parenting and child behavior can shed important new light on the dynamics of behavior-problem development. The articles assembled for this Special Section are at the forefront of efforts aimed at tracing the interplay of parenting behavior and child and…

Acknowledges that Halberstadt et al. have provided the field with a framework in which to organize ideas regarding affective social competence. Argues for modification of the model to stimulate thinking and further research, addressing points of modification in the areas of regulation as the core of the construct and self-factors influencing…

Clarifies authors' position on the Social Information Processing (SIP) model. Argues that a definition of social competence free of reference to social desirability to assess links with bullying skills and motivations is possible. Asserts that focusing on motivations might provide a clearer theoretical understanding of bullying and a more…

Addresses the variations, reactions, and additions to the affective social competence model presented earlier. Specifically addresses the issue of whether sending, receiving, and experiencing are equal components to affective social competence; the time course of affective social competence; the cognitive representations of self and world;…

In this article, first I describe from observation the spontaneous vocalisations produced during free play by young children of 18 months to three-years-old. I propose that a focus on vocalisations can provide valuable insights into general aspects of children's play. Next I describe two musical play situations between toddlers and their mothers…

This essay asserts that clinical conceptualizations of emotion that stress its disruptive influences and functional models of emotion that emphasize its adaptive aspects can be integrated into a developmental psychopathology framework. Under certain conditions, emotion regulation may develop dysregulatory aspects that can become a characteristic…

This paper discusses family systems theory and advances a communicative model of family functioning that is process orientated and encourages children to develop self-control. Family systems theory postulates that each member of a family has an impact on the behaviors of other family members, and that children's behavior is influenced by their…

This essay argues that the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system does not appear to be related to emotion regulation processes in children, although individual differences in emotion processes related to negative emotion temperaments appear to be associated with individual differences in HPA reactivity among normally…

Reviews research on factors influencing the child-care-choice behaviors of mothers of infants within the context of a theoretical model that relates such behavior to the environmental context, maternal beliefs related to child care, child characteristics, and mother's demographic characteristics. Concludes with recommendations for future research…

This essay examines the development of individual differences in emotion regulation and the role that specific styles of emotion regulation and dysregulation play in affecting young children's interactive behavior with peers. It advances a general developmental pathway that conceptualizes individual variations in terms of both infant traits and…