Maternal self-efficacy (MSE) has been shown to be important, yet little is known about how it develops over time and whether increasing knowledge about child development and parenting results in feeling more efficacious, especially for first-time mothers. Furthermore, research is lacking about whether increased maternal self-efficacy results in…

The authors of picture books who write especially melodic language are doing more than simply offering up work that is pleasing to the ear. They are accessing more of the whole child. In this article five picture books will be discussed for their musical attributes: "Now One Foot, Now the Other", by Tomie dePaola, "The Cat in the Hat", by Dr.…

This is the last in a series of articles on the four elements of the Circle of Courage. Traditional Native American child development practices have created environments of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. Discusses the theme of generosity from a Native American perspective. (Author/GCP)

Addresses children's rights issues and discusses a child's developmental needs, a child's status as property, a child's right to the fulfillment of needs, national advocacy to establish children's rights, a related body of international law, and the Association for Humanistic Education and Development and American Counseling Association leadership…

Notes that developmental and social concerns are primary influences that need to be addressed in any comprehensive study of children and war. Discusses developmental issues, gender differences, familial issues, and media effects that influence children's thinking about war. Offers suggestions for exploring war-related issues with children. (NB)

Assembles information about theories of child art into conceptual basis related to interpretation of children's art. General overview of nine theories or models of child art (naive realism, recapitulation, personality, developmental, intellectualist, haptic-visual, perceptual development, perception-delineation model, and author's synthesis) gives…

Used structural equation techniques to evaluate model predicting children's (n=1,742) developmental status, taking into consideration demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of mother and her household, characteristics of child at birth, and quality of home environment. Children's developmental status was related strongly and positively to…

This report summarizes programs and projects of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The report is organized in the following categories: (1) research; (2) demonstration and development; (3) outreach and training; (4) public policy analysis; and (5) support services and administration.…

Discusses common foot problems of young children and ways parents, child caregivers, and physicians should deal with them. Particular attention is given to care and medical treatment for flat feet, peeling feet, and "w"-sitting in young children. (Author/BB)

Head Start, created in 1965, is designed to prepare low-income preschool children for school by providing a comprehensive set of early child development services primarily through community based organizations. Over the last decade there have been a number of changes in Head Start's operating environment, including a decrease in the number of poor…

Proposes model based on developmental psychopathology for conceptualizing effects of child sexual abuse. Argues that incest has negative effects on self and social functioning, by jeopardizing self-definition and integration, self-regulatory processes, and sense of security and trust in relationships. Reviews self and social development…

Reviewed in this article is research on children with reactive attachment disorder (RAD) who exhibit specific patterns of socially aberrant behavior resulting from being maltreated or having limited opportunities to form selective attachments. There are no data explaining why 2 different patterns of the disorder, an emotionally withdrawn-inhibited…

Examines Jean Piaget's theories on the laws of formal logic, and Johnson's claim that the law of noncontradiction is only descriptive of macroscopic objectives. Suggests Piaget and Johnson are wrong, since the possibility of saying anything significant and informative presupposes the law of noncontradiction is followed. (Author)

Discusses developmental aspects of children's fears, strategies that help children learn effective ways of coping with normal developmental fears, and strategies to assist those children who experience some difficulties related to fear. Suggests a model for school counselors that may help them to conceptualize their work with a child and his or…

The study of children?s peer relationships has been well represented within the pages of Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. Particularly over the last decade, the pace of publishing studies on peer relationships has increased. Despite this upswing in interest in peer relationships, significant gaps remain. In this article, we focus on a particularly…