Research Findings: This study aimed to explore the mediating role of social competence and the moderating role of teacher-child conflict in the relation between maternal overcontrol and Chinese preschooler's internalizing problems. Participants were 216 children aged 3-4 years, from two kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Mothers completed the…

Research Findings: Children's readiness to handle the expectations of elementary school depends heavily on their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation includes both cognitive and behavioral elements; however, past studies have typically looked at cognitive and behavioral self-regulation in isolation or as a composite score rather than examining…

Positive emotional expressivity has been associated with increased social competence and decreased maladjustment in childhood. However, a few researchers have found null or even positive associations between positive emotional expressivity and maladjustment, which suggests that there may be nuanced associations of positive expressivity, perhaps as…

Research Findings: Home-based involvement--defined as the actions parents take to promote children's learning outside of school--is often the most efficient way for low-income parents to be involved with their children's education. However, there is limited research examining the factors predicting home-based involvement at kindergarten entry for…

Teachers' ratings of conflict and closeness as well as observed emotional support are known predictors of children's social functioning. Consistency in emotional support represents an emerging line of research. The goal of the present study is to understand whether the relation between the consistency of teachers' emotional support and children's…

Research Findings: The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of individual and situational factors on nursery school children's conflict management strategies. This observational study of triadic interaction was carried out among 69 children whose mean age was 48 months. The video-recorded data were coded for the type of…

Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten has important ramifications for future achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Research suggests that physical aggression may be related to difficulty during school transitions, yet no studies to date have examined the role of relational aggression in these transitions. This article examines how…

Research Findings: This study examines patterns of sibling relationship qualities or interactional types and their association with family characteristics, parenting, and the characteristics of 1 of those children. Participants were 65 children (34 boys; Time 1 mean age = 51 months), their mothers, fathers, and Head Start teachers. Approximately…

Research Findings: Racial/ethnic minority low-income children with temperaments high in negative reactivity are at heightened risk for developing disruptive behavior problems. Teacher-child relationships characterized by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict may protect against the development of disruptive behaviors in school. The…

Research Findings: Part of the attention system of the brain is involved in the control of thoughts, emotions, and behavior. As attentional control develops, children are more able to control cognition and responses flexibly and to adjust their behavior in social interactions better. In this article, we discuss evidence from different levels of…

Research Findings: The current project examined the unique and interactive relations of child effortful control and teacher-child relationships to low-income preschoolers' socioemotional adjustment. One hundred and forty Head Start children (77 boys and 63 girls), their parents, lead teachers, and teacher assistants participated in this study.…

Investigated how conflict management of boys in Head Start related to disruptive behavior and peer rejection in the Fall and Spring of the preschool year. Found that boys who engaged in higher rates of conflict and exhibited greater aggression and avoidance during peer conflicts tended to be rejected by peers and perceived as disruptive by…