Preterm birth and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay are early adverse stressful experiences, which may result in an altered temperamental profile. The serotonin transporter gene ("SLC6A4"), which has been linked to infant temperament, is susceptible to epigenetic regulation associated with early stressful experience. This study…

Data from 508 Caucasian children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development shows that the DRD4 (but not 5-HTTLPR) polymorphism moderates the effect of child-care quality (but not quantity or type) on caregiver-reported externalizing problems at 54 months and in kindergarten and teacher-reported social skills at kindergarten and…

Associations between maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress and infant social-emotional adjustment were examined in a subset of dyads from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 376). Mothers reported on infant temperament at 1 and 6 months postpartum, and maternal sensitivity to distress and nondistress were observed at 6…

Baseline and heelstick measures of behavioral state, heart period, vagal tone, and salivary cortisol were obtained from 50 full-term newborns. Mothers completed Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire when the infants reached six months of age. Greater reactivity to the heelstick was associated with lower scores on the…

Examined the influence of social context variables on separation responses in nine-month-old infants. Indicated that nine month olds need not be highly stressed by being put in a new setting with a substitute caregiver. Use of procedures practiced in a model day care program effectively buffeted infant stress responses under individual and group…

Infant temperamental difficulty was strongly related to mothers' level of postpartum depression, both directly and through the mediation of parenting self-efficacy. Social support appeared to function protectively against depression, primarily through self-efficacy. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. (Author/RH)

Results indicate that (1) social support is the best predictor of secure attachment and is most important for mothers with irritable babies, (2) maternal unresponsiveness is associated with resistance during reunion episodes and appears to be a mechanism through which anxious attachment develops, and (3) social support may mitigate the effects of…

Specifies some problems in the Piagetian characterizations of assimilation and accommodation and offers an alternative formulation intended to resolve some conceptual anomalies. On the basis of the revision, the orthogenetic law of developmental progression is explicitly derived. Further, Piaget's notion of "equilibrium" is extended into…

Factors that allowed inner-city ninth graders to maintain socially competent behavior in spite of stress were examined. Findings yield insights on the ways in which personality variables may interact with stress to influence social competence among inner-city adolescents. (GLR)

Tested hypotheses from an organizational-developmental model for childhood resilience among 7- to 9-year olds. Found that caregiving factors and early development differentiated children with resilient and stress-affected adaptations. Variables reflecting emotionally responsive, competent parenting were direct, proximal predictors of resilience…

This multi-method study sought to identify parameters of developmental change and stability of child reaction patterns to interparental conflict in the context of family relations in a sample of 223 6-year-old children and their parents followed over the course of one year. Consistent with the sensitization hypothesis, interparental withdrawal and…

Discusses results of a longitudinal study of effects of divorce and remarriage on children's adjustment. Results suggest that individual characteristics play an important role in either protecting children from negative consequences associated with their parents' marital transitions or in making children vulnerable to such consequences. (RJC)

Investigated the role of emotionality and self-regulation in understanding 3rd- through 5th- graders' adjustment responses to multiple risk. Found that negative emotionality predicted adjustment problems, positive emotionality predicted positive adjustment, and self-regulation predicted both. Children low in self-regulation were more vulnerable to…

The concept of reproductive strategy is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The relationship between this theory and prevailing theories of socialization is considered, and research consistent with the evolutionary theory is reviewed. Discusses directions…