The second year of life is a time of formative developmental change as basic behavioral systems undergo rapid integration and expansion. This study examined the developmental trajectories of social-emotional (SoE) outcomes and the effects of infant sex and household chaos (HC) on the development of SoE outcomes across the second year of life. The…

Although early life experiences of language and parenting are critical for children's development, large home observation studies of both domains are scarce in the psychological literature, presumably because of their considerable costs to the participants and researchers. Here, we used digital audio-recorders to unobtrusively observe 107…

A growing body of evidence indicates that for some children, early incidences of challenging behaviors are predictors of later difficulties. These incidences of challenging behaviors may predict mental health issues, social adjustment issues and/or increased challenging behaviors that will impede school success and impact transition to adult life…

Violence in schools and communities is no longer an urban school problem; it is every school's problem ( Garbarino, 1999 ). What factors cause children to interact with increasingly violent and anti-social behaviors? What strategies can teachers and schools use in order to help these childhood bullies who grow up to be violent youths? This paper…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth was used to examine the effect of various family structures on behavioral and cognitive outcomes for children aged 7 to 10. Results indicate family income, mother's psychological functioning, and quality of home environment are important for behavior, whereas family income and mother's aptitude…

Investigated families of children with internalized versus externalized symptoms according to linear and curvilinear conceptions of circumplex model. It was hypothesized that externalized symptoms would result in family being classified as chaotic and disengaged, whereas internalized symptoms would result in being classified as rigid and enmeshed.…

Relationships between parental report of children's peer play at home and indicators of children's school readiness were examined. Behavior ratings and observational data were collected for preschool children from an urban Head Start program. Play competencies exhibited in the home environment were significantly associated with prosocial behavior…

The impact of significant family life events on child educational outcomes was examined for a sample of 204 families in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, whose children began kindergarten in 1992, 1993, or 1994. These children and families were part of the Head Start Transition Demonstration Project, a longitudinal study to assess benefits of services…