Examines the emotional development of preschoolers, including the issues of emotional expression, emotional understanding, regulation of emotions, developmental significance, and the role of the caregiver-child relationship. Finds that caregivers influence the emotional development of children as they model, coach, and respond to children.…

Questioned day care center children during free play about their collective activity to determine how the representation of cooperation is structured and what kind of transformation appears during development. Found a developmental trend of representation of group activity after age 2. Results highlight the importance of group and day care center…

Evaluates a family-based treatment for childhood anxiety. Children (N=79) with separation anxiety, overanxious disorder or social phobia were randomly allocated to three treatment conditions: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), CBT and family management, or a waiting list. Indicated 69.8% of the children no longer fulfilled diagnostic criteria for…

Investigated the role of behavioral style and cognitive performance as predictors of cognitive development in extremely low-birth-weight children assessed at age 2 and again at age 4. Found stability of cognitive performance from 2 to 4 years of age; this as well as behavior style and orientation-engagement predicted subsequent cognitive…

This set of checklists in separate English- and Spanish-language versions, is designed to help parents and childcare providers determine through observations a child's developmental progress from birth to age 5. The checklists are excerpted from the "Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready" guidebook, written by a retired kindergarten teacher with 25 years…

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…

Describes a model for classroom meetings in an elementary school setting. Focuses on enhancing children's communication and problem-solving skills for typical students and those identified through special education. The purpose of the meetings is to provide a nurturing climate for the learning of social skills that the children can use in the…

This study examined the relation between type of parent-child interaction task and parenting behaviors among a predominantly African American community-based sample. Twenty-five anxious and matched nonanxious (N = 50) mothers were videotaped with their children (M age = 5.8 years) engaging in both a structured and unstructured task. Blind raters…

Four studies in child development show that children socialize parents as much as parents socialize children. Child development is a function of biological maturation and child-environment interaction. The most important determinants of resiliency are caregiver quality and socioeconomic status. Implications for camp are discussed, the most…

Examined the concordance between mother-infant attachment behavior and patterns of mother-child reunion responses when the children were age six. Found that concordance between four types of attachment status was 82%. Also found a correlation between children's observed social competence at age five and their reunion patterns at age six. (MDM)

Rather than being nurtured into healthy beings, the children who experience rejection and blame can become discouraged and angry. They respond with escalating, acting-out behavior to the perceived hostile environment. Success with these children requires adults who can live with them in their world without becoming entangled in counteraggression.…

One of the most important skills of professionals who work with young children is the ability to assess developmental functioning through informal observation. This skill serves as the foundation for screening or identifying children in need of developmental services, conducting play-based developmental assessments, and helping parents to…

Argues that teachers play a major role in guiding children toward responsible anger management. Addresses what researchers know about the development of children's feeling, expression, and understanding of anger. Examines factors contributing to managing anger including memory, language, and self-referential and self-regulatory behaviors.…

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…