We investigated how parents' attributions of blame/responsibility/internal locus for negative events happening to themselves and to their children were related to children's attributions about similar events in their own lives. In a sample of 145 families (including mother, father, and child aged 9-12 years; 73 boys), we tested for unique…

Executive functions (EFs) may help children to regulate their food-intake in an "obesogenic" environment, where energy-dense food is easily available. There is mounting evidence that overweight is associated with diminished hot and cool EFs, and several longitudinal studies found evidence for a predictive effect of hot EFs on children's…

In the current research, we examined whether the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) could be successfully adapted as an implicit measure of children's attitudes. We tested this possibility in 3 studies with 5- to 10-year-old children. In Study 1, we found evidence that children misattribute affect elicited by attitudinally positive (e.g., cute…

Research has highlighted the need for new methods to assess emotions in children on multiple levels to gain better insight into the complex processes of emotional development. The startle reflex is a unique translational tool that has been used to study physiological processes during fear and anxiety in rodents and in human participants. However,…

We explored the hypotheses that adolescents have more negative obesity stereotypes than children and that age differences in obesity stereotypes are mediated by weight attributions, body esteem, and appearance idealization. Hispanic- and Caucasian-American children completed measures of appearance idealization, body esteem, and attributions about…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of change in attributions for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) over a 6-year period and whether such patterns were related to abuse severity, age, gender, and subsequent symptoms of depression and PTSD. Methodology: One-hundred and sixty children, 8-15 years old, were interviewed within 8…

This study examined parent and child gender effects on parents' attributions and beliefs in regards to child symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants included mothers and fathers of 19 girls and 17 boys with ADHD. Groups of boys and girls, aged 5-13 years, were equated on age and medication status, as well as ADHD…

In order to establish effective suicide preventive programs, it is important to know the etiologic factors and causal relationships between suicide and behavior. Coroner data was analyzed for the 468 suicides that occurred in Indianapolis, Indiana during 1998-2001. The age-adjusted suicide rate was 14.08 per 100,000. Almost one-half of the victims…