While negative associations between behavioral inhibition/shyness and social competence are well established for children from Western cultures, the directions of these associations have been inconsistent for Chinese children, partly due to the ongoing social-cultural changes in China. Drawing from three samples of young Chinese children (born…

Very preterm birth (<32 weeks of gestation) heightens the risk for developmental and behavioral problems, but individual outcomes vary greatly. We evaluated whether mother-toddler dyadic interaction quality, assessed longitudinally at 14, 20, and 30 months (corrected), could account for unique variance in very preterm and full-term children's…

Examined expressions of negative emotion among 37 toddlers and strategies used to reduce or change these expressions. Six strategies were identified and evaluated. Findings suggest that active engagement was most commonly used and most negatively associated with child distress. Use of strategies varied by context. (HTH)

Examined the effectiveness of pre-bedtime massages for infants and toddlers with sleep onset problems. Found that, compared to bedtime stories, massages produced fewer sleep delays and a shortened latency to sleep onset. (Author/DLH)

Explored fathers' specific contribution to their children's attachment representation at various ages. Found fathers' play sensitivity to be a better predictor of the child's long-term attachment representation than the early infant-father security of attachment. (Author)

Mothers and infants were observed in the laboratory when the infants were 12, 18, and 24 months. Mothers reported their child's behavior at 36 months. Predictors of boys' externalizing behavior at two and three years were maternal unresponsiveness and infant attention seeking, aggression, and noncompliance. For girls, infant noncompliance was…

Considers the bases of criticism of parent report as an index of their children's behavioral development and ways in which problems associated with parent report were addressed in the construction of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs). Examines the nature of responses elicited from parents as they complete the CDIs. (BC)

Toddlers in foster care, exposed prenatally to cocaine, were assessed for development, temperament, play behaviors, and adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Compared to nonexposed toddlers, these toddlers possessed more risk factors at birth and experienced more illnesses after birth; scored lower on conceptual development and higher on expression…

Tested a proposed developmental pathway for toddlers' mastery of skills in generating non-ritualized forms of cooperative coordinated action with peers. Studied nonverbal imitative acts among U.S. toddlers and toddlers of the Seltaman people of Papua New Guinea. Found that ready imitation of one another emerged during the same developmental period…

This booklet provides guidance to parents regarding behavior of infants and toddlers, including behavior development and problems. It offers common sense advice and practical examples. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction: What Is Misbehavior of Babies?", discussing "crying" as an appropriate behavior for meeting physical and emotional needs, and…