This study examined future-oriented behavior in children (3-6 years; N = 193) from three diverse societies--one industrialized Western city and two small, geographically isolated communities. Children had the opportunity to prepare for two alternative versions of an immediate future event over six trials. Some 3-year-olds from all cultures…

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children. Prior research has implicated both child behavioral attributes and parent supervisory patterns as risk factors. The present study assessed interactions between these two risk factors and determined whether supervision moderates the relation between child attributes and injury.…

A parent-report questionnaire, the Child Routines Inventory (CRI), was administered to 1,492 parents with children between 8 and 72 months of age. Results indicated that frequency of compulsive-like behaviors is more common among 2-, 3- and 4-year olds than among children younger than 1 year or over 4 years of age. Findings are relevant to a…

Examined whether young children can identify breaches of a permission rule and their sensitivity to the implications of such rules. Found that preschool children show considerable facility in reasoning about permission rules and can justify their choices. Results suggest that, when children violate a permission rule, they do so knowingly. (MOK)

Studied whether behavioral styles at age 3 are linked to personality traits at age 18 after identifying 5 temperament groups (undercontrolled, inhibited, confident, reserved, and well-adjusted). Results pointed to continuities across time. (DR)

Examined the influence of mitigating circumstances on parents' beliefs and intervention behaviors regarding sibling physical aggression. Subjects were 40 Caucasian families. Results indicated that, although parents considered sibling physical aggression to be a serious transgression, they believed that mitigated aggression of both of their…

Examined communication in the family and peer systems in relation to children's sociometric status, measuring turn-taking skills and utterance types for 43 preschoolers during interactions with mothers, fathers, and peers. Rejected-status children demonstrated turn-taking styles that included irrelevant turns, interruptions, simultaneous talking,…

Evaluated a conceptual model that links temperament, emotional knowledge, and family expressiveness to preschoolers' emotional regulation ability by giving "disappointing" prizes after a task. Subjects were 82 preschoolers. Found that children's positive displays when presented the disappointing prize were inversely related to the…

Used prospective longitudinal design to ascertain whether different types of behavioral inhibition were stable from toddler to preschool age, and whether inhibited temperament or parenting style predicted children's subsequent social/behavioral problems. Found that traditional and peer-social toddler inhibition predicted socially reticent behavior…

Tested the basic hypothesis that failure experiences at school increase the likelihood of aversive parent-child interaction after school. Subjects were 254 elementary school students. Found that children who rated more academic failure events at school described parents as more disapproving after school, but this effect was only partially mediated…

Examined stress and coping symptoms of 258 children whose parents were divorced. Found that, in the cross-sectional model, avoidance coping partially mediated the relations between negative events and symptoms; while active coping moderated between negative events and conduct problems. In the longitudinal model, significant negative paths were…